RECRUITING, FWIW

[Seadog73]

247 has a list of the top uncommitted, unsigned recruits still out there. We are still listed as a crystal ball 100% for #21 on the list, 4* LB Daniel Martin. No other schools listed.

[VandyD]

Yeah, I think he's the one that the other recruit was talking about. One of the guys who signed tweeted out that this class is good and no one on the outside knows that the best player in the class signed but isn't announcing yet.

[BrentVU]

I don't read the other services, and wouldn't put much faith in "crystal balls", but yeah, that's what the tea leaves all say. At this point if Vandy doesn't get Martin, it will be a disappointment.

[buffy]

I believe he signed and asked the coaches not to announce it at this time. That’s not an unreasonable request.

[BrentVU]

I believe he signed and asked the coaches not to announce it at this time. That’s not an unreasonable request.

That's the rumor.

[AuricGoldfinger]

He's announcing at the Army All-American Bowl high school all-star game on January 8. While not as high profile as it was prior to the commencement of the December signing date, it's still a pretty big deal (the game is broadcast on NBC). Maybe the coaches asked him to sign but not announce until that time.

[belair]

Decent marketing strategy. Big audience for him picking VU over FSU and Oregon. I like it. Also won't hurt in the free agency period which is the portal.

[OldDude]

belair makes a good semantic point. We should probably stop talking about transfer portal and instead refer to "free agency". This whole mess plus NIL has clarified the joke that college sports have become. Maybe players will now start negotiating with their coaches at the end of the season to get a better NIL deal or nicer car (wouldn't a car dealer providing an automobile in return for endorsement qualify as NIL?) Maybe Saban will be stuck with giving Mercedes to all his guys each year through the umbrella / shadow of his dealerships.

[alathIN]

This whole mess plus NIL has clarified the joke that college sports have become. Maybe players will now start negotiating with their coaches at the end of the season to get a better NIL deal or nicer car

It's been a kabillion$ business at least since I started following in the 80s, with the 'student-athlete' idea becoming more and more farcical the entire time.
The only thing that's changed recently is that now the players are getting a slice of the pie - and still a very small slice of a very large pie.
If you look at the total revenues of the "college" sports industry and compare that to the cost of scholarships, players in the "revenue sports" are still the lowest paid talent in any entertainment business.

This, by the way, is what separates those who fetishize capitalism from those who actually believe in free markets. If you think a worker with market value negotiating for better compensation is heresy, you are closer to Chinese style communism than a proponent of free markets.

[commadore]

This whole mess plus NIL has clarified the joke that college sports have become. Maybe players will now start negotiating with their coaches at the end of the season to get a better NIL deal or nicer car

It's been a kabillion$ business at least since I started following in the 80s, with the 'student-athlete' idea becoming more and more farcical the entire time.
The only thing that's changed recently is that now the players are getting a slice of the pie - and still a very small slice of a very large pie.
If you look at the total revenues of the "college" sports industry and compare that to the cost of scholarships, players in the "revenue sports" are still the lowest paid talent in any entertainment business.

This, by the way, is what separates those who fetishize capitalism from those who actually believe in free markets. If you think a worker with market value negotiating for better compensation is heresy, you are closer to Chinese style communism than a proponent of free markets.

Next you will have a court ruling that a kid can play as many years as he wants as long as he is in school.

[AuricGoldfinger]

The one question that has yet to be settled is the degree to which schools are allowed to coordinate or put together NIL deals. IMO the NCAA failed to adequately address that issue when NIL was legalized. It's the Wild West out there right now.

I'm ordinarily not a doom and gloom kind of guy. I'm realistic--Vanderbilt has brought most of its problems upon itself. But this is one area that Vanderbilt will have a really hard time competing.

It reminds me of the scene in the movie Moneyball, where Oakland As GM Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt) is meeting with his scouts and he tells them:

The problem we're trying to solve is that there are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there's fifty feet of crap, and then there's us. It's an unfair game. And now we've been gutted. We're like organ donors for the rich. Boston's taken our kidneys, Yankees have taken our heart. And you guys just sit around talking the same old "good body" nonsense like we're selling jeans. Like we're looking for Fabio. We've got to think differently. We are the last dog at the bowl. You see what happens to the runt of the litter? He dies.

[MrMemorial]

The one question that has yet to be settled is the degree to which schools are allowed to coordinate or put together NIL deals. IMO the NCAA failed to adequately address that issue when NIL was legalized. It's the Wild West out there right now.

I'm ordinarily not a doom and gloom kind of guy. I'm realistic--Vanderbilt has brought most of its problems upon itself. But this is one area that Vanderbilt will have a really hard time competing.

It reminds me of the scene in the movie Moneyball, where Oakland As GM Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt) is meeting with his scouts and he tells them:

The problem we're trying to solve is that there are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there's fifty feet of crap, and then there's us. It's an unfair game. And now we've been gutted. We're like organ donors for the rich. Boston's taken our kidneys, Yankees have taken our heart. And you guys just sit around talking the same old "good body" nonsense like we're selling jeans. Like we're looking for Fabio. We've got to think differently. We are the last dog at the bowl. You see what happens to the runt of the litter? He dies.

Great movie. Required viewing for sports fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4QPVo0UIzc

[MrMemorial]

The one question that has yet to be settled is the degree to which schools are allowed to coordinate or put together NIL deals. IMO the NCAA failed to adequately address that issue when NIL was legalized. It's the Wild West out there right now.

I'm ordinarily not a doom and gloom kind of guy. I'm realistic--Vanderbilt has brought most of its problems upon itself. But this is one area that Vanderbilt will have a really hard time competing.

It reminds me of the scene in the movie Moneyball, where Oakland As GM Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt) is meeting with his scouts and he tells them:

The problem we're trying to solve is that there are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there's fifty feet of crap, and then there's us. It's an unfair game. And now we've been gutted. We're like organ donors for the rich. Boston's taken our kidneys, Yankees have taken our heart. And you guys just sit around talking the same old "good body" nonsense like we're selling jeans. Like we're looking for Fabio. We've got to think differently. We are the last dog at the bowl. You see what happens to the runt of the litter? He dies.

Great movie. Required viewing for sports fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4QPVo0UIzc

A bit off topic but still sports related, I was looking at some of those top 10 and top 20 lists of things on the YouTube and saw Money Ball was listed as the #5 best sports movie. Obviously the list was a subjective thing but the mix of comedy and serious sports movies was sort of cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hayfuDtp5OA

[dorelover82]

How does this new system benefit players in the middle and bottom. Football will just become more like D1 baseball, where the coaches release 1/2 the players after the fall. More players will be pushed out, than will leave on the portal. College baseball's dirty secret. The guys who can play transfer if the team struggles. Coaches are grossly overpaid, and the value of the degree cheapened by the NCAA eligibility rules which allow players to play while passing only 9 hours and 24 in a year.