bronxblue

April 26th, 2024 at 3:02 PM ^

I was listening to a podcast around the NFL draft and they mentioned NIL is going to make guys who'd wind up in the 3rd/4th round more likely to stick around because they pay is better as a big man on campus at a P5 program than a bench guy in the NFL.  Feels like that is also going to be the case in college sports, where guys like Dickinson would have bolted long ago for Europe or UDFA but instead can make good money at programs like KU for a while.

Feels like a net win for everyone involved.

bronxblue

April 26th, 2024 at 5:19 PM ^

Sure.  It's not a perfect scenario for every guy and there's benefits to hitting the league early and possibly getting that second contract.  McGregor was a starter-ish last season so I sort of get him wanting to take a run at the NFL but Jones was having trouble breaking into the starting lineup and sticking for a while, so that's more suspect of a decision for him to go to the draft.  

 

bronxblue

April 26th, 2024 at 5:24 PM ^

Yes and no - I think about a guy like Julian Flemming from OSU who wound up going to PSU instead of the draft.  He's a big enough name (mostly because of his recruiting rankings) to garner some decent change in college but if he went out for the draft he'd likely be a 5th/6th rounder at best.  That's unlikely to change much with another year in college but he's far more assured of getting a chance to be the focal point of an offense at PSU and possibly blow up + get paid good money instead of being buried on the bottom of a depth chart in the NFL.  Whereas before the decision was between playing time in college or money in the NFL, I think the NIL makes some of those decisions a bit easier for guys who are on the fringes and might lead to more sticking around that extra year.

MEZman

April 26th, 2024 at 3:16 PM ^

So is he the player that eventually sues the NCAA for unlimited eligibility and makes a career out of college basketball? I've seen it posited that someone will eventually sue and the NCAA would probably lose that lawsuit too.

Solecismic

April 26th, 2024 at 3:26 PM ^

We're transitioning from college athletes as a subset of the student population to college athletes as paid employees.

When that happens, if there's no CBA in place with implied oligopoly protection from Congress, then it's entirely possible this would happen. Might be too late to bring Brady back to Michigan at that point, though.

NittanyFan

April 26th, 2024 at 3:21 PM ^

Slowly encroaching on Evan Eschmeyer territory!

One of my old Direct Reports (at my 2020-21 job) was a dead-ringer for Hunter Dickinson. He and a few other co-workers joked about that when I was at that job.  I still keep in touch with them and we'll joke about that --- last year the consensus was "wait, he's still playing college hoops?"  The reaction is going to be even more so next season!

MGlobules

April 26th, 2024 at 3:42 PM ^

La la la la don't care. With Dusty putting together such a promising-looking crew, I am fully and finally over Hunter. I'll always wish him well, but I never found him super-easy to love. 

potomacduc

April 26th, 2024 at 4:51 PM ^

Over the past three years, I haven't heard anyone comment on Hunter's potential future or lack thereof in the NBA. I am curious if players like him have a potential role in the NBA. No one ever talks about that. ...