This was already happening lol. Kentucky had the best transfers and recruits and lost to St Peters.
A lot of former top 100 kids are transferring to mid majors (almsot every midmajor in the tournament had a former power 5 player contributing) and kids out of HS are going more towards that path now as bigger schools recruit transfers.
Itâs not about winning. Itâs about building a personal brand. Winning, at best, is secondary.
Wow, Cavinder twins to the ACC
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Would love to know the NIL vs Basketball influences on this choice
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It was free room and board and getting to live somewhere nice that also helps their earnings.
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Building off of @MaineWahoo 's post:
I donât think we are going to win any NIL bidding wars with any serious NIL bidders, but my view is we donât necessarily need to win. We need to show that we can be competitive.
Iâve said this before, but we need to stop pretending we are Charlottesville High when it comes to this stuff. We are a big state school with a 15k+ arena that plays on national TV for almost every game and won a natty a few years ago, with wealthy alumni all throughout the mid-Atlantic. We send lots of kids to the NBA. If a kidâs concern is making $$ from hoops, in the short, medium, or long term, we should have an answer thatâs commensurate with our standing in the sport. Which doesnât mean âcome to UVa and get a lamboâ, it just means, âcome to UVa and your options to promote yourself and put yourself in a great position for future pro opportunities that take a backseat to nobody (except maybe 5-7 or so bluebloods).â
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I mean we had Lebron James in jpj for a game a few years ago. We get as big of a spotlight as anyone and we need to advertise that without just dropping bags. The hoops Instagram has 100k followers. We have tens of thousands of alumni and hoops is king at uva. None of this requires dropping bags
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I wonder if we could *also sell an opportunity to be managed/networked with some high value individuals such as Amy and John Griffin of Blue Ridge Capital, if you want to get into Comedy and acting then Tina Fey etc etcâŚHonestly this whole thing is a slippery slope *but is this how we will need to play?
Yeah, could be. Iâm neither creative nor have good business sense, but youâre thinking along the same general lines: when it comes to promotional opportunities, thereâs no reason UVa should be a slouch, other than general skittishness.
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This is an enormous unforced turnover in my view. So currently to choose UVA, you have to love defense, play at the slowest pace in D1, wait your turn to play, maybe redshirt, go to class, not get paid under the table, etc. Itâs really threading the needle. Now add to this no real effort to help you get legally obtainable money when all your AAU buddies are getting theirs. Just another reason not to choose UVA. Because why? Not consistent with the 5 pillars? Weâre above it? We rightly pride ourselves on playing by the rules, but these are now the rules! TB was the 16th highest paid coach in D1 last year, making $3.6M. Great, thatâs what the market says heâs worth. I donât see him foreswearing the $$ in some Mother Theresa gesture. If the going price for a recruit of LJâs status is $â-, fine, make it happen, legally of course. UVA has enormous institutional advantages to become the Goldman Sachs of NIL. It could be a real differentiator in our favor.
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Um, actually, Tony DID foreswear $$. He turned down a âsubstantialâ raise after the 2019 championship and instead asked that the money be directed to other athletic programs. He also donated $500,000 of his own money toward a career development program for the players.
Thatâs not quite a Mother Teresa gesture, but it does reflect his priorities. So if your point is that Virginia needs a coach who thinks the most important thing is making sure everyone âgets theirs,â then youâre right: Tony is the not the guy.
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Magnolia can state his point better than me, but my takeaway is that $$ seems to be fairly important to Tony. (Heck, pay me $3mn per and I will also magnanimously turn down raises) Which is absolutely fine! The point (for me) is it seems odd for a guy making millions per year off of college hoops to be allergic to the idea of kids making thousands per year off of college hoops.
Here what I think CTBâS issue is for example. Oscar T isnât getting paid for his name, image or likeness. Heâs getting paid by KY to stay and try to get fans off Calâs back. True with many others - NIL is great and overdue, not just the way many schools are now using it. Itâll change (hopefully), and schools can assist players in monetizing their NIL, but letâs be very real about what CTB AND UVA will NOT do and that is directly pay players through a fiction. If the rest of the world does it, fine with that too because Iâll have very little interest watching pros for Arkansas play pros for Indiana.
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This has been posted here before. Itâs from ACC media day. TB was asked about all this.
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My point is simply that as soon as NIL was announced, everyone immediately turned their noses up and tssk-tssked the whole thing as horrible, immoral, not in the spirit of the sport, etc. Obviously, Tony (he of the $3.6M salaryâand no matter how much he gives away, only 15 D1 coaches make more) hates it and will do only the bare minimum, and only then kicking and screaming. But how long has everyone decried the outright cheating, bag drops, Zionâs motherâs house, etc? Hereâs something UVA could excel at in a legal, sophisticated way to level the playing field. Indeed, few schools are better situated to really nail this in terms of quality. Involve Darden, alumni, etc., rather than just cheesy used car ads. UVA could really do a first rate job at this, but instead will turn a hidden advantage into just another reason for top recruits to ignore UVAâs âeat your spinachâ recruiting pitch. Bottom line, âdo business as business is being done.â
And by the way, Iâll add that Iâm old school and hate NIL. I wish it never was approved and that the NCAA would really do something about cheaters. But alas, thatâs not current reality.
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The statement was that he didnât see Tony turning down money. My response was that, yes, Tony did in fact do exactly that. It really isnât more complicated than that.
Iâm not suggesting that Tony is inclined to take a vow of poverty, but just because he makes a healthy salary doesnât mean that he considers money âfairly important.â I think his actions and statements would indicate otherwise. And if itâs so simple to be magnanimous, please give me a list of all the hundreds of coaches who similarly have turned down raises.
And I never said Tony is âallergicâ to the idea of kids making money. Heâs never said that, heâs never suggested it. I just think he doesnât want money to be the primary (or only) reason players come to UVa. Heâd like them to pick Virginia for other reasons. If youâre looking for a coach who is going to make NIL the centerpiece of his pitch, it ainât gonna be him.
EDITED TO ADD: I should have said nothing. HGN just posted a clip of Tony saying exactly what Iâm saying here, and he says it a lot better.
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I want a coach who is about at the top of the bell curve or so when it comes to the stuff: neither Muss nor âtotally allergicâ. I suspect Tonyâs views are evolving, and as with all things UVa hoops, I will watch with interest.
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I suspect Iâve watched the clip already. Will watch again.
Okay, my honest view of the clip: Tony doesnât like NIL and he doesnât have a particularly good poker face about it. The follow-up question reporter is trying to tee Tony up for an âactually, Cville is a great place for NILâ response (~1 minute in), and Tony doesnât even take the cue, and instead is just back-footed by the whole thing, assuming the reporter is asking a negative question rather than what was inviting a positive response.
The reporter asks (essentially) couldnât Cville be good for NIL, and rather than just saying I think so or singing the praises of the passion of our fanbase or what a great place Cville is, Tony starts off with his âwhat is market value, anyway?â emo dance as if the reporter had asked the exact opposite question.
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Tony needs to take some Darden classes!
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Why canât UVA hire the equivalent of a âGeneral Managerâ or CFO of basketball operations to help handle the NIL opportunities/issues? TB could then just focus on coaching/recruiting. Even for recruiting, TB could talk Xs and Os, and then hand it off to the âGMâ to discuss NIL/money opportunities. Wouldnât this benefit everyone and prolong TBâs coaching career? I want to nominate âDFresh11â to be the first UVA GMâŚ
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