Bingo. I said a few weeks ago this board is a social psychologist’s dream. An anonymous person about which we all know nothing makes a post or Tweet, and dozens or hundreds of Illini fans fall over themselves, fully believing it. There are some true insiders. We know who those 2-3 people are. But there are other people who probably get a giggle out of making an authoritative post and watching people run with it, all the while knowing he or she completely made it up. I’ve been around these boards since the Brumby days. I’ve seen it all a million times before. The Johnny-come-latelys are naive but will someday learn as many others already have.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (Week of July 5th, 2021)
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And, that's why I have really mixed emotions about the NIL. Soon, they'll have to develop an "NIL cap", which really isn't fair, either. The schools with the richest sponsors will win all recruitment battles. I'm okay with losing Garcia if the NIL was why. Coach can't control that.
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Thanks to NIL, transfer market is basically free agency. Numbers will be thrown out to the highly sought players. Highest bidder wins.
Deleted member 747671
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Normally I agree with almost everything you post. I disagree on this one. I think it's far more likely we move towards their version of NIL presentation than they move towards ours. Our approach makes the most logical sense and will be great for like 95% of our athletes, but when we're dealing with the top guys, it's pretty much going to be a bidding war and we're either going to have to play that game or get off the court.
Realistic...
Yeah, I think it's going to be tough but this is the right long term approach. I do think this kind of means we're going to lose out on pretty much any highly competitive recruitment, in the short term. The key is to increase the amount we can actually get these recruits. I wonder if a smart strategy would be to switch our sponsorship from Nike to Under Armour or something. We are a big school with tons of alumni, but we're never going to be Nike's top school. If we could legit compete for nattys though, we could be a huge marketing opportunity for UA. Would be nice to have shoe money in our corner, as I'm sure the UK/UNC/KU/Duke contingent will be able to leverage some. Imagine if we could offer Kofi a shoe deal right now...
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Also, would a player volunteer the information that they "only" got paid $500k, instead of the $1M? I think most would want to keep the illusion, even if it was smoke and mirrors.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
I also was on the brumby scissor board of years ago, but that has little to do with how a person approaches what others post.....
I'll leave it at this .....i like to think positive thoughts about a post and if it turns out wrong, then what have I lost.....really, what is the problem with taking info about the Illini and hoping it comes true.....I haven't jumped off any ledges yet , so whats the problem .....nevermind , I don't really need to know or care to know...........Time for a drink from my glass half full concoction.........
Deleted member 747671
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Does this make me an INSIDER?!?!
May be a bit early to say this but it‘s probably not long before corrupt money, fraud, gambling, etc., begin to find their way into this process. The illusion of purity that many of us have enjoyed could be coming to an end.
Deleted member 747903
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Please dear god no..
Yes and no. To a degree, programs know, or are getting enough intel to know what they can raise for a specific player. It should be easier to raise money in this environment for a couple reasons. 1. More boosters would come on board if the money was above board. 2. There is marketing value to the players, especially in a social media world where they generate clicks and awareness.
But it's early days, and there is considerable room for false promises, shenanigans, and miscommunication. Now that there's NIL money involved, I guarantee that down the road you will hear from athletes that were oversold (or misunderstood) and say the program didn't live up to the promises. Recruiting reputation will be a big factor. It is currently, but I could see it becoming more of an issue in an NIL world.
As a fan, I'd put my cup on. I suspect the program will find its groove in due course, but these early days I wouldn't place my bets on us winning the high-profile battles. There's a reason those other programs were winning recruitments, and if you think that's changed, well, it hasn't.
Yeah, that's where NIL will end up hurting team unity.
I agree, like any new market this will be a process of discovery over time till norms are established based on what successes and failures emerge.
What really is an "insider"? We all really find out the truth at about the same time. And, at least lately, what finally has been happening with recruits is usually mostly unexpected. With that said, I do appreciate the effort. Probably just the "nut punch" talking here.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
RE: Illinois not being a “big market” … ridiculous.
1) There are about 2 million people in Central IL alone (and more in pretty major metros/TV markets like C-U, B-N, Peoria, etc. than people think … i.e., it’s not very rural, population-wise). Whatever people want to say about our instate fan support, it’s as rabid in Central IL as anyone’s anywhere in the nation.
2) There are about 4.5 million people in all of Downstate IL, which is pretty big for a “fairly dominant territory” for a team. As an example, even assuming Wisconsin had no instate competition for fans (obviously not true with Milwaukee and Marquette), we’d already be barely below them before counting ANY of Chicagoland.
3) We SHOULD count Chicago as our market. Not only do we have 250,000 alumni in the area (FAR more than any other school), but we are also one of VERY few teams that non-alumni Chicago fans (like me!) will support. The Illini gear and coverage REALLY picked up last spring as we were hitting our stride.
4) None of this counts the more basic fact that we are in one of the most high-exposure conferences in the country and coming off of a season that truly reinvigorated our fan support. This isn’t about “best,” it’s about “biggest” … and we are as big of a “market” as anyone but about a handful of schools, IMO:
BLUE BLOODS
1) Kentucky
2) North Carolina
3) Duke
4) Kansas
5) UCLA
6) Indiana
7) Louisville
TEAMS CLEARLY “BIGGER”
8) Syracuse
9) Ohio State
10) Michigan
11) Texas
You can make arguments for additional schools like MSU or Arizona depending on what you’re valuing, but the media markets in which you are covered is going to matter more, and that SHOULD favor us if we play our cards right. If Ayo plays for any other school, there isn’t a billboard of him in Downtown Chicago that says “Illinois’ Own Draft Pick.” We will still lose to the Blue Bloods a lot (what’s new?), but this benefits us more than the vast majority of schools.
1) There are about 2 million people in Central IL alone (and more in pretty major metros/TV markets like C-U, B-N, Peoria, etc. than people think … i.e., it’s not very rural, population-wise). Whatever people want to say about our instate fan support, it’s as rabid in Central IL as anyone’s anywhere in the nation.
2) There are about 4.5 million people in all of Downstate IL, which is pretty big for a “fairly dominant territory” for a team. As an example, even assuming Wisconsin had no instate competition for fans (obviously not true with Milwaukee and Marquette), we’d already be barely below them before counting ANY of Chicagoland.
3) We SHOULD count Chicago as our market. Not only do we have 250,000 alumni in the area (FAR more than any other school), but we are also one of VERY few teams that non-alumni Chicago fans (like me!) will support. The Illini gear and coverage REALLY picked up last spring as we were hitting our stride.
4) None of this counts the more basic fact that we are in one of the most high-exposure conferences in the country and coming off of a season that truly reinvigorated our fan support. This isn’t about “best,” it’s about “biggest” … and we are as big of a “market” as anyone but about a handful of schools, IMO:
BLUE BLOODS
1) Kentucky
2) North Carolina
3) Duke
4) Kansas
5) UCLA
6) Indiana
7) Louisville
TEAMS CLEARLY “BIGGER”
8) Syracuse
9) Ohio State
10) Michigan
11) Texas
You can make arguments for additional schools like MSU or Arizona depending on what you’re valuing, but the media markets in which you are covered is going to matter more, and that SHOULD favor us if we play our cards right. If Ayo plays for any other school, there isn’t a billboard of him in Downtown Chicago that says “Illinois’ Own Draft Pick.” We will still lose to the Blue Bloods a lot (what’s new?), but this benefits us more than the vast majority of schools.
sacraig
- The desert
I don't really know what will happen, but I do think that even the likes of UNC boosters will get tired of throwing mad cash at players that turn out to be mediocre. I suspect the final answer will land somewhere in the middle. If someone keeps promising these kids 7 figures and most only make a tenth of that, word will get around. At the same time, it can't be a purely analytics-based message because that probably won't resonate well with most of these kids, even if it's more accurate.
sacraig
- The desert
Yeah, this all feels a bit like the Citizens United decision that green-lit unlimited dark money in political campaigns.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
To succeed in the current climate, I think you need to be able to offer tantalizing opportunities while soft-pedaling the possibility that each recruit's actual mileage may vary. At the end of the day, many recruits will still have to make themselves marketable to the people writing the checks. So you tell incoming recruits that you'll get them into the rooms, but it is ultimately up to them to seal those deals for themselves. It will require work to maximize NIL dollars.
In my mind, there will essentially be two levels moving forward. For those who are happy just reaping passive NIL income, the money will be a nice bonus on top of a scholarship. Anyone who wants a lot more than that will need to don another hat as a student-athlete-entrepreneur. The investments needed to move up the ladder will be significant. I imagine many will be getting a wake-up call upon realizing that making money is hard work.
Social media manager, brand manager, marketing manager, and sports agent are all actual jobs.
In my mind, there will essentially be two levels moving forward. For those who are happy just reaping passive NIL income, the money will be a nice bonus on top of a scholarship. Anyone who wants a lot more than that will need to don another hat as a student-athlete-entrepreneur. The investments needed to move up the ladder will be significant. I imagine many will be getting a wake-up call upon realizing that making money is hard work.
Social media manager, brand manager, marketing manager, and sports agent are all actual jobs.
Agree. Ayo was actually pretty well set up for this cuz of his family. Idk how many other players who will have people that can kinda step into these roles to lessen the burden on the player
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Kidding, right? It's been that way for forever.
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