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**ManMythLegend** · 01-26-2023, 09:39 PM

I think you have valid points. Unfortunately the landscape of college ball is now completely different with the transfer portal and NIL (and covid years). I think we really need (and BW I think has discussed this and somewhat started to employ) to make an adjustment and target those already developed knock down shooters and appropriately sized guards/wings who can get to the hoop via the portal. Guys that made a name for themselves at lower level D1 and want to move up or didn't get a chance at the high major they opted to commit to. At least that's my armchair QB view. Just look at Friberg and Belmont. Just having a single guy like that can have a huge impact on what I feel is a solid core that we currently have. Even if we only get that player for a year or two. That's the new game and we need to play it.

**egib52** · 01-27-2023, 03:44 PM

You need to see how the landscape is changing and capitalize. The P5 schools are all saving scholarships now for transfers. So more and more talented high school seniors outside of the top 80 or so will be available. With the portal what it is, more is going to be focused on the present than development. I think the NIL collective would be smart to try to put together packages for transfers. There are kids on P5 benches that will be looking for new schools and low D1s looking to move up. Those are the kids that could be encouraged with some NIL money. As for HS seniors, I think we could potentially get in with a lot more talented kids.

I also like putting a focus on local kids, for attendance and NIL reasons. I though Noah Reynolds was one that could have definitely helped. BW seems to really like kids that buy into his system, which is definitely important, but it is hard to keep kids (TR) when bigger schools have more NIL $$$ in addition to the traditional benefits.

**Da Coach** · 01-27-2023, 06:33 PM

Originally posted by egib52 View Post

...
I also like putting a focus on local kids, for attendance and NIL reasons. I though Noah Reynolds was one that could have definitely helped....

For anyone who doesn't recall, Noah Reynolds played at Peoria Notre Dame, graduating in 2021. No college coach watched Noah more than Coach Wardle, since his daughter plays at Notre Dame, and he was also recruiting multiple other players on the boys team (Lathan Sommerville, Cooper Koch, Declan and Connor Dillon), In the end, Wardle did not offer Reynolds, and neither did any other Division I coach, other than Jeff Linder of Wyoming, who offered him in late March, 2021. If Bradley had offered him, they would not have had the open scholarships that were used to land Terry Roberts or Malevy Leon late in that 2020-21 recruiting cycle.

**️ Fanatic** · 01-27-2023, 07:40 PM

Originally posted by ManMythLegend View Post

I think you have valid points. Unfortunately the landscape of college ball is now completely different with the transfer portal and NIL (and covid years). I think we really need (and BW I think has discussed this and somewhat started to employ) to make an adjustment and target those already developed knock down shooters and appropriately sized guards/wings who can get to the hoop via the portal.

A couple of thoughts & open questions:

With the changes in the College Basketball recruiting (transfer portal/NIL)
- Winning/Success is more important to recruit the best talent that fits the needs of "next years team"
- Coaches need to have a "good basketball system" they run where it is easier to target specific skill sets to then plug into "your teams system"
- SADLY - I believe "development" occurs from the summer offseason programming for the upcoming year... harder to develop players when they transfer in or do not commit to a program for 4 years
Coach Wardle does of good job of recruiting talented players...
- A lot of the team are "nice guys" that he recruited for their basketball talent
- Is Coach recruiting tough talented individuals or players that work within his guidance?
- My impression is Coach Wardle likes control... has he had a player that challenges his control (in a game): My observation, if a player takes a risk (whether it works or not): Coach seems to have a quick substitution - because the risk was not part of the plan... Basketball is a great sport because it involves both team play & at times individual play
Recruiting with NIL (How does it work)? (some questions I don't understand still)
- Can schools leverage NIL funds to recruit players (are there rules for NIL funds to be offered to athletes or do coaches work with "Home of the Brave" when recruiting players?
- Who determines NIL funds available at the University...
  - meaning a school like Illinois State (focusing on the "big 3" sports): Football, Basketball, Baseball:
    - Do they have separate NIL funds for each sport
    - OR do they have a pool of NIL funds that they share among all the sports(and internally each Coach has to sell the need for their amounts to recruit/keep players?
    - Does a school like Bradley that doesn't have a football program - have "more funds available for the basketball team" compared to the ISU basketball program?
    - OR the larger the school the more the NIL funds?
    - OR the larger the populated area the school is in the greater the marketing opportunities to collect funds for NIL programs ...
- Because this is all new - as outlined in previous posts some schools are abusing the promise of NIL funds: better to be above board & leverage the program to best serve the sports program... Yet I feel like Bradley basketball should maximize NIL fund usage over schools that have football programs

**Da Coach** · 01-27-2023, 08:10 PM

Originally posted by ️ Fanatic View Post

....[*]Recruiting with NIL (How does it work)? (some questions I don't understand still) [LIST][*]Can schools leverage NIL funds to recruit players (are there rules for NIL funds to be offered to athletes or do coaches work with "Home of the Brave" when recruiting players?[*]Who determines NIL funds available at the University... [LIST][*]meaning a school like Illinois State (focusing on the "big 3" sports): Football, Basketball, Baseball: [LIST][*]Do they have separate NIL funds for each sport [*]OR do they have a pool of NIL funds that they share among all the sports(and internally each Coach has to sell the need for their amounts to recruit/keep players? [*]Does a school like Bradley that doesn't have a football program - have "more funds available for the basketball team" compared to the ISU basketball program? ...

You can Google NIL and find a lot more info-
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-...-deals-2021-12
https://en.as.com/ncaa/how-much-mone...ement-deals-n/

Here's what I know...
The schools themselves have no control over the NIL money. The NCAA prohibits the schools from collecting or handing out NIL money to any athlete. It must be done entirely by outside businesses directly between them and the athletes, or through an "NIL collective" (like the Home of the Brave collective) that acts like a broker or middle-man to help coordinate funds going to athletes for NIL related purposes. So although the school might be able to point out to a recruit that there is NIL money being received by some of their athletes, and that could help in recruiting, they cannot make any promise, nor have any involvement in directing the NIL money going to the athletes.
Bradley has only one NIL collective and presently, they have said they are involved only with men's basketball. However, it varies by school. Some larger football schools may have one collective that works to award NIL money to athletes in basketball, football, and other sports, and some have multiple NIL collectives. Some deal in millions of dollars that they raise. And we've posted about some NIL deals that are made directly between a business, or an individual, somewhat like a personal services contract.
Although probably close to 99% of NIL money is going to football and basketball athletes, there are a few instances of other sports stars cashing in big.

Here is an article about a couple of the highest paid athletes, the Cavender twins, who played basketball at Fresno State until this season, and now they are at the University of Miami, where they can maximize their revenue stream. They are good basketball players, though probably not likely to land WNBA-level pro jobs. But they both are making millions of dollars off NIL deals, mostly related to their good looks and the fact they each have 5 million or more followers on social media who patronize whatever products the twins endorse. Thus advertisers are flocking to them with lucrative NIL deals.
https://nypost.com/2022/06/08/cavind...ge-for-haters/

Most lucrative NIL deals-
https://www.actionnetwork.com/ncaaf/...in-the-nil-era

And because football brings in far more money to schools that play BCS football, those schools will have a big advantage in raising NIL funds that will also benefit their basketball programs. So Bradley and non-football schools will actually be at a disadvantage.

**Bball31** · 01-28-2023, 10:47 AM

Money drives college athletics. There was a time when the MVC, from top to bottom, was one of the top two or three conferences in the country. As revenue from football increased from television deals to added bowl games, the MVC steered away from football. Schools such as Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis and Tulsa departed the league to take advantage of the revenue being created from football. The schools that replaced these teams were not of the basketball caliber of those that left, thus weakening the league from top to bottom. Commitments to football, although not the quality of the Power 5, have allowed conferences like the Mountain West, MAC, Conference USA, Sunbelt and American Athletic to generate much needed revenue and improve the quality of their basketball and other sports, most notably from the revenue sharing of Bowl games. In the meantime, schools such as Creighton, Wichita and Loyola that are non football playing schools, after multiple years of success in the MVC, were asked to join leagues that were stronger in basketball, even though those conferences, with the exception of the American Athletic, don't play football in the BCS. Hopefully the day will come when we can win often enough to be invited to a stronger conference. Football is very expensive to have. However, the revenue shared among conference schools that play in even minor bowls is staggering. It has enabled conferences that were at one time much weaker than the MVC, to become equal to, if not very close to the caliber of basketball in the MVC.

**Bball31** · 01-28-2023, 12:32 PM

For those that don’t know, this is the staggering amount of money that can be earned from Bowl Games. Each conference is awarded $300,000 for each team that plays in a bowl game. That money is divided among all conference members that meet academic performance guidelines. In addition, the winner of each bowl game is awarded anywhere from a low of $225,000 to $6.4 million, depending which bowl they play in. Teams and conferences that play in bowl games that participate in the bowl playoff system (3 different bowl games) receive much more. Here is the breakdown of the teams from the conferences I mentioned in a previous post and how much was divided among all conference schools. American Athletic - 7 teams ($2.1 million), Conference USA - 6 teams ($1.8 million), MAC - 6 teams ($1.8 million), Mountain West - 7 teams ($2.1 million), Sun Belt - 7 teams ($2.1 million). Here is an example of Troy that plays in the Sun Belt: they won the Cure Bowl and were awarded a little over $500,000. That is on top of their share of the $2.1 million given to the Sun Belt for the 7 bowl teams. It’s clear to say, it’s not only the Power 5 (SEC, ACC, Big 10, PAC 12, Big 12) making money from the bowl games.

**BUfan14** · 01-29-2023, 02:45 AM

Originally posted by ️ Fanatic View Post

[*]SADLY - I believe "development" occurs from the summer offseason programming for the upcoming year... harder to develop players when they transfer in or do not commit to a program for 4 years[/LIST]

But of the players that have stayed more than a year, do you feel this staff has done a good job of helping talent grow and maximize? I’m starting to think it hasn’t done great at that. Outside of Mast, I’m not sure any players have taken big steps forward and converted weakness to strengths. Certainly statistically players generally haven’t taken big steps forward for this program very often.

I think Hannah is the perfect example. He showed some promise freshman year, and is basically still the same player. He’s grown a little, but all of his weaknesses are still the same. He never took that next step to be a true starting caliber player. And then the next step to be an all league player. The big leaps guys like Jeremy Crouch and Andrew Warren took year over year. Why don’t we see that very often in this program? Players seem to be basically the same when they leave as when they come in, with small incremental growth at best. There is no next step. Ville is another example. Most of the roster really. Zek might be an exception, we will see.

**Mikovio** · 01-29-2023, 07:48 AM

Originally posted by Bball31 View Post

For those that don’t know, this is the staggering amount of money that can be earned from Bowl Games. Each conference is awarded $300,000 for each team that plays in a bowl game. That money is divided among all conference members that meet academic performance guidelines. In addition, the winner of each bowl game is awarded anywhere from a low of $225,000 to $6.4 million, depending which bowl they play in. Teams and conferences that play in bowl games that participate in the bowl playoff system (3 different bowl games) receive much more. Here is the breakdown of the teams from the conferences I mentioned in a previous post and how much was divided among all conference schools. American Athletic - 7 teams ($2.1 million), Conference USA - 6 teams ($1.8 million), MAC - 6 teams ($1.8 million), Mountain West - 7 teams ($2.1 million), Sun Belt - 7 teams ($2.1 million). Here is an example of Troy that plays in the Sun Belt: they won the Cure Bowl and were awarded a little over $500,000. That is on top of their share of the $2.1 million given to the Sun Belt for the 7 bowl teams. It’s clear to say, it’s not only the Power 5 (SEC, ACC, Big 10, PAC 12, Big 12) making money from the bowl games.

Actually after expenses many schools lose money from their bowl games. And sometimes the published payouts you see include thousands of face value tickets which if the school doesn’t sell they have to eat or return to the bowl organizers hoping they can sell them (and lower bowls rarely sell out).

**egib52** · 01-30-2023, 01:47 AM

Originally posted by Da Coach View Post

For anyone who doesn't recall, Noah Reynolds played at Peoria Notre Dame, graduating in 2021. No college coach watched Noah more than Coach Wardle, since his daughter plays at Notre Dame, and he was also recruiting multiple other players on the boys team (Lathan Sommerville, Cooper Koch, Declan and Connor Dillon), In the end, Wardle did not offer Reynolds, and neither did any other Division I coach, other than Jeff Linder of Wyoming, who offered him in late March, 2021. If Bradley had offered him, they would not have had the open scholarships that were used to land Terry Roberts or Malevy Leon late in that 2020-21 recruiting cycle.

I would have traded multiple years of Reynolds for the one year we got from Roberts. However, I'm sure going in the hope was we would have TR for multiple years.

**Bball31** · 01-30-2023, 10:12 AM

Originally posted by Mikovio View Post

Actually after expenses many schools lose money from their bowl games. And sometimes the published payouts you see include thousands of face value tickets which if the school doesn’t sell they have to eat or return to the bowl organizers hoping they can sell them (and lower bowls rarely sell out).

You are correct. Teams that play in a bowl game must sell a specified amount of tickets, that is determined by a percentage (set by the bowl they play in) of the school’s enrollment. Here is the 2022-23 revenue payout of the five non-power conferences, followed by each conference member school payout, prior to the adjustment for unsold tickets. This does not include added value in the form national tv exposure on ESPN. None of these conferences had a team participate in what is called a New Year’s Six, bowl game. That is much more money and gIves payouts to the both teams.

Conference USA: $9,000,000 ($818,181)
American Athletic: $4,399,090 ($399,917)
Mountain West: $3,050,000 ($277,272)
Mid American: $2,350,000 ($195,833)
Sun Belt: $573,125 ($40,937)

**️ Fanatic** · 01-30-2023, 10:59 AM

Originally posted by Da Coach View Post

And because football brings in far more money to schools that play BCS football, those schools will have a big advantage in raising NIL funds that will also benefit their basketball programs. So Bradley and non-football schools will actually be at a disadvantage.

Thanks Da Coach for the information & details: Our primary focus has to be dominate MVC conference (in basketball NIL programs)...

**Da Coach** · 02-25-2023, 10:23 AM

Originally posted by Da Coach View Post

You can Google NIL and find a lot more info-
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-...-deals-2021-12
https://en.as.com/ncaa/how-much-mone...ement-deals-n/

Here's what I know...
The schools themselves have no control over the NIL money. The NCAA prohibits the schools from collecting or handing out NIL money to any athlete. It must be done entirely by outside businesses directly between them and the athletes, or through an "NIL collective" (like the Home of the Brave collective) that acts like a broker or middle-man to help coordinate funds going to athletes for NIL related purposes. So although the school might be able to point out to a recruit that there is NIL money being received by some of their athletes, and that could help in recruiting, they cannot make any promise, nor have any involvement in directing the NIL money going to the athletes.....

Here is an article about a couple of the highest paid athletes, the Cavender twins, who played basketball at Fresno State until this season, and now they are at the University of Miami, where they can maximize their revenue stream. They are good basketball players, though probably not likely to land WNBA-level pro jobs. But they both are making millions of dollars off NIL deals, mostly related to their good looks and the fact they each have 5 million or more followers on social media who patronize whatever products the twins endorse. Thus advertisers are flocking to them with lucrative NIL deals.
https://nypost.com/2022/06/08/cavind...ge-for-haters/

The NCAA has issued its first NIL-related violation and penalty, though it seems more like a symbolic slap on the wrist than a real penalty-
https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa-and-mi...172344947.html
https://www.si.com/college/2023/02/2...tions-nil-ncaa

There is no doubt that the Cavinder twins, women's basketball players from Fresno State, transferred to the University of Miami to cash in on far more lucrative NIL deals. But that is not against NCAA rules. However, the NCAA has determined that the women's basketball coach was more involved in arranging contact between a wealthy donor and the players than is allowed by NCAA rules. So they issued a 1 year probation to the Miami program. The coach involved already served a rather meaningless self-imposed 3-game suspension at the start of this season, so the NCAA did not penalize her any further. And there was no penalty at all given to the Cavinder twins, even though they clearly violated NCAA illegal contact rules. The NCAA probably didn't want to upset the girls' millions of social media followers.

(They have 128 million followers on TikTok, and millions more on other platforms- https://www.tiktok.com/@cavindertwins)

This is the first NCAA penalty of any kind related to NIL, despite the fact that similar types of interactions involving coaches and recruits are undoubtedly happening all the time.

I wonder... do they come with their own professional photographer who seems to follow them everywhere and shoot these posed photos?

**BUfan14** · 02-25-2023, 12:14 PM

Originally posted by BUfan14 View Post

But of the players that have stayed more than a year, do you feel this staff has done a good job of helping talent grow and maximize? I’m starting to think it hasn’t done great at that. Outside of Mast, I’m not sure any players have taken big steps forward and converted weakness to strengths. Certainly statistically players generally haven’t taken big steps forward for this program very often.

I think Hannah is the perfect example. He showed some promise freshman year, and is basically still the same player. He’s grown a little, but all of his weaknesses are still the same. He never took that next step to be a true starting caliber player. And then the next step to be an all league player. The big leaps guys like Jeremy Crouch and Andrew Warren took year over year. Why don’t we see that very often in this program? Players seem to be basically the same when they leave as when they come in, with small incremental growth at best. There is no next step. Ville is another example. Most of the roster really. Zek might be an exception, we will see.

Looking through my original posts, I think over the last 7 games (ISU and UIC weren’t great games to me) or so we’ve finally seen guys take a next step. I mentioned in my original post it always seemed like we had talent (outside of maybe not always landing great shooting guards/shooters), but guys haven’t taken that next step. So development stood out more to me than recruiting.

I also mentioned Mast was the exception. He has continued to grow as a leader and clutch player since then too. Zek (who I mentioned might also be able to find another gear) and Leons (who I wasn’t as sure could take another step from being a very solid player because of a seemingly passive mentality) both taking the next step and Hick playing how I thought he might at the beginning of the year has really elevated this team. Hannah, Jashon, and Ville may not have ever grown to big time starters like we thought they might early in their careers, but they have all really accepted and embraced their roles and developed small parts of their games (like Ville’s rebounding and Hannah’s post moves), as has Davis. Deen is in a rough patch right now, but hopefully will break his funk soon.

This year is by far the best player development I’ve seen from this staff. Guys have taken visible leaps on the floor (4 of the five starters for sure) and that is what has taken us to that next level finally. Kudos to the staff.

Even the one recruiting flaw I mentioned, landing sharpshooting guards, is as close to great as it has been here. Guys like Zek and Davis, maybe even Hick look like they have the potential to be the best three point shooters we’ve had outside of Kennell, since the Les era. Get Deen back on track along with Mast and Leons shooting solid from the 4/5 spot, this team shoots threes the best of the Wardle era by far I think.

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