That is the arguement I can’t fight. It is why I have come around to thinking that players should see some of the revenue.
The item is not to question whether this concept makes fans feel uncomfortable or somehow uneasy about following college sports. But you have to break down the items into individual pieces, that make up the puzzle.
Coaches, specifically assistant coaches move more than players do. If you have a football coaches resume, it is very rare that an assistant is staying more than 3 or 4 years at any school. Their resume is a mess of 1 or 2 year contracts.
If the coaches, who move more than the players can move, why can't the players also move??
If we can at least agree that if the players are eligible to transfer to a different opportunity, even if it means transferring down a level or up a level, why does it matter how much or how little a kid earns via NIL??
These extreme items of the Pitt football player and Kansas State/Miami situation, are kinda outliers.
If a player is able to or willing to be taxed on money provided via NIL, I don't see that as any different than a bag of money exchanging hands at the local Diner, between a "friend of the program", to ensure some kid goes to Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, LSU or whomever else is involved.
There has always been a bidding war for the best prospects to get them to your favorite school....OR the coaches sold the virtues of attending XYZ college. Now that a player "outperforms expectations ", his market value has changed.....just like the overhyped 4* kid, who didn't develop....that kid when he transfers out, no one seems to care, because he didn't turn into the star that was expected.
I honestly think the NIL argument is coming from hard-core conservatives, who just don't like to see student athletes, placed on a pedestal and being rewarded for their work.
I don't think RU stands to lose in the NIL battles, because we compete in a great league, against legitimate competition and offer the exposure to the players. This notion that RU is somehow worse, is a guess.
We can easily benefit more via a freer transfer portal and NIL, than most schools. It is just new terrain for fans, which because it's new for fans, it immediately looks like it's bad for the sport.
If I said we could allow Greene FIG, the ability today to replace 3 players on RUs current roster, with 3 players of his choice from Bart, Kenpom efficiency or whatever metrics were needed AND you could actually recruit those players to see if they would be a good fit, I am 99.9% sure, that if those 3 incoming players were better than the 3 departing players, that it would be OK.
The last point is ironic for the critics of recruiting as not being good enough.....the portal helps fix any mistakes or evaluations on players that maybe aren't developing as quickly or maybe aren't team oriented.
Why should any player stay locked in, if it's not the best choice??
And why should a player who has played and performed well at a Wofford, or Chattanooga, not transfer to a Wisconsin to play basketball, if Wisconsin offers that player a bigger stage, more exposure, more of a challenge to see how they perform??
The amount of player movement around the B1G, is really being ignored, and I would guess 80% of the portal is transferring with no goal of NIL.....they're transferring because they want to play or find a different opportunity.