GDT: SLU v. Louisiana Tech

[Soderball]

15 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

i agree with all but "win and get more NIL donations."  i doubt in Saint Louis University booster case, that is true.   we really dont have an abundance of overly generous boosters.   typically it appears to me that it takes a number of seasons of success before they even think about coming out big beyond the two or three big whales.  

I'm speaking generally about the sport there, Roy. Not SLU-specific. I think fans need to grasp the whole meta-game here which is yearly mercenary contracts for players. That's the name of the game in college sports now. Getting attached to players is old man stuff IMO. Forget about the names, forget about the faces, look at the stats, the +/-, ppg, and the $ it cost to get them.

(which as you've said before, Roy, that Ford's salesman ability is devalued. Roster assembly is the primary skill in head coaching now IMO. a coach has to piece together a set of players every year that can win using available funds, and that fit a style and mode that can win and quickly get guys to play together)

 

It's much more a pro sports skillset which is totally different from what we've been used to with collegiate coaches.

[billiken_roy]

7 minutes ago, Soderball said:

I'm speaking generally about the sport there, Roy. Not SLU-specific. I think fans need to grasp the whole meta-game here which is yearly mercenary contracts for players. That's the name of the game in college sports now. Getting attached to players is old man stuff IMO. Forget about the names, forget about the faces, look at the stats, the +/-, ppg, and the $ it cost to get them.

(which as you've said before, Roy, that Ford's salesman ability is devalued. Roster assembly is the primary skill in head coaching now IMO. a coach has to piece together a set of players every year that can win using available funds, and that fit a style and mode that can win and quickly get guys to play together)

 

It's much more a pro sports skillset which is totally different from what we've been used to with collegiate coaches.

my interest in college sports is almost all gone.   at this point i only care about the billikens and that is waning.   with my retirement at 1 year and 1 month away, i may save all my sports entertainment dollars to fund more summer and fall trips to Atlanta to watch the Braves.  

my point is, while you are commenting on all of college basketball, i am not interested one bit in college basketball beyond the billikens (even though they are a huge disappointment, i cant quit them yet).

[3star_recruit]

22 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

my interest in college sports is almost all gone.   at this point i only care about the billikens and that is waning.   with my retirement at 1 year and 1 month away, i may save all my sports entertainment dollars to fund more summer and fall trips to Atlanta to watch the Braves.  

my point is, while you are commenting on all of college basketball, i am not interested one bit in college basketball beyond the billikens (even though they are a huge disappointment, i cant quit them yet).

There will definitely be a changing of the guard on the board over the next couple of years if Billiken stars just become short-term rentals.  There are a lot of long time fans here that have no interest in watching that.  Including me.

[TheA_Bomb]

36 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

There will definitely be a changing of the guard on the board over the next couple of years if Billiken stars just become short-term rentals.  There are a lot of long time fans here that have no interest in watching that.  Including me.

I think we'll have a few guys that stay like TJ, Gibby etc. But I'd expect what we have expected 4-5 players in/out per year. We'll see how it goes. We're told the BVF NIL deals are structured to encourage players to stay until graduation at SLU. Let's see if it plays out that way.

[CenHudDude]

50 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

There will definitely be a changing of the guard on the board over the next couple of years if Billiken stars just become short-term rentals.  There are a lot of long time fans here that have no interest in watching that.  Including me.

Count me in as one who will continue to support the Billikens whomever is on the team. It will be a big adjustment though to having such team turnover.  Somewhat like MLB before free agency when the team only turned over in the off season thru trades or when a player retired and was replaced by someone in the farm system.  MLB survived that and I guess CBB will too.

[Cowboy II]

1 hour ago, HoosierPal said:

 

Interesting couple of comments on Curcic.  I, and maybe I am alone, put a 50/50 probability on any of our players returning next season.  If Ford isn't here, I'd lower the return prob.  If Ford is here, I'd raise it.  What is for certain, there will be players jumping into the portal.  In Ford's time at SLU, we have averaged 3.5 transfers after each season.  Curcic could be a starter for us and still jump ship.  I'm not going to worry about it in December.

I don't think Curcic is engaged in NIL activities at SLU.  At least he isn't in the Billiken Exchange.  There is no $ sign by his name.  The rules on foreign players receiving NIL $ are strange, but there have been some figure out ways around them.  Apparently the student visa is the issue. Last year, being on a student visa, a player cannot appear in an promotional content.  Last season players could only license their name, image and likeness.  Last season several foreign players signed deals when they were off shore.  Oscar Tshiebwe signed a large NIL deal early last season when KU was in the Bahamas.

If anyone knows of Curcic's student visa situation, please advise. I'd be interested to know what that all means.

-but could a booster give them $10k, or whatever amount, to say hello?

[TheA_Bomb]

3 minutes ago, Cowboy II said:

-but could a booster give them $10k, or whatever amount, to say hello?

No because the student visa limits employment .

From:

https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/students-and-exchange-visitors/students-and-employment

Employment

F-1 students may not work off-campus during the first academic year, but may accept on-campus employment subject to certain conditions and restrictions. After the first academic year, F-1 students may engage in three types of off-campus employment:

 

Curricular Practical Training (CPT)

Optional Practical Training (OPT) (pre-completion or post-completion)

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Optional Practical Training Extension (OPT)

F-1 students may also be eligible to work off-campus on a case-by-case basis as a result of special situations such as severe economic hardship or special student relief. M-1 students may engage in practical training only after they have completed their studies.

 

For both F-1 and M-1 students any off-campus training employment must be related to their area of study and must be authorized prior to starting any work by the Designated School Official (the person authorized to maintain the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS)) and USCIS.

 

For more information on the Student and Exchange Visitors Program, see the Student & Exchange Visitor Program, Immigration & Customs Enforcement and the Study in the States Training Opportunities in the United States pages.

 

In general, only noncitizens who have permission from DHS to work can apply for a Social Security number. Find additional information about International Students and Social Security Numbers (PDF) on the Social Security Administration website. 

[gobillsgo]

2 hours ago, Soderball said:

You'd also hate to play him a lot; showcase his skills, and have another team outbid for him.

 

This is the NIL era, dude. You need to grow out of this 1990s and early 2000s player development mindset. There are no "lost seasons" either.. your coach either succeeded in putting together a tournament roster or failed and did not. There's no rebuilding. There's no development. There's only money and the results at the end of the year. Want more success? win and get more NIL donations. Money, money, money, money money money money.

I don’t agree that player development is meaningless.  Obviously a team’s roster can change massively year to year, but you still need to develop some players, unless you’re getting absolute studs in the transfer portal routinely… which we are clearly not.  Has there been even one player from SLU that “transferred up”?   The only two that were even rumored to do so were Yuri and Gibson, and we managed to keep them.  Id say develop the players, and if they’re good you fight to keep them. So far we are 2/2 in that regard.  I wouldn’t be afraid to “showcase his skills” out of fear of him transferring.