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We will be okay. Yuri may have issues with Assist/TO ratio against better teams in a P5 conference. He did feast off the bad teams.

We could call this NIL....The Saint Louis U Sports Help fund. Just call it what it is.

I’ve been saying this for some time, apparently the rest are finally realizing it. College sports are finished, they now are just professional minor league teams. Perhaps in the future, Kentucky can just designate 3 or 4 schools as their farm teams. As for Yuri, thanks for nothing. You are now just a professional athlete who deserves to be treated as one. One day he will realize the harsh realities of that. I hope he is never considered for the Billiken hall of fame, as loyalty should be the number 1 criteria for admittance.

Just wish the guy the best. He came from a tough place and has a daughter. I wish him the best on the court and in the classroom.

Are they trolling the fanbase?

On this board when they don't develop properly it's 90% bad coaching. When they do develop it's 90% the player

Instead of wasting time worrying about how to fix the system, SLU needs to figure out quickly how to adapt to the modern reality.

Everyone should simply be happy for Yuri. I have felt bad for years that good to great college players would never get paid, and then fail to make it in the pros. It is about time things have started to change. Getting $200k to start your life is a huge windfall. Hopefully, he saves the money and uses it to build a life. If SLU and it’s fans can’t match, then there is nothing else to say.

Welp I slept on it and you know what? I feel much better! Oh who am I kidding I’m still pissed off.

Wow how far he has fallen, he has to go to Hampton to be a featured player, this has to be a joke or am I missing something? Depaul, Butler, Loyola, Drake, Missouri State, Murray State we’re not interested? Each day and it’s just my opinion I believe there were some team issues with more than one player that split the locker room and the house is being self cleaned by the transfer portal. The team played really well at the beginning of the A10 season and then fell apart. More and more I feel that this is for the best.

Again I will say. Yuri Collins isn't getting $200,000 to play at Tennessee for a year. He might have some sort of 'if this then that' type setup over multiple years, but they aren't paying Yuri freaking Collins 200,000 to come there and turnover the ball for a single year. I saw a contract signed recently by a high level guy at a much higher level than Yuri and Tennessee. He got 180k from the school collective and a 2 year lease on a luxury car, so roughly about 195k. That was one of the biggest deals out there. The athletes making the big dollars are those that are borderline 1st round picks and/or have a huge social media following. The Paige Buckers/Livvy Dunne/Fresno Twins attractive females of the world have a huge social media following that is worth it for national brands to buy into. Yuri Collins isn't getting $200,000 to play at Tennessee.

SLU is only upper third in it's own conference right now. So no we're not going to compete against powerhouses and we haven't since the 50s anyway. We need to compete vs like schools. Competing against like schools with good facilities, recruiting base, and coaching should equal a NCAA run at least once every decade or so. Is that too much to ask? This NIL+Transfer is a shock to the system. The system will recalibrate to Big Schools still having power and the rest of us taking our best shot from time to time. I want SLU to be the best of what we can be, better than the bottom P5 schools, and better than most non-P5. There's only so many Big $ programs they have always been Big $ programs. You have to succeed in the operational environment by recognizing your program strengths, weaknesses and opportunities.

7 stages of being a Billiken fan 1. Hope 2. excitement 3. Disappointment 4. Shock 5. Anger 6. more disappointment 7. more anger Its a vicious cycle

Perkins didn’t leave.

Can we now stop referring to them as kids? They’re professional athletes. Nothing less.

Attacking Yuri doesn't make the program not second tier. Go out and find a point guard to play with a roster that, at least at this point, is still NCAA tourney quality. Attacking Yuri fixes zero problems.

This means a whole hell of a lot to me. Starting over from scratch is not what I wanted to do but it’s been incredibly rewarding. I owe so much to Peter, who took a leap of faith in me joining the podcast. Going back to when we became aware of each other years ago to where we are now as friends and co-hosts. It’s pretty amazing. Also open to it. He was really cool, not a big talker but I think he was open to talking about anything, he was really excited about the coming season. Finally, beyond posting new episodes and podcast updates I’m taking a sabbatical from this forum(both accounts). For now twitter is enough and I know I have friends monitoring this board if necessary. I am fully committed to keeping this podcast continuously churning out content outside of vacations. In fact I’m unveiling some really cool additions to our video show that should enhance the viewing experience. But to keep my emotional well-being on the level while covering the Bills, I don’t have room for the board. So I apologize if we are getting tagged on here or receive feedback on here. I know Peter will pass it along as well.

SLU is a catholic school so maybe a few of you have heard a Priest say, "In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety...." I've also heard some Priests use an alternate phrasing "worry about senseless things" If you're not into Western religions here's one from Ghandi, "There is nothing that wastes the body like worry...." It's senseless to think the NCAA can or will do something about NIL. Ya'll need to stop worrying and learn to love the bomb err NIL.

He won't have an issue showing his face in STL. Bitter fan attacks on Yuri don't help the program.

After all this drama... No thanks. Give it to francis, Gibby or Perk. We saw some sort of team head butting this year. Yuri coming back would really be something else for team chemistry. Wish Yuri luck, he will be soon forgoten.

No dollars for quitters. Next player up.

Exactly. Just a few years ago Sean Miller drew the ire of the NCAA because thousands of dollars changed hands for a player. Under the new system, a million dollars+ changes hands for a player. Wade would still be at LSU now under the new rules. The reason that arms races get out of control is because competitive men don't know when to stop. Enough already.

This could end very badly for Tyler.

He told the staff by text? what a weasel. If he isn’t mature enough to man up and tell Ford to his face he isn’t mature enough to have 200 grand in his bank account. I wonder if he used emoji’s? “ ya coach but out! bill y’all!!”

Kim English told Frank C on Friday that Yuri was going to Tennessee. He was at GM for the SLU baseball game. Late last week Yuri told Ford ‘We’re good.’ Yuri told the staff about his decision via text.

In my opinion the portal should revert back to normal. Unless a coaching change is made within the program, then the athletes of that team should be granted 1 time transfer immediate eligibility waiver. Seems fair and simple.

After living in Ohio for 25 years, I can tell you the OSU fan base includes many many big $$$ folks who will gladly flood OSU athletes with NIL money. Am sure this situation exists at just about every P5 state school. We cannot keep up.

There appears to be some mutual interest between former Delaware Blue Hen Andrew Carr and SLU from who is following who on twitter. A 6'9" forward who averaged 10 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 blocks and shot 40.5% from 3 last season on 1.2 attempts per game. Could be a guy that is developing into a nice stretch 4.

ok, so let's say a big time booster who's past contribution might consist of paying the expenses of say 3 road trips a year. since i rarely pay airfare, hotel, meals and bus expense of an away game for 13 players and another 13-20 others (coaches, managers, accompanying administration) on a roadtrip game i dont know the cost. let's say it's $30,000. so to keep the yuri's of a team you need to find 6 or 7 of these guys just to keep 1 yuri. plus now you are out the expense of that road trip which previously got paid by that one booster. the expenses to cover this NIL is prohibitive for a program of our magnitude. remember most of these p5 schools are not private schools. they are public universities with gigantic budget opportunities coupled with much larger alumni bases to draw on for the needed "donations". you guys are dreaming to think we can compete in this field. especially in the long run.

Football > basketball, but big NIL piece from the Athletic today: In early March, The Athletic reported that a five-star 2023 recruit signed an $8 million NIL deal with a school’s donor collective. While that remains by far the highest known deal to date, other top recruits are reaping the benefits of a rapidly soaring arms race. The Athletic reviewed three recruits’ recently signed NIL contracts, each with a different school-specific collective. The Athletic agreed to preserve the anonymity of all parties in order to get a better sense of the current market rates for top recruits. A four-star receiver landed a deal that will pay him more than $1 million over the next four years in exchange for his exclusive NIL rights. A defensive lineman ranked among the top 10 at his position received a three-year deal worth $1 million. And a three-star defensive lineman signed for $500,000 over four years. The latter two are non-exclusive. “(NIL) creates a situation where you can basically buy players,” Alabama coach Nick Saban recently told the Associated Press. “You can do it in recruiting. I mean, if that’s what we want college football to be, I don’t know.” Corey Staniscia, who helped author the state of Florida’s NIL law last year and now works for Dreamfield Sports, agreed. “You have adults with a lot of money who just want to win championships and buy athletes,” he said. All of the deals The Athletic reviewed stipulate that they are not an inducement to attend a specific school, but it’s no secret which collectives support which college teams. And given the Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision in last year’s NCAA vs. Alston antitrust case, experts consider the NCAA unlikely to take aggressive action limiting athletes’ compensation. “This is the hierarchy,” said attorney Mike Caspino, who has represented dozens of recruits in their dealings with collectives and executed the contracts The Athletic reviewed. “Five-star quarterbacks: They’re getting $2 million a year. The next-most sought after players are D-linemen, edge rushers; they’re getting seven figures. The next is a stud offensive lineman with quick feet — they’re in the high six figures. Everyone else is a hodgepodge, but in the six-figure range.” Many coaches and administrators are experiencing sticker shock over an above-table market that sprouted up seemingly overnight and is now having a profound effect on where certain recruiters are committing. Others have resigned themselves to NIL bidding wars becoming the new normal. “I think it’s not going to be long until every signee at a Power 5 school is on some form of NIL — and that may be this coming year,” said Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin. Many states’ NIL laws adopted last summer prohibit schools from directly brokering deals. That opened the door for third-party collectives — organizations that pool fan and booster donations in order to compensate a specific school’s athletes. Boosters at a small handful of programs — Texas A&M, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon and Miami chief among them — mobilized the quickest when the NCAA allowed NIL compensation for the first time last July. But they are far outnumbered by exasperated coaches and administrators who fear their programs getting left behind. Many have lost recruits simply because another school’s collective offered an NIL package it couldn’t match. “We lost a kid (on signing day) over that. That hurt,” a Power 5 head coach told The Athletic. “Two hours before, the mom is telling me he’s coming here. And then she said, ‘Coach, how can we turn down $300,000?’ You can’t. Take it, I get it.” In recent weeks, new collectives have been announced everywhere from Ohio State and Penn State to Kansas State and FIU. “It’s a conversation that is absolutely being had, collective by collective, across the country right now. Do we need to go in this direction to compete?” said sports attorney Darren Heitner, who advises Florida’s Gator Collective. “A benchmark has been set, and if you’re a talented player, and if you’re willing to take the risk, then you probably think you’re worth that much or more.” On April 8, offensive lineman Josh Conerly Jr., from Seattle, the last remaining unsigned five-star in the class of 2022, spurned presumed favorite USC, which does not have a collective, in favor of Oregon, which does. It’s called Division Street, and Ducks mega-booster Phil Knight is heavily involved. “(Recruiting) doesn’t even resemble what we used to do before NIL,” USC coach Lincoln Riley told reporters the day after losing Conerly. “In every sense of the word, it’s different. The reality is, it’s made what’s gone on at certain places for a long time … it’s going to put it out in the open. So maybe (there are) some positives there.” Elsewhere, Ohio State has long been considered the favorite for five-star 2023 receiver Carnell Tate from IMG Academy in Florida, but two weekends ago he visited Tennessee, and late last week, On3 revised its prediction for Tate to Tennessee. The co-president of Spyre Sports, a for-profit collective associated with Tennessee, told The Athletic in February, “We’re prepared to invest a substantial amount of resources into the 2023 recruiting class.” A co-founder of The Foundation, Ohio State’s recently announced non-profit NIL fund, recently said on a Bucknuts podcast, “We can’t make an official deal with a recruit.” But not everybody’s jumping on board the collective movement. Many prominent football schools have explicitly warned their donors against getting involved in recruiting — which is still technically against the rules. USC does not have a collective. A Notre Dame version launched Monday but is being marketed as a charity endeavor. The co-founder of a Michigan NIL partner said of paying recruits: “Michigan’s not doing that.” “I think there are some places that have weaponized NIL and are using it in recruiting,” said UCLA coach Chip Kelly. “That’s not going to happen here, so we don’t even discuss it. Heitner fears some of the more brazen deals being made for recruits may lead to future repercussions for the players. “The athlete is the one with the risk,” he said. “Don’t put it past the NCAA to render an athlete ineligible after the fact.” Caspino, the attorney that helped author dozens of these recruit-collective contracts, disagrees that they violate NCAA rules. “What blows everybody away by my contracts is there is no mention of the school and there is no commitment that he has to go there and play football,” he said. “I welcome the NCAA looking at my contracts.” Beyond the legality, there’s also the question of whether throwing seven-figure deals at unproven high school players or inexperienced portal transfers is a sensible investment. Saban called it an “unsustainable model.” Riley predicted an eventual “market correction.” “You’re really guessing that this 18-year-old guy who has proven zero is worth a million dollars from somebody, somehow, however that money is getting there,” said the Power 5 head coach. “Like … what the are we talking about? Why even want to be associated with this? We’re ruining kids.” The 2023 class could turn out to be a fascinating case study. Will the players who cashed in be less likely to transfer because they risk blowing up their deal — or perhaps more likely because they picked a school solely for financial reasons? If a lot of the top recruits become busts, will donors be less likely to pitch in going forward? Or will 2024 kids get even richer as more schools’ collectives become better funded? “A lot of people tell me hey, don’t worry, this isn’t here to stay, these numbers you’re seeing out there, people can’t keep that up. I disagree,” said Kiffin. “(Schools) always find a way to keep up. They find money.”

SLU's program isn't a dog and pony show. You have a top end basketball stadium that 95% of the college basketball world are envious of. You have a campus that is great and only getting better. SLU is a world class research university and yes that helps. You just took the best player away from a P5 SEC school. Saint Louis is a hotbed for top recruits. I get losing Yuri sucks but this isn't the end of the world. Stop looking at what you don't have and start looking ar what you do have. I think when you do that you will find SLU is an awesome basketball program. It's the Saint Peters of the world that are in trouble.

SLU seems focused (indirectly of course) on players having merch deals or running basketball camps as their NIL benefits. The true players in the NIL game give out cash to Yuri Collins just because he is Yuri Collins. I know there are many on here who say the school can't be involved. But the NIL is already the wild west so who cares and even if the school isn't directly handing out briefcases, the coaching staff and AD should be meeting with the millionaire donors today to start directing cash.

Somewhere there is a SLU decision maker who concluded that any amount of NLI fund donations is just less money for University donations. I’d wager that’s the crux of the reason for no NLI movement from AD.

He hasn’t transferred yet, somebody at SLU needs to figure out how to help him with nil here. And fast! this isn’t on Ford as nil. Someone else needs to step up now.

I disagree with @3star_recruit that "mid-majors" just became the minor league to P5 programs. I think it seems that way now. SLU boosters are behind on NIL. As are other middle of the road and even some big programs. Our eyes are open now. Programs will start their own NIL systems in time and the landscape will return to what it was before. The big programs always had more draw/boosters/media attention now it's just more open and can be targeted to players. The equilibrium will be set again. I was advocating SLU get ahead of the NIL curve before like programs so we could beat them to that next level of player not picked up by the big time programs. The right mix (roles) coached correctly can beat a hodge podge of transfers. If we could've gotten ahead of it perhaps some of this could've been avoided and SLU would be winning next year and that winning would result in momentum. We still might win next season. By win I mean make it to the NCAA (and maybe win 1st round).

My biggest concern is the manner in which Collins handled this entire process. I have been a season ticket holder for many years, although I stayed away from most games this last year for personal reasons, but this is not a kneejerk reaction since I have watched this transfer portal process carefully. I am no longer going to spend the dollars for season tickets, parking, refreshments and a basic Billikens Club membership. While I am sorry that this will affect the team I have followed all these years, college basketball is no longer something that I want to support. This Board has a few posters who always speak positively about the no-sitout-transfer policy the NCAA adopted. Well, I hope they are all happy because this is what it has come to. There just aren't enough Goodwins, Frenchs and Perkins' to honor their commitments to their school and teammates. I hope Coach Ford is able to get a capable PG for next season so that Javonte can leave with a NCAA appearance on his resume.

Do the donors that like subsidizing facilities that will benefit the campus for 30-40 years, that will benefit 100s or 1,000s or 10,000s of students and/or visitors, and that they can put their names on, also want to hand checks to a select few undergrads essentially with no strings attached?

At first I was upset about the big schools wanting their own league and tournament. I have changed my mind it is time. A SLU education is good enough compensation to play basketball for 4 years at SLU. For the fans that want to watch the NBA minor league schools knock yourself out but never call your players students or amateurs. There would be almost 300 D1 schools and the A10 would be a top league if the big schools have their semi pro league. I am a SLU fan for real student athletes, SLU has nothing in common with schools that want to pay 200k for players. In the end real college players will win out because money corrupts and the problems money causes with players in the pros will be an issue in the college semi pro league. Fans will want to watch real students playing instead of dealing with a semi pro players. CBFan stands for College Ball Fan I dislike pro sports because of players behavior, strikes and greed.

Who gets the blame for SLU not being ready to play at all in the NIL game? May? Ford? People at the university have to avoid their direct involvement in transactions, but someone should have something to boosters off the record about starting something.

I’ve never dogged a student athlete because I considered them kids. The landscape of college sports now is changed. Cudos to those who value an education but unfortunately it is all about money. That being said, I have no problem rooting against a player who leaves a team high and dry that has put so much time and effort to support and develop them. Now that they are getting paid they have to take the heat of being an adult and except the criticism. I will not be rooting for Mr. Collins.

I don’t think I’ve actively cheered for a player to fail but this might be the first time. I want Yuri to be an example of what happens when you leave a good situation at a high mid major and fail at a P5. Maybe I’m just salty about being scammed for 44 dollars for a Gildan sweatshirt.

Went at schasz cause of the shittt he said on the Tennessee board. I didn't care he posted it here. Anybody who looks at slu as a little brother is gonna get shittt from me. But ya definitely feel like an idiot. Pretty stunned fr. Going to take a break from the billiken fandom for a minute. Right after he dropped the merch. F you Yuri lol

Nah man he literally just stole money from diehard fans who love this man. That’s greedy stuff.

Yuri who? And he better not receive SLU Hall of Fame consideration either.

Do we dare say it?? Yuri = tool??

Thats the spirit! Like anything, there will be winners and losers. P5 schools aren't guaranteed to be winners. There are going to be plenty of examples of Yuri Collins types going to a P5 school and sharting the bed, getting benched, etc. There will be coaches at the P5 level that only recruit the portal and will get burned by it. There will be coaches at the low major level that will thrive because of the transfer rules. SLU needs to adapt to the new rules of the game. Guys will be transferring out of every school in the country. The days of bringing in a freshman to redshirt are pretty much over and have already been over. You're recruiting an entire roster on a year to year basis. Build a winner with a good culture and you'll get the guys to stick around.

Neither player are as good as Yuri Collins. You can have revisionist history or whatever method of grieving that you're using, but Yuri will go to Tennessee, play a lot. They'll be a high seed in the tournament, and lose in the first weekend like they always do.

Maybe its the blue Kool-Aid, no frick it its not. It just feels like with a cast we have next year, getting a PG who can give us 8 ppg, 4 assists shouldn't be that hard of a task

This is a top 10 post of the year

How disappointing. I wish Yuri lots of turnovers.