In reply to: Do you think Jackson is now willing to take players who are posted by zahm82
Notre Dame isn't likely to compete for top spots in the current environment. Like I said, you may not be saying that or thinking that. Frankly, it wouldn't be a complete shock if that was the case. NIL, constant transfers, 1st round picks bolting after a year if they show up at all where they initially commit, to me all of that sucks. Its one of the reasons I watch almost no college sports now, outside of Notre Dame. I am not a college football fan, or college basketball fan, I am a Notre Dame fan.
One thing that differs with hockey though when comparing it to football or basketball is the societal factors that probably make it a little easier to compete in hockey than football or basketball. I don't know how many of the top 100 basketball or football players Notre Dame can recruit but I do know they can recruit more of the top 100 hockey players.
I don't know, maybe Notre Dame can't compete in this environment. Maybe we missed our window and it closed 6 years ago. I have commented many times I wish Notre Dame would get around to winning a hockey title before I quit caring about ANY college sports. They'll probably bury me with this damn playoff beard I refused to shave off until Notre Dame won the whole damn thing.
There are barriers that should've been addressed years ago. But think it's recognized and being worked on now. And a number of those barriers would need to be addressed whether it's JJ or someone else behind the bench.
Hockey recruiting is such a crapshoot. The majority of the top kids commit early in their junior year, but even then it's hard to predict who will rise/fall in development.
Fleming is a prime example. He had 40+ offers when he committed in August 2020. He was projected around #10 in the draft rankings. And his development pre-ND just didn't live up to expectations.
100% agree the barriers to recruiting top-100 are different in hockey. It may not seem like it, but we are getting top-100 commits. What this board is looking for is the freshman who is a Hobey candidate the moment he steps on campus -- that's what we're missing out on.
What we can't have is our better commits in a class bail at the last minute. 21-22 and 22-23 set us back in building a competitive roster.
I don't think OSU/PSU really look much to recruit the top-25 kids in the current environment. This past cycle in August they were picking up 4 star type kids left and right (more kids in the 50-150 type range). Is that what we should be looking for? Maybe...that might be a better strategy that trying to compete vs BU/BC/Mich/MN and losing out on our targets (while plan B type players have committed elsewhere).
JJ did a podcast a couple weeks ago and talked about some of this stuff. Things like not targeting kids that have specific advisors/agents that won't get their kid on campus with us. And talking about targeting specific type kids for roles on the PP (something I think the staff has been terrible at over the years).
I'm optimistic that Sheahan will help target kids that fit what we need (less emphasis on size/physicality and more on skating/possession/puck moving). Looking at D commits I think that's happening.
And if we're kicked out in the first round of B10 tourney, the entire staff better be on the trail recruiting (including any kids they're thinking about taking in the portal). I think some of our portal "recruiting" has just been word-of-mouth and looking on paper rather than watching film. Brinkman on paper as a 4 year starter for the Gophers looked great...until you see him on the ice and realize he has cinder blocks attached to his skates (he's not the only transfer like that).
College sports as a whole is a lot less fun now that it has become more of a business.
Believe the players can use the NIL collective started by Brady Quinn (believe it centers on partnering with non-profits for charity work). Not sure if there are other ND collectives.
For comparison, Gophers have a NIL collective called Dinkytown Athletics (it even includes players getting a cut of beer/vodka sales LOL).
As far as individual NIL, Bischel held a goalie camp over the summer. And does some radio spots for a local bank. Other than that, haven't seen any other indication other players have personal NIL deals.
It's hard to verify the extent of NIL in hockey. Lots of rumors. But tough to tell who is telling the truth. Probably not wide spread except for the difference-making super high end kids where the recruiting battles are raging.