Well put, Seattle.
NIL is a pre-req to some extent, but all the other ingredients are still there and very relevant. My hunch is we’ll start seeing 2 year NIL deals, which should help slow down the transferitis, but this year was an extreme anomaly with only one player staying through the transition.
I think you underestimate how much NIL has changed everything. Look at BYU. How much was Florida’s NIL budget? How much did Walter Clayton get? I doubt he was there for any reason as a 5th year senior other than how much he was paid.
Fortunately, Utah’s NIL budget will be significantly higher this year, so we will see. We should see a signgicant upgrade in talent next year.
I’m not impressed with BYU and its trajectory was predictable. BYU hasn’t beaten a good team. It isn’t selling its soul to be a fifth place Big 12 team and not smell the Final Four. Granted, if you rent for a season the NBA’s number 1 or 2 pick you should be able to make the NCAA playoffs at least, even if your team plays a pickup game.
At this point, I’m not saying Utah has the resources to win the national championship. It has the resources to make the NCAA playoffs and be respectable. That’s all I ask for. But I think there are 25 programs in any given year who could compete for the title with the resources they have–but once you’re one of the 25 it ALL depends on the coach.
BYU did very well in non-conference games but has taken their lumps in Big 12 play.
BYU’s record is about the competitiveness of its opponents.
When BYU loses Richie Saunders–the kind of four-year player committed to program and that Utah should be prioritizing and has made UConn and Florida great-- leaves, BYU will really be in trouble.
When I mentioned byu, my point was how much nil has changed its trajectory, which is indisputable. Look at how many times they have been on tv in marquee games.
Losing Saunders may or may not be significant depending on who they spend their money on next year.
And I don’t know how much Saunders is paid this year. He may only be there for the money too.
Dabo (football, yes, but good points for all sports) suggested 1 free transfer. If the coach leaves or is fired, you can transfer. If you graduate, you can transfer. Otherwise, you sit out a year. You can have that year back IF/WHEN you graduate.
2-year deals are starting, but look at the Duke QB that had a 2 year deal but Miami still lured him away, Duke sued, and they settled. But it was so last minute that Duke now really doesn’t have the experienced qb they thought they had going into next season.
Basketball is similar, you just need fewer players each year and only a few impactful players to turn things around.
I’m going to partially agree with Seattle here - if BYU proves nothing else, it is that money can’t buy you a championship. BYU may currently have the worst ROI of any team in the NCAA right now, and I think that all lays at the feet of Kevin Young. They’re stacked with talent and individual players are very impressive, but as a team they aren’t impressive at all. I predict a quick exit out of the tournament.
I think NIL will present opportunities to retain players longer, and if we can get transfer rules get sorted out it might even help us get back to a 4-year player being standard. For a lot of these athletes this will be the most money they’ll ever make in their lives.
In theory, with Utah’s private equity agreement in place that will provide sufficient funding for athletes and athlete retention, a talented and tough coach like Alex Jensen at the helm, it might just be the perfect formula for Utah to return to basketball prominence.
The rules of the game have changed, and Majerus would never survive in basketball today. But a lot of the elements remain the same for Utah, and we’ve seen in manifest in football. I’d be pretty happy to have a perenial top-25 basketball team that every team in the league fears playing and feels it for a couple of weeks after.
worst ROI? They have gotten immense publicity; they are in the national conversation and on tv in prime time, and they get 20,000 to their conference games. I will bet they are very happy with their ROI, especially since Ryan Smith and Danny Ainge are paying for it.
Maybe it’s not possible for Utah to adopt the BYU model. Honestly, I don’t want it to. It can still compete with BYU with a better, more enduring model. That’s my point.
I’m talking about their wins and ranking versus what they are paying for their athletes. Put another way, if you are said to be spending in the top 3 in the nation in NIL and ranked #22, I’d say it isn’t working well for you.
Well BYU certainly isnt saying that. And I would be delighted if the U had that ROI.
Is BYU going to go rent for a year the top freshman recruit in the nation every year and perform like Utah State ( if only Utah could perform like Utah State, I guess is your point)? It’s going to get laughable fast, and I wonder how long that ROI will satisfy the fat cats writing the checks. If I were one of them, I’d first focus on getting a coach who is a proven winner at this level. Then I’d spread the money around a bunch of Richie Sanderses.
Utah shouldn’t want to be on the BYU model. But it can aspire to be Utah State, or Iowa State. Or Ole Miss. No?
Down by just 2 with 15 minutes to play on the road at Cincy. Based on what this team does, it will probably be close until about 8-minute mark. I once again applaud the effort, but a win would be nice eventually.
And yet once again … a very winnable game slips away. Sigh. Utes go scoreless for the last 90 seconds after being up 5.
Utes up 5 with two minutes left but couldn’t hold on
This team has zero composure. Can’t hit front-ends of one-and-ones. Can hit three-pointers in clutch moments. Can’t finish around the rim. Just so frustrating.
On the good news front, Utah received a commitment from a 6’10” kid from Austria.
https://x.com/BartleKSLsports/status/2023117159476723916?s=20
Keeping that 20+ year-old Bogut connection alive, nice! 