[cardfan1996]

PS, given the likes of Endyia Rogers, Sedona Prince, Destiny Slocum, Jade Lovillle, etc. I think the odds are very high that a player who leaves  a premier program for a better situation will keep shopping and transfer more than once.  UCLA had better not get too smug.

Sedona Prince - now there's an interesting NIL story. Anyone venture to guess how much she makes per year? $500K (as of Sep '22), who knows how much now. Plus, she's inking equity deals, not just cash. And now she's going to TCU where she plans on using both her years of eligibility to basically play some hoop and hit the Dallas market.

"With her former coach at the helm of TCU’s program and the DFW market providing a of immense proportions potential NIL platform for Prince, the move makes sense."
https://collegesportswire.usatoday.com/2...er-portal/

Here's what interesting.... 81alum, 1996, et al - I totally get and agree what you're saying about UCLA hoops attendance and interest in womens basketball. But that's not what this is about for many of today's top players. TCU's womens basktball attendance is around 1,000 per game. It's an echo chamber in there. But Prince is going there because she wants to move to a big market and play for a coach and school that will support her in her NIL activities. This from a player who has basically played 2 years of inconsequential basketball averaging 10 pts and 3 rebounds per game. Hoops is like a side activity that she's using to build her brand and image. Oregon got her Wasserman. She's an activist. That's the most important thing to her. She could have stayed at Oregon and had more playing time than she could handle.

It's way different on the men's side where even a journeyman career can net you millions in the pros. On the women's side, it's tough to find a better hoops success story than Lexie Hull. Her next year WNBA contract, for a first round pick, assuming she sticks, will get her $70K. Are these top players really motivated by the WNBA?

These players are all different. They have to want and pursue these NIL opportunities for their own reasons and really, many don't care. Hannah Jump doesn't. Lexie didn't. Cam does. Haley does. Fran tried, but in the end decided to become a doctor (clap clap!). But these top recruits - many do care, because they see the players ahead of them doing it and having success so why not use their leverage to get in on the action? Kiki Rice certainly cares. Betts? I think so. That's just my read. Guess we'll see. 
 
I also think these stories can be looked at like success stories and not as "sell outs". Sedona Prince is going to graduate a multi-millionaire from TCU with tons of career opportunities ahead of her. It's not the way it was written back in the Title IX days, but hey - I'm tipping my hat. 

p.s. T2 - love the All the President's Men / follow the money post!

---

I am not on the Close train.  She is not a terrible coach.  She has gotten better over time.  I'd call her decent but not exceptional.  She recruits well.  She has also wasted more talent with fewer great results than pretty much any coach I can think of.  Her teams have consistently underperformed talent level during her time at UCLA.  For all the criticism of Tara on here lately, Stanford teams have done way better than UCLA teams since Close became coach there, and the talent level differential has not been big and sometimes has favored the Bruins.  Think of the talent that has passed through UCLA and never made it deep into the NCAAs or ended up a top 10 team.  How many F4s has Stanford been to since Close became head coach at UCLA?  Rag on Tara all you want, and this season she maybe earned some of it (but not close to what I see on here), but she has consistently been a better coach than Close.  Scoreboard over time speaks.  

All that said, I think it is getting time for a change for Stanford.  Things won't get easier unless and until there are some rules that tame the wild west of the portal and NIL.  The more I know about the attitudes of college players toward their sport and their team, and that includes Stanford, the less I am inclined to support college sports.  When there is no true commitment by anyone to a team (to coaches it is a job and now to players it is a job too) why should fans be committed?  Everyone is in it purely for themselves, so am I as a fan.  I am no longer obligated to forgive the foibles of "my" team or any athlete.  It is all a business.  Social media and building a brand is the thing.  Treat the game and the players accordingly.

Totally agree with this Chimera. Close is a better recruiter, but that's only one part of the equation. Tara's body of work is way better.

To me, there is no rhyme or reason but there are clearly two categories. Category 1 are “influencers” - people who have amassed a large following on social media but are not at the top of their sport. You said Prince gets paid $500k and I think she is at best a mediocre bball player but through luck went viral piggybacking off an issue our strength and conditioning coach first brought to light. Or someone like the Cavinder twins who were apparently the highest paid bball players at over $2M but quit after one season at Miami because being pros and bypassing Nil rules altogether will be more lucrative.

Category 2 are the truly gifted players that are also marketable like Clark, Buekers, Azzi, HVL and Brink, etc. I don’t think all these players are paid the same and it’s likely they are the only one on their team or in their conference seeing the type of money Category 1 players have.

So what happens to everyone else? That is the question Geno asked last year. If you get beyond the cockiness, the guy is very insightful and keeps evolving and he sees things before everyone else does. This was over a year ago. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_XA6y8XzuZ...YSBuaWw%3D


Maybe the 3rd Category is called “Nickel and Dimers” and that is everyone else playing musical chairs for nickels and dimes

[cardfan1996]

PS, given the likes of Endyia Rogers, Sedona Prince, Destiny Slocum, Jade Lovillle, etc. I think the odds are very high that a player who leaves  a premier program for a better situation will keep shopping and transfer more than once.  UCLA had better not get too smug.

Sedona Prince - now there's an interesting NIL story. Anyone venture to guess how much she makes per year? $500K (as of Sep '22), who knows how much now. Plus, she's inking equity deals, not just cash. And now she's going to TCU where she plans on using both her years of eligibility to basically play some hoop and hit the Dallas market.

"With her former coach at the helm of TCU’s program and the DFW market providing a of immense proportions potential NIL platform for Prince, the move makes sense."
https://collegesportswire.usatoday.com/2...er-portal/

Here's what interesting.... 81alum, 1996, et al - I totally get and agree what you're saying about UCLA hoops attendance and interest in womens basketball. But that's not what this is about for many of today's top players. TCU's womens basktball attendance is around 1,000 per game. It's an echo chamber in there. But Prince is going there because she wants to move to a big market and play for a coach and school that will support her in her NIL activities. This from a player who has basically played 2 years of inconsequential basketball averaging 10 pts and 3 rebounds per game. Hoops is like a side activity that she's using to build her brand and image. Oregon got her Wasserman. She's an activist. That's the most important thing to her. She could have stayed at Oregon and had more playing time than she could handle.

It's way different on the men's side where even a journeyman career can net you millions in the pros. On the women's side, it's tough to find a better hoops success story than Lexie Hull. Her next year WNBA contract, for a first round pick, assuming she sticks, will get her $70K. Are these top players really motivated by the WNBA?

These players are all different. They have to want and pursue these NIL opportunities for their own reasons and really, many don't care. Hannah Jump doesn't. Lexie didn't. Cam does. Haley does. Fran tried, but in the end decided to become a doctor (clap clap!). But these top recruits - many do care, because they see the players ahead of them doing it and having success so why not use their leverage to get in on the action? Kiki Rice certainly cares. Betts? I think so. That's just my read. Guess we'll see. 
 
I also think these stories can be looked at like success stories and not as "sell outs". Sedona Prince is going to graduate a multi-millionaire from TCU with tons of career opportunities ahead of her. It's not the way it was written back in the Title IX days, but hey - I'm tipping my hat. 

p.s. T2 - love the All the President's Men / follow the money post!

---

I am not on the Close train.  She is not a terrible coach.  She has gotten better over time.  I'd call her decent but not exceptional.  She recruits well.  She has also wasted more talent with fewer great results than pretty much any coach I can think of.  Her teams have consistently underperformed talent level during her time at UCLA.  For all the criticism of Tara on here lately, Stanford teams have done way better than UCLA teams since Close became coach there, and the talent level differential has not been big and sometimes has favored the Bruins.  Think of the talent that has passed through UCLA and never made it deep into the NCAAs or ended up a top 10 team.  How many F4s has Stanford been to since Close became head coach at UCLA?  Rag on Tara all you want, and this season she maybe earned some of it (but not close to what I see on here), but she has consistently been a better coach than Close.  Scoreboard over time speaks.  

All that said, I think it is getting time for a change for Stanford.  Things won't get easier unless and until there are some rules that tame the wild west of the portal and NIL.  The more I know about the attitudes of college players toward their sport and their team, and that includes Stanford, the less I am inclined to support college sports.  When there is no true commitment by anyone to a team (to coaches it is a job and now to players it is a job too) why should fans be committed?  Everyone is in it purely for themselves, so am I as a fan.  I am no longer obligated to forgive the foibles of "my" team or any athlete.  It is all a business.  Social media and building a brand is the thing.  Treat the game and the players accordingly.

Totally agree with this Chimera. Close is a better recruiter, but that's only one part of the equation. Tara's body of work is way better.

To me, there is no rhyme or reason but there are clearly two categories. Category 1 are “influencers” - people who have amassed a large following on social media but are not at the top of their sport. You said Prince gets paid $500k and I think she is at best a mediocre bball player but through luck went viral piggybacking off an issue our strength and conditioning coach first brought to light. Or someone like the Cavinder twins who were apparently the highest paid bball players at over $2M but quit after one season at Miami because being pros and bypassing Nil rules altogether will be more lucrative.

Category 2 are the truly gifted players that are also marketable like Clark, Buekers, Azzi, HVL and Brink, etc. I don’t think all these players are paid the same and it’s likely they are the only one on their team or in their conference seeing the type of money Category 1 players have.

So what happens to everyone else? That is the question Geno asked last year. If you get beyond the cockiness, the guy is very insightful and keeps evolving and he sees things before everyone else does. This was over a year ago. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_XA6y8XzuZ...YSBuaWw%3D


Maybe the 3rd Category is called “Nickel and Dimers” and that is everyone else playing musical chairs for nickels and dimes