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Post by nyalum on May 15, 2024 23:30:31 GMT -5
I was thinking about this. Can a Gonzaga-like national powerhouse be built from a mid-major program in the NIL era? I would say the chances are remote at best, barring regulations being put in place by the NCAA or federal government. Obviously, the advantages go towards schools with large alumni bases and NIL war chests. You will have the smaller schools that consistently win their conferences and get into the NCAA tournament, but you won't see them threaten to win a national championship like Gonzaga has.
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Post by 23won on May 16, 2024 2:35:43 GMT -5
Highly unlikely. Gonzaga is the only team fitting this bill currently. If they stay in their conference they probably lose this status. Few isn’t going to coach forever and imo they need to join Big 12 or Big East (imo a better move although a geographic challenge for travel) to maintain powerhouse status.
St Mary and Dayton (and others that have good programs) are just not worthy of powerhouse status
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Post by giveansk1 on May 16, 2024 6:05:17 GMT -5
It's easier than ever if you have the bankroll/willingness. Just look at all the foreign investment in European Football. Manchester City was bottom-mid table and now they are arguably consistently the best club in world, look at what is happening at Wrexham right now. There are countless other examples as well. Someone is going to throw cash around and pull up someone up either as an alum or an investment. Do you see what is happening at Grand Canyon? They are spending their way up the ladder and had their first nationally visible payoff this past tournament.
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Post by hykos1045 on May 16, 2024 6:05:46 GMT -5
Dayton came close to making the Final Four in 2020 if you believe them.
These same fans thought they were as good as a 3 seed this season, so...
Adding to the difficulty is the coaching carousel. Both Jay Wright and Dan Hurley were at midmajors before taking their blue bloods to two national titles (each). But perhaps they weren't there at Hofstra and Rhody long enough to establish a championship culture. Who knows what could have happened if they coached at the midmajor level for 5 or 6 more seasons?
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Post by JoeFedorowicz on May 16, 2024 6:22:40 GMT -5
Does the title of the thread imply a powerhouse of mid-majors or a powerhouse from mid-majors?
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Post by las71 on May 16, 2024 6:28:07 GMT -5
It's highly unlikely that we'll see a mid major powerhouse in the NIL era. Any mid major who has a big year will be raided by the bigs and face a total rebuild. It's almost impossible for the mids to keep a star player after he has one big year.
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Post by thelasallelunatic on May 16, 2024 6:48:09 GMT -5
As long as the Zags don't have big time football, they are golden.
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Post by nyalum on May 16, 2024 9:28:42 GMT -5
Does the title of the thread imply a powerhouse of mid-majors or a powerhouse from mid-majors? Powerhouse FROM a mid-major. Can a school from the A10 or MAAC, for example, become a national perennial powerhouse? |
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Post by explorer88 on May 16, 2024 9:31:21 GMT -5
I don't think so. To many variables each year to overcome. I would be surprised if we ever saw it again the way the rules are today.
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MisterD
The Baptist Himself
Voted Most Popular Poster 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
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Post by MisterD on May 16, 2024 10:39:18 GMT -5
Absolutely for the reasons giveansk1 stated above (and its essentially what Arkansas is doing) ... there are almost a thousand billionaires just in the US. If one of them committed like $50MM over 5 years that would be enough even if its with a cycling roster. The money right now is low enough you don't even need a collective or solid structure, a single wealthy person could easily swing an entire conference.
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Post by thelasallelunatic on May 16, 2024 10:52:44 GMT -5
The important thing to remember is all of this is in its infancy. It's going to look different in 5 years. Maybe high level recruiter coaches won't be in demand as much as a good bench coach. Maybe teams taking 5 one year rental players will stop if guys don't share the basketball and it doesn't bear fruit. Maybe collectives tie NIL money to 3 year contract. We've already mentioned this, but maybe coaches only bring in 8-10 scholarship guys, resulting in fewer opportunities by a third, drastically cutting down the portal. They are all hypothetical, because I don't have a crystal ball. I can only tell you that 40% of D1 returning players won't be in the portal every year.
Now, to answer the question, money makes anything possible. A Wall St guy that went to one of these MAAC schools can throw a few million at his squad and they will get talent. Will it lead to a 4 or 5 year run of dominance? Only if you can retain players. This isn't a La Salle issue, it's not a mid major issue, it's a college athletics issue.
Duke and Kentucky have their entire teams in the portal. Duke has been playing the one and done game since Kyrie was there 13 years ago, and Kentucky played it for the 15 years Cal was in Lexington. Those guys are used to thin senior night celebrations and losing half of their rosters every spring. Jack Clark left 2 final 4 level programs to come back to an NIT level A10 team. The whole thing is on its head right now.
What gave mid majors an equalizer was keeping players together for 3 years. Today, those mid major guys are more sought after than Bronny James as a high school recruit. Until a rich dude throws money at the guys to stay on the team, or coaches recruit Inter AC type kids from rich families that don't want or need money, mid majors are going to have to play the long game until this all shakes out. Who knows, maybe they will start getting top 100 players that are getting slighted from all the transfers. I have a feeling that the answer to your question is yes, but it's not going to happen until things calm down.
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Post by victoriouslasalle on May 16, 2024 11:30:10 GMT -5
Absolutely for the reasons giveansk1 stated above (and its essentially what Arkansas is doing) ... there are almost a thousand billionaires just in the US. If one of them committed like $50MM over 5 years that would be enough even if its with a cycling roster. The money right now is low enough you don't even need a collective or solid structure, a single wealthy person could easily swing an entire conference. Geez I hadn't thought of this and yes it sounds plausible. Instead of recruiting basketball players now we need to prioritize recruiting billionaires. I can see it now the time has come for us to pitch Elon Musk! Perhaps get the old astronaut explorer mascot suit out of mothballs and approach him about all that we have in common. UGH! This is so utterly unappealing to me! |
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Post by JoeFedorowicz on May 16, 2024 11:37:59 GMT -5
If they want to get rid of me, this will do it. |
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Post by thelasallelunatic on May 16, 2024 11:50:16 GMT -5
If they want to get rid of me, this will do it. Fuck it, if everyone else is for sale, you are too JoeFed! |
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MisterD
The Baptist Himself
Voted Most Popular Poster 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
Posts: 8,685
Likes: 6,531
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Post by MisterD on May 16, 2024 13:14:11 GMT -5
I've spotted two of those trucks parked in person and both times there were people around laughing and taking pictures (although it did cause me to learn the term gelotophilia).
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Post by victoriouslasalle on May 17, 2024 10:23:21 GMT -5
If they want to get rid of me, this will do it. Fuck it, if everyone else is for sale, you are too JoeFed! LOL, sounds like some people may want to vet our billionaire donor. |
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Post by crayzeeguy on May 17, 2024 13:12:26 GMT -5
Absolutely for the reasons giveansk1 stated above (and its essentially what Arkansas is doing) ... there are almost a thousand billionaires just in the US. If one of them committed like $50MM over 5 years that would be enough even if its with a cycling roster. The money right now is low enough you don't even need a collective or solid structure, a single wealthy person could easily swing an entire conference. Geez I hadn't thought of this and yes it sounds plausible. Instead of recruiting basketball players now we need to prioritize recruiting billionaires. I can see it now the time has come for us to pitch Elon Musk! Perhaps get the old astronaut explorer mascot suit out of mothballs and approach him about all that we have in common. UGH! This is so utterly unappealing to me! <cough cough> Portnoy <cough> |
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