I think it is probably the greatest challenge right now,

I think it is probably the greatest challenge right now,
by chicos bail bonds (2024-04-02 20:14:59)

In reply to: Does ND’s academic rigor make us more susceptible to portal posted by Georgia Hog

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probably as much as NIL. I just think with the money available to college athletes right now, there is less importance being placed on the academic side and the degree. Players and families are seeing paydays now and chasing immediate payoff which I think is fools gold. This is the same as it has always been in some ways. The elite players are going to get big NIL deals and future benefits in professional basketball. I don't think NIL changes things in that perspective in terms of the challenge for ND to get elite players. We have always had that challenge and I don't think it is any different today.

My concern with the current environment is the next level players - the guys in the #50-#150 ranking. These guys have needed to hone their game and still likely wouldn't strike it big financially playing professional ball and were somewhat dependent on getting a degree. But they could still play and play well. They also valued what ND would offer and knew that it would be a process with benefits that might be 10-20 years down the road. Now, those benefits can happen almost immediately. Kids in the #50-150 range could cash in on maybe $50K+ plus year. For many of them, that is lucrative and they are not going to be as excited on the academic side in my opinion. To me, that is ND's challenge. If I'm a 18-20 year old kid and I can make somewhere in the $50K range, do I really want to bust my ass academically knowing I can keep making cash. It's a very shortsighted view but in the current world of immediate gratification, ND isn't going to win that game I don't think.

I don’t disagree with any of this.

I just don’t think that the trend holds.

We’re already seeing donors losing their appetite for trying to buy championships. Mainly because it doesn’t work.

I also think that these kids are smart enough to eventually understand that 150-200k in NIL money in college won’t take them that far in the real world without a degree and an alumni network working for them. There have been a couple of players already who’ve been talking to kids about ignoring the NIL genie and instead focusing on programs that can either get them to the pros with a good shot of sticking or programs that can them up for when the ball stops bouncing. In 5-6 years, everyone is going to see that NIL only really works for the best of the best and everyone else had better have a longer term vision or they’ll be doing factory work or coaching youth basketball for a pittance compared to what they could be making with a solid degree.

Yes, there will always be those kids who don’t give a damn and chase whatever money they can get when they can get it. But from what I’ve seen and read, I think that number will remain low and probably won’t be the kinds of kids that Notre Dame appealed to in the first place.