2024 Edition-Bilas “Let them transfer at Halftime to the opposing team” Portal Update

[shock]

WSU has a small alumni base. Always has. Always will. We're having a tough time getting 5k to the games. If you're counting on the general fanbase to fuel our collectives then I'm here to tell you that is a pipedream. We'll never be competitive if the plan is for the core funds to come from those attending games. Not even with a packed house.

Let's harken back to the good old days of a F4 and perfect season. The national media narrative was that GM was afforded a top 10 salary and private jets due to well healed donors (one in particular). This somewhat unusual financial situation was never about the general fanbase. And what I'm saying is that it's not realistic to think our fanbase is all of the sudden going to start pumping millions into an NIL kitty, especially when attendance is at a historical low and scepticism and apathy are creeping in.

Now I'll grant you one thing, it'll be a tough task getting the big donors to open up their wallets in the current environment. Successful people generally don't throw good money after bad. University leadership has to sell a genuine belief and vision. That simply cannot come from the fans.

Back to my original post:
What I’m saying is NIL in Wichita is a pipe dream because NIL is not driven by millionaires, it’s driven by the fans.
NIL is what gets you into the conversation for the top transfers.
No NIL= Harlond Beverly and Bijan Cortes.
The AD is not the fundraiser for NIL.
If you want higher caliber transfers, open your wallet.
If you don’t want to open your wallet, that’s fine, I don’t want to either. Just don’t blame Mills for the lack of NIL because that’s on us, not him.

[SubGod22]

Back to my original post:
What I’m saying is NIL in Wichita is a pipe dream because NIL is not driven by millionaires, it’s driven by the fans.
NIL is what gets you into the conversation for the top transfers.
No NIL= Harlond Beverly and Bijan Cortes.
The AD is not the fundraiser for NIL.
If you want higher caliber transfers, open your wallet.
If you don’t want to open your wallet, that’s fine, I don’t want to either. Just don’t blame Mills for the lack of NIL because that’s on us, not him.

So you think the bad product Mills puts on thr court deserves no blame? Most people won't throw money at any product that is bad and doesn't show much in the way of improving. Sure, fans could throw money at NIL but do we trust Mills to be able to utilize it and not waste our money? I don't.

[BostonWu]

Back to my original post:
What I’m saying is NIL in Wichita is a pipe dream because NIL is not driven by millionaires, it’s driven by the fans.
NIL is what gets you into the conversation for the top transfers.
No NIL= Harlond Beverly and Bijan Cortes.
The AD is not the fundraiser for NIL.
If you want higher caliber transfers, open your wallet.
If you don’t want to open your wallet, that’s fine, I don’t want to either. Just don’t blame Mills for the lack of NIL because that’s on us, not him.

You're telling me you don't think there are wealthy donors and/or businesses funding NILs for top 25 teams?

[shock-it-to-me]

I thought the whole point of NIL (remember "name, image and likeness") was so that athletes could profit from merchandise, corporate sponsorship, licensing, etc. I never thought it was supposed to be a charity handout from John Q Public to athletes.

[SubGod22]

I thought the whole point of NIL (remember "name, image and likeness") was so that athletes could profit from merchandise, corporate sponsorship, licensing, etc. I never thought it was supposed to be a charity handout from John Q Public to athletes.

That's how it was designed, but not how it's used. The NCAA gets its ass kicked in every court case so they have no appetite to try and crack down on pay to play. That's why they've begged Congress to do something to create some sort of standard/guideline that maybe they could enforce.

Don't expect anything to change anytime soon. I suppose best case scenario is players become employees and have contracts that lock them in or they pay for some sort of buyout, like coaches do. That's about the only thing that could help stabilize things on some level, but would still suck ass.

[Stickboy46]

So you think the bad product Mills puts on thr court deserves no blame? Most people won't throw money at any product that is bad and doesn't show much in the way of improving. Sure, fans could throw money at NIL but do we trust Mills to be able to utilize it and not waste our money? I don't.

This .. it's part of Mills job to help fundraise. Not just for SASO at this point but also for NIL, even if its unofficial. If he's not putting a product worth donating for, its on him. Putting the blame on fans for the mess that the Collective, Athletic Department and Coaches have created is one of the dumbest things ever posted on this forum.

If Mills isn't a good enough coach to overcome the lack of NIL, he's going to get fired

If he isn't able to help grow the NIL by creating a program that people want to invest in .. he's going to get fired.

Ultimately his job relies on it .. he's not getting an extension because "its the fans fault that NIL isn't good and that's why we can't compete". So he better figure it out.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

It's not like recruiting started on his first day. His first order of business was probably personal stuff along with building a staff. But even that was after he had a couple of days talking to his old team and members of his new team.
Most recruiting is done by the assistant coaches who build relationships with recruits over several months. Giving them info on those coaches current school and team. Imagine working on a recruit for months, to convince him that he should come to your school, then all of the sudden you take a new job and now have to convince him, that he would now be better off at your new school.
By the time you create a new staff and start looking at the portal, the top talent is gone or at least down to a couple of schools. Your mostly left looking at kids who are scrambling to find any team that will take them. If I could prove it, I'd bet a ton of money that top kids are already being poached to new teams, but just waiting for the portal period to announce anything.

In other words, your sarcastic post is not real life. I'm not saying it will be better this year or even next year, but.....be real.

Come on now! Don't use logic. That will just confuse the fire and pitchfork crowd.

[ShockingButTrue]

Come on now! Don't use logic. That will just confuse the fire and pitchfork crowd.

Yeah, because there's not a lot of evidence to the contrary, even in the AAC (or nationally) this season, or many seasons before it. Un huh.

Competitive would be a major, major, upgrade right now. That just wasn't good enough though...

[pinstripers]

Yeah the top guys were gone, but we were never gonna get the top guys anyway.

[shoxlax]

Go fight about NIL on some other thread. This one is about the long overdue opportunities out there for previously subjugated student athletes without interference from tyrannical forces.

85 as of today.

[ShockerFever]

Yeah, because there's not a lot of evidence to the contrary, even in the AAC (or nationally) this season, or many seasons before it. Un huh.

Competitive would be a major, major, upgrade right now. That just wasn't good enough though...

If you thought IB was the answer, you’re even dumber than we all realized.

[shock]

So you think the bad product Mills puts on thr court deserves no blame? Most people won't throw money at any product that is bad and doesn't show much in the way of improving. Sure, fans could throw money at NIL but do we trust Mills to be able to utilize it and not waste our money? I don't.

I think we are at a chicken and egg point now if building through the portal is how we have to go. Gotta win so people pay, gotta have nil money so we can attract big transfers.

OR…

We recruit overlooked HS players and use our NIL to keep them.

Second one takes longer but fits WSU better than most want to admit.

[shock]

You're telling me you don't think there are wealthy donors and/or businesses funding NILs for top 25 teams?

Until I see number saying otherwise, I think it’s a smaller number than one would think. The grinding for those $500/year payments from families says a lot more than anything else, at least at this time.

[shock]

This .. it's part of Mills job to help fundraise. Not just for SASO at this point but also for NIL, even if its unofficial. If he's not putting a product worth donating for, its on him. Putting the blame on fans for the mess that the Collective, Athletic Department and Coaches have created is one of the dumbest things ever posted on this forum.

If Mills isn't a good enough coach to overcome the lack of NIL, he's going to get fired

If he isn't able to help grow the NIL by creating a program that people want to invest in .. he's going to get fired.

Ultimately his job relies on it .. he's not getting an extension because "its the fans fault that NIL isn't good and that's why we can't compete". So he better figure it out.

Say you are Mills and you were just hired an hour ago. Portal is open, you have no staff, your family lives 3 hrs from your new school and you have inherited $7500 in NIL. In your email is a spreadsheet of 75 players who have called in the last three months looking to transfer. You need to review tape, maybe call their coaches and high school coaches, and them. Speaking of email, you are locked out of your email (and your contacts in your phone have been wiped) that had the 200 kids you have been in communication with at ORU, 20 of whom might be good enough to help you at WSU, but only 2 are available this year. Oh, and you have an all American pg on speed dial and is torn between helping you and going to Texas where he is being offered 6 figures. 8(?) of the players you are inheriting are in the portal and taking calls.

Lay out a timeline on how you fund-raise, hire staff, move your family, and recruit the players that you need to win now. Keep in mind that in the first three days, the top 200 players in the portal will have NIL offers you can’t currently match. In the first week, 100 of those players received offers that they feel like they can’t turn down and are already off the table, but you don’t know who they are until you call. In the next week, 75 more are gone.

I’m not excusing anything, but am considering the facts you are overlooking.



None of this is his current situation as he has had a year to get everything in order, but it was his situation last year, which is what we are discussing.

[Stickboy46]

Say you are Mills and you were just hired an hour ago. Portal is open, you have no staff, your family lives 3 hrs from your new school and you have inherited $7500 in NIL. In your email is a spreadsheet of 75 players who have called in the last three months looking to transfer. You need to review tape, maybe call their coaches and high school coaches, and them. Speaking of email, you are locked out of your email (and your contacts in your phone have been wiped) that had the 200 kids you have been in communication with at ORU, 20 of whom might be good enough to help you at WSU, but only 2 are available this year. Oh, and you have an all American pg on speed dial and is torn between helping you and going to Texas where he is being offered 6 figures. 8(?) of the players you are inheriting are in the portal and taking calls.

Lay out a timeline on how you fund-raise, hire staff, move your family, and recruit the players that you need to win now. Keep in mind that in the first three days, the top 200 players in the portal will have NIL offers you can’t currently match. In the first week, 100 of those players received offers that they feel like they can’t turn down and are already off the table, but you don’t know who they are until you call. In the next week, 75 more are gone.

I’m not excusing anything, but am considering the facts you are overlooking.



None of this is his current situation as he has had a year to get everything in order, but it was his situation last year, which is what we are discussing.

You sure just made up a lot of random things in that list of "facts".