transfer portal

The end of amateurism. Ol' Jeff Kessler's finally going to put a stake in the heart of the NCAA, it seems, with his latest lawsuit. This one is seeking vast amounts of damages for players who were denied their NIL opportunities. The prospect of a four billion dollar judgment has finally caused the administrator class to throw in the towel. Details are still scanty, but the general shape of it:

With the settlement expected to cost billions in back pay for former athletes, it would likely also require the NCAA and conferences to agree to a system for sharing more revenue with some of the players moving forward.

Sources indicated the top-end revenue share number per school -- once it's determined -- would be in the neighborhood of $20 million annually, although that's yet to be settled. Whatever number is set by the settlement, individual schools will be able to opt in to share revenue up to that number with their student athletes at their discretion.

This is being portrayed as "revenue sharing," as the NCAA hopes to dodge the fact that their athletes are employees. That might also let them dance around Title IX issues that will arise once football and men's basketball players are raking in money that few female athletes are.

As far as the local angle: the faster athletic departments are directly paying players the better. Michigan obviously has the capability to hit the max here, and I can't imagine that anyone has any illusions about the fact that they'll have to. I have no doubt that schools will continue to bring in outside money in an effort to win, and that Michigan won't be on the Kentucky/Memphis/OSU level there, but choosing between 200k and 250k is a lot different than nothing and 50k; the relative gaps will be smaller.

Speaking of NIL. Champions Circle has various autographed objects up for auction to support their NIL objectives:

Check it out as long as you do not bid on the thing I bid on.

[After THE JUMP: basketball speculation CONTINUES]

I don't think this is a real thing. Jeff Goodman asserted that May had received assurances that admissions wasn't going to be as much of a problem for him as it was for Juwan Howard, something that Sam Webb said he had not heard. My assumption is that this is a game of telephone several persons downwind of this conversation:

Sources say Beilein sat in on the first hour or so of the meeting between Manuel and May, answering a number of basketball specific questions about how he built his program, how he recruited, and how he dealt with admissions. It was a meaningful assist.

I doubt there has been a conversation between Santa Ono and the dean of LS&A about letting guys into school, unfortunately.

Staffers. Potential names from 24/7's Davis Moseley:

Got some interesting names to monitor in various staff roles:

LaVall Jordan, Bill Armstrong, Adam Howard, John Beilein.

— Davis Moseley (@DavisMoseley) March 24, 2024

Two of those names will be familiar. Adam Howard is a grad assistant at Indiana currently who knows May well; Indiana fans are bizarrely upset at the prospect of losing him because they credit him with a lot of the recruiting grunt work. Bill Armstrong is a wild name: he was the associate head coach at LSU until Will Wade got sent to Bolivia by the NCAA. He's cooling his heels at Link Academy—the school Tarris Reed was at—this year. If that came to fruition that would be your recruiting guy, I'd imagine. I'm skeptical it does.

[After THE JUMP: portal time]

Reacts. Rich Eisen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w91s6-n9BgQ

Joel Klatt on the aftermath of the Zinter injury:

https://youtu.be/kYKnvx1quLc?t=1785

Here's a brief Journey segment about what Klatt is referencing:

' , ! ' , ! ' , ! @BTNJourney spotlights the emotional scene at the Big House after star OL Zak Zinter's injury.

@AutoOwnersIns pic.twitter.com/T3eOGb6wqs

— Michigan On BTN (@MichiganOnBTN) November 28, 2023

Some guy in Cleveland:

It took a while, but @KenCarman & @KeithBritton86 worked @SportsBoyTony into a shoot, and he unleashed a rant about his Buckeyes. pic.twitter.com/NQ1DZwTSnA

— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) November 27, 2023

This guy:

FIRE RYAN DAY pic.twitter.com/pyOjgMp4IK

— clg. (@UncGerm) November 26, 2023

Big Sean catching strays.

[After THE JUMP: JJ items]