JayKwon Walton

[Maizerunner08]

I was watching the UAB-Utah Valley game last night. The announcer was raving about one of the Utah Valley players and said the following "get this guy some NIL money". These kind of comments need to stay out of the commentary, IMO. To me, it basically sounded like, this kid needs to be at a bigger school and I hop they are watching him.

College sports is now a defacto semi-pro league. NIL rules are too squishy to really mean much. If one school has more money, they are going to always have a leg-up on every other school.

[1972Shocker]

College sports is now a defacto semi-pro league. NIL rules are too squishy to really mean much. If one school has more money, they are going to always have a leg-up on every other school.

Not sure what is semi about it. I suppose it is to the extent that the less financially well off programs (which includes their wealthy boosters) are limited in what they can do.

[RoyalShock]

College sports have basically become MLB from the 90s. The rich hoard talent, buying the best players in free-agency once small-market teams can't afford them. No salary cap or luxury tax. The only significant difference is team control. Instead of 5 or 6 years in MLB, it's one year in college.

[Horn28Clem30]

College sports have basically become MLB from the 90s. The rich hoard talent, buying the best players in free-agency once small-market teams can't afford them. No salary cap or luxury tax. The only significant difference is team control. Instead of 5 or 6 years in MLB, it's one year in college.

I guess I don't follow.... The Final Four is FAU, SD St, UConn and Miami, I don't really see those being the rich teams so what gives? The NIL has been perfect and created an equal playing field for all.

[ShoxFan7]

College basketball is going through a major shake up and will eventually “calm down” to an acceptable level of chaos but the narrative about the game dying or being killed by the portal & NIL is drastically over played.
CBB has been a hot mess since Wooden introduced the idea of a bag man in the sixties! To act like this stuff wasn’t going on before it became more transparent in todays world is laughable because it just means you like burying your head in the sand in order to root on Ol’ College U, I believed that’s called romanticizing the past.
There have been worts all over this game for while, now it’s just bringing them to light of day has turned some people off, which understandable I guess.
I mean, I miss the four year players as well but in highest levels CBB that’s been gone for awhile and it just hitting all the programs now so there’s a clear “enemy” to promote as the down falls to take out our collective displeasures on.
In a few years we’ll all have a better understanding of how this helps/hurts and adjust expectation or even fandom accordingly. It’s a moving target right now but I believe WSU is positioned well to be sitting quite nicely when it all “calms down.”

[BostonWu]

College sports have basically become MLB from the 90s. The rich hoard talent, buying the best players in free-agency once small-market teams can't afford them. No salary cap or luxury tax. The only significant difference is team control. Instead of 5 or 6 years in MLB, it's one year in college.

How's MLB different today than the 90s?

[SHOCKvalue]

I guess I don't follow.... The Final Four is FAU, SD St, UConn and Miami, I don't really see those being the rich teams so what gives? The NIL has been perfect and created an equal playing field for all.

Miami is most definitely loaded when it comes to benefactors.

[Maizerunner08]

I guess I don't follow.... The Final Four is FAU, SD St, UConn and Miami, I don't really see those being the rich teams so what gives? The NIL has been perfect and created an equal playing field for all.

Right now there is a small sample size to work with. I think historically, this year will be a major outlier. Time will tell.

[RoyalShock]

I guess I don't follow.... The Final Four is FAU, SD St, UConn and Miami, I don't really see those being the rich teams so what gives? The NIL has been perfect and created an equal playing field for all.

Besides the fact Miami is absolutely one of the rich teams as evidenced by the public NIL deals they handed out. The Yankees failed to win an AL pennant from '82 through '95. Then they started spending loads of money. And it's not like small-market teams couldn't succeed if they hit on a couple of draft classes (ie, recruiting classes). But I was primarily referring to player movement in the current environment.

I am hopeful things will settle down as players use up their free transfer year, the extra Covid year is done and NIL funds normalize.

[RoyalShock]

How's MLB different today than the 90s?

Luxury tax and revenue sharing. I could be wrong, but if those existed in the 90s, I don't think they were significant factors.

[JVShocker]

I guess I don't follow.... The Final Four is FAU, SD St, UConn and Miami, I don't really see those being the rich teams so what gives? The NIL has been perfect and created an equal playing field for all.

Actually, Miami has a huge NIL thing, and schools outside the P5 are not even close. The NIL budget at Miami is something like 10 million annually across all sports, but according to one of the biggest donors, "that amount isn't necessarily set in stone." In other words, right situation comes along, we can go higher.

[WuDrWu]

My two cents…when these kids/players/students-whatever, get out in the real world, if I am interviewing them for a job, I am asking why did they go to 2, 3 or more colleges.

I get switching schools due to playing time or for some extenuating circumstance. But, as an employer, this generally shows no history of loyalty. There’s no way I am hiring you, only for you to be looking for the next job the day after I hire you, and potentially you leaving within the year-as what some of these “athletes” are doing in this bounce around from school to school, “AAU” era.

Again, just my $.02.

Yes, but if you're being truthful to yourself, for 6 figures you'd do the same thing, or at least I would. That's a TON of money to almost everyone, to say nothing of kids from a meager background.

Look, I think it's absolutely criminal that so many of the kids are in college and can't compose or speak a cogent sentence. It's criminal on the systems that pass them through, the teachers that allow it, the parents that either don't care or aren't there at all and most of all, the kids themselves that refuse to do the work from day 1.

And yes, in general you are going to get SO MUCH MORE out of working through problems and addressing the concerns where you are than you will if you run away. But when you factor in that kind of pay day, especially for someone HIGHLY unlikely to earn that much money doing anything else in life, and even if they can, they're likely to be limited to just a few short years making that kind of money....then by all means get what you can, while you can. I hate it, and I believe it's a disservice to them long term, but he's right, it's what is best for him, today.

Hell, if someone offers me 50K to start posting on Alabama's board and I have to leave this wonderful experience....bye bye folks. Don't have to like it (and I do not) but it's not hard to figure.


A kid like that, with as few marketable skills as he appears to have based on his communicative abilities, needs to cash in when he can. Good luck to him.

[Shock Top]

I think there is a difference between a "f*** you, I'm out!" and a "thank you for the memories, but I am moving on." mindset.

Seems we are getting more and more of the former with the portal.

[WeWillShockU2]

Yes, but if you're being truthful to yourself, for 6 figures you'd do the same thing, or at least I would. That's a TON of money to almost everyone, to say nothing of kids from a meager background.

Look, I think it's absolutely criminal that so many of the kids are in college and can't compose or speak a cogent sentence. It's criminal on the systems that pass them through, the teachers that allow it, the parents that either don't care or aren't there at all and most of all, the kids themselves that refuse to do the work from day 1.

And yes, in general you are going to get SO MUCH MORE out of working through problems and addressing the concerns where you are than you will if you run away. But when you factor in that kind of pay day, especially for someone HIGHLY unlikely to earn that much money doing anything else in life, and even if they can, they're likely to be limited to just a few short years making that kind of money....then by all means get what you can, while you can. I hate it, and I believe it's a disservice to them long term, but he's right, it's what is best for him, today.

Hell, if someone offers me 50K to start posting on Alabama's board and I have to leave this wonderful experience....bye bye folks. Don't have to like it (and I do not) but it's not hard to figure.


A kid like that, with as few marketable skills as he appears to have based on his communicative abilities, needs to cash in when he can. Good luck to him.

He should absolutely get the best deal for himself but he didn’t need to be a dick about it.

[ShockTalk]

Walton was a Pierre guy and has a bond with him. With Pierre now on the unemployment line, this was an easy one to see coming.

That is all.

Not to mention his son is on the bama staff.

I think with the above, it makes perfectly good sense that he would go there (if he could).

That DOES NOT make any excuses for his very juvenile remark. If that's who he really is, I'm glad he's gone.