Wendelprof

[This is in response to Old Guy's posting about SLU official NIL policy] There's always the official, written policy for legal purposes, and then there's how the entity operates. Sometimes the two are fairly aligned, sometimes not. My assumption is all schools are saying one thing and doing another, not necessarily because they are intentionally misrepresenting the situation but because the landscape is so new and is changing so fast they are just trying to stay competitive.

Not that it is a controlling consideration, but at most universities these days the "free tuition" starts at 50% and goes up with each year of service. And I have a vague recollection that the board discussed this years ago, and someone posted about NCAA regulations that overlap. I wouldn't assume he will be on a non-basketball scholarship.

Hmm, did someone find a Billiken bone near Grand Ave way back when?

Hate to be lawyerly, but I assume the contract language has a lot to do with the earliest date SLU can make the decision, assuming they are leaning towards terminating the contract. Assuming the buy-out drops each year, the key is when "the year" ends. I assume it ends after "the last game." The last game of the conference season or the last game of the season, including the conference tournament? What's the contract say? Assuming the buy-out amount drops with each passing year, there could be quite a bit of money riding on these last few days. If a million dollars or more is riding on the extra few days, at this point my guess is the school would wait the extra few days. Again, all this depends on the language in the contract, a document that none of us has seen. It really is unfair to criticize the school without knowing the exact language and terms in the contract.

Pepperdine announced about a month ago that the athletic director, Steve Potts, would be resigning at the end of the semester. This will permit the new AD to hire the new coach. I assume the new AD will appreciate that opportunity.

Soderball, couldn't agree with you more (yes, I'm old enough I was at many of those games) - but that wasn't about hate and looking to spill the opponent's blood; that was just good old-fashioned passion for winning and the crowd getting caught up in the excitement as well. But we need a team that plays with that passion and desire, and more importantly, coaches who put them in a position to win. I'm not sure we have that combination currently. Hard even for passionate fans to get passionate about this year's performance.

Ha-ha. Played 3 sports in college. Any you Roy?

"SLU, the program, and our fans need some HATE. We need some RAGE. We should be looking for blood to spill when hated VCU and UD come to town." Couldn't disagree more. We need players and coaches who hate to lose and are willing to do what it takes to win, but you don't need to hate opposing teams and players. Most of the best players I've met respected the opposing team and players. That didn't mean you didn't want to beat them. "We should be looking for blood to spill when hated VCU and UD come to down." Again, couldn't disagree more. We should be ready to look them in the eye and go toe to toe with them, but no need to go looking for blood. That type of attitude is not appropriate on or off the court (or field, depending on your sport). If the other team wants to play physical, by all means, be prepared to match that play (see the great Brian Conklin video), but no reason to adopt that attitude before the game has even begun. Focus on winning, on playing the perfect game, not on looking for blood.

Has he offered to donate his salary to SLU's NIL fund to help turn things around?

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39466589/nlrb-regional-official-clears-way-dartmouth-hoops-union

I prefer not to assume the worst (though I appreciate that the internet often does). Didn't SLU recently hire a guy who was instrumental in setting up Mizzou's NIL program? I wouldn't be surprised if they put SLU's current approach (BVF) on hold until he has an opportunity to review and modify it.

(I'm a non-techie, so feel free to correct my posting if someone with better computer skills can do so). Pete

My apologies if someone already posted this. I didn't see it (and frankly I can't believe no one else has seen it), so here goes ...

Loyola of LA just announced it is terminating 6 sports programs to better position itself to be competitive in the new NIL and transfer portal sports world. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careers/thousands-sign-petition-after-lmu-cuts-6-sports-programs/ar-BB1hhOa2?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=227df1251f62490ea1ae702551797935&ei=21 While some student-athletes no doubt will benefit from the new approach, many student-athletes will be hurt.

I've got to agree with Doc on this one. SLU is not the type of school to dismiss a coach mid-season. If they haven't taken any action by now, it is unlikely they are going to do anything the rest of the season. Let's give it a break. I'd like to see some discussion of the team and the players. I'm tired of reading about all the criticism of the coach. I get it, and I agree it is probably deserved, but the points have been made. I think most fans prefer to talk and read about the team and the players. If you want to throw in your two cents about the coach every now and then, OK, but this constant writing about nothing but the coach has gotten old. That's my two cents.

I was teaching in London one semester, years ago, when my kids were young. We signed our boys up to play with one of the local youth "football" teams (our older son had some talent, but we're talking about when they were still under 10 years old). Fulham was still in one of the lower divisions at the time. My older son's team was selected to play a scrimmage during halftime of one of their games. What a great experience and great memory. He can say that he's actually played on the field at Craven Cottage. The Billiken connection makes the memory even more special.

The word on some of the Notre Dame blogs is if the ACC implodes, ND would likely look to join the Big East for as many sports as possible (not football or hockey, to name two that come to mind quickly). That possible scenario has implications for SLU's hopes to join the Big East.

So kind of you to post this. The Wendel Family is honored and humbled by the decision and actions undertaken to establish the scholarship. A fellow SLU alumnus, big Billiken fan, and follower of Billikens.com, Bob Steck, deserves all the credit for this. Bob provided the seed money to establish the scholarship and has worked tirelessly behind the scenes, with the help of Meg Connolly in the Alumni Development Office, to make this happen. Early in his academic career, Dad worked the scorekeeper's table at the Billiken games at Kiel Auditorium. He'd drag his 4 young sons to the games (to give Mom a break). We'd run around the halls and ramps of Kiel while he worked the games. Still have great memories of Joe Wiley, Harry Rogers, Monroe Douglas, Anthony Bonner, and so many other Billiken players from that era. They will never fully appreciate the joy and excitement they brought to my life, and so many other kids my age. I still remember some of the last games at Kiel. When the fans would get going, and start stomping their feet, that place would rock. Great memories. I'm not sure exactly when Dad stopped working the scorer's table and had to buy tickets to get into the games, but he held season tickets every year after that. As Willie mentioned, besides the City of St. Louis, one of his loves in life was Biiliken basketball. He passed that on to his kids. Next week I'm helping my daughter, her husband, and their three boys move from Chicago to St. Louis. We hope to pass on that love of Billiken basketball to another Wendel generation. The Wendel Family hopes that the scholarship helps a SLU student who is committed to helping the City of St. Louis be the best that it can be. If you give to SLU, we hope you'll consider giving to the scholarship fund. Go Bills!

And one more nail in the coffin (at least for the mid-majors) ... https://sports.yahoo.com/is-college-athletics-headed-for-the-great-split-we-need-to-recreate-or-relaunch-the-ncaa-160523061.html

From the website: "While the algorithm includes deal data, it does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals athletes have completed to date, nor does it set an athlete’s NIL valuation for their entire career. The On3 NIL Valuation calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects out to as long as 12 months into the future."

The top 100 NIL deals ... https://www.on3.com/nil/rankings/player/nil-100/

Courtside, thanks for the comments about the recruiting class and how important patience is with so much turnover. I was at Lambert Airport in the Fall and bumped into a set of SLU parents who were waiting to board a plane for the east coast to watch their son play for SLU. It was early in the year and they made reference to an injured player that they thought was going to hurt the team's ability to score goals. In light of your comments, I assume they were referring to Marcos Moore. Quick follow-up question if I may. Have you heard anything about how his recovery is goinig? A season ending injury is often a knee injury, and we all know one's recovery from such an injury can depend on a number of variables. Obviously all Billiken fans are hoping he can return next fall with the same pace and skill that made him "arguably the best Freshman Forward recruit nationally." I think everyone would agree this year's team missed him. And thanks again for your posts. Those of us who live out of town greatly appreciate the inside information and detailed comments that we can't get otherwise.

Not watching the game, but thought I'd check the box score to see how Goodwin is doing tonight against the Lakers. With about 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Suns have played only 10 players. Not only was Goodwin one of them, but in the +/- category his +17 led the whole team. Looking good (at least statistically).

Interesting that you cite Colorado's football success as a counterpoint to my argument. I'd say the exact opposite. If that is what college sports is heading towards, I'll get off that bus right now. I've got no interest in supporting a minor league football team or minor league basketball team where the coach buys and fires players. And I don't think many University presidents will feel comfortable with that type of treatment of their students. The way Colorado treated the "old" football players is reprehensible in my mind. It should have no place in an academic setting. In professional sports, sure, but not in an academic community. And that's my concern. The new rules are creating an incentive for a race to the bottom from an academic perspective. I think some schools are already beginning to wonder how long the new relationship between academics and college sports can last. Some of the top college football coaches have implicitly acknowledged that when they predicted the future of college sports will be universities licensing their names to private organizations that will run the sports programs as a business - and the athletes won't have to be students at all.

My concern is that college sports is driven by fan interest. There's growing evidence that fan interest is already on the decline (see the picture this weekend of the Liberty vs Buffalo football game where the stadium was almost empty). While fans are fans of the school, fans are always more interested when they feel a connection to the players. Fans get more attached to a player the longer a player is in the program. If the players turn over every year, particularly the better players, frankly I think many fans - particularly the casual fan - will lose interest. Frankly I don't have much interest in buying season tickets if each year the team might be a whole new bunch of kids. I will buy tickets to support players who are committed to the school/program, but I don't have much interest in supporting players who are in it only for themselves. There's not much difference between that player and a professional player, and I already don't follow professional sports. Not much of a leap to lose interest in college sports if that's the future of college sports. Maybe I'm the exception (too old school), but if enough fans stop buying tickets and stop watching games, some schools aren't going to keep investing millions of dollars in an athletic program that loses money. Don't get me wrong. Our society is too addicted to college sports for it to go away overnight, but I think there may enough changes if NIL is not regulated and if transferability is not regulated that you'll see a good number of schools drop out of Division 1 sports. Heck, look at Div 1 football. There's a clear movement towards a handful of elite conferences that will have the resources to cover the costs inherent in running a top level program under these new conditions, but many Div. 1 football programs admit they can't really compete under the current conditions. How long until they start cutting back - if not completely eliminating - their program? So yes, student athletes who make those elite teams may be better off, but if a good number of schools drop out of Div 1 sports and no longer offer athletic scholarships, a lot of kids will be worse off. I don't think it is simply a question of athletes being exploited by universities and the NCAA. Many student-athletes (especially students in the non-revenue sports) have benefitted from the current set-up, athletes who may not have the same opportunities going forward. I don't think the picture is as simple as you paint it.