cthomas

As much as I hate the whole process, portal season progresses at a much faster pace than high school recruiting.

As much as I hate the whole process, portal season progresses at a much faster pace than high school recruiting.

As much as I hate the whole process, portal season progresses at a much faster pace than high school recruiting.

As much as I hate the whole process, portal season progresses at a much faster pace than high school recruiting.

As much as I hate the whole process, portal season progresses at a much faster pace than high school recruiting.

As much as I hate the whole process, portal season progresses at a much faster pace than high school recruiting.

and you're dealing with people that are a lot closer to being men, then 14-18yr olds. 

Chickens get big through pharma. 

If Ballo leaves without a commitment and visits others, it is what it is.  Got to move on to the next guys.  Fill out the roster with guys willing to say yes.  If you wait, you may end up with less than what you need.  

Traveling kinda sucks sometimes, especially when you’ve been doing it for a bit. I’ve canceled job interviews/school visits when I know I won’t accept their offer over a current offer. Not exactly comparable, but if you know you won’t take an offer over one you already have it’s just a waste of time going through the motions. He very well could commit to IU, but going on other visits signals he’s at least receptive to other schools, imo. 

I think this is the only way to view it. We want Indiana to keep trying.  We want Indiana to win.  If Woody can do that then great. If he can’t with his hand picked team 2 years in a row, it’ll be obvious.  But I’m rooting for a great year. Always am.  Life is too short to throw away seasons hoping for better. 

I know ... free food, free love, look at me and all that stuff .... but after two days in Bloomington, a night on the town and $1.2M in the bank, if he REALLY WANTED to come to IU there would be no need for other visits. But that is just me.

Personally, I’m about that long from moving on to the next big man.  I want Ballo but you don’t want to get caught holding the bag while you wait around.  Sounds like we’ve given him the best pitch and $ we can give.  Hope he commits, but if he doesn’t look at the other guys we had/have coming in.

This all seems eerily similar to last portal season. We think we have someone and then we don't. Speculation on lineups runs rampant and then disappointment and despair. Wake me when it's over.

This all seems eerily similar to last portal season. We think we have someone and then we don't. Speculation on lineups runs rampant and then disappointment and despair. Wake me when it's over.

This all seems eerily similar to last portal season. We think we have someone and then we don't. Speculation on lineups runs rampant and then disappointment and despair. Wake me when it's over.

This all seems eerily similar to last portal season. We think we have someone and then we don't. Speculation on lineups runs rampant and then disappointment and despair. Wake me when it's over.

I know this is the way of things now but I really hate not getting to see a player grow and get to know them anymore.  I hope Gabe sticks around.

Therein lies the problem.  The money buys the donors power to meddle in the program.  Rarely is that good.  

And likely some fans too. An NCAA pro league isn't that interesting to me either. Add Profit sharing, contracts and collective bargaining and I am gonna fade away as a fan just like I did from the NBA 15 yrs ago.   
Back to the transfer portal, I am hoping for a class of Rice, Conwell, Ballo, Malone, Humrichous and maybe Hickman. Not sure how realistic that is, but seems to fill all the needs. 
 

It’s the polar opposite of the most comparable workplace. The nba has a salary cap, minimum salaries, maximum salaries. Rookie contracts giving teams multiple years of control over their draft picks. None of that exists in today’s NCAA. Some of these guys IU is targeting, like Ballo, for example, really aren’t transferring because they want a change of scenery, want a bigger role, etc. He was a vital starter on a 27-9 sweet 16 season. They’re transferring for a paycheck. IU appears to be a beneficiary of the system, so some are fine with it, but I think it’s terrible for the sport. 
My controversial take of the day is that the players need the schools far more than vice versa. By and large, fans watch/show up to games because of the schools, not to watch particular players. Every now and then you get a transcendent player like Caitlyn Clark, but that’s rare. Players are mostly interchangeable. Take Alabama’s football team, take off the Alabama uniform, slap on a Tuscaloosa Tiger uniform, and maybe 10k people show up for novelty reasons. It’d be just another semi-pro league. So, I kind of reject the premise that the players are the reason the schools are making all this money.  NIL makes me wish that players that players could just go pro right out of high school. Take the top 30 or so recruits out of each class and college sports would chug along just fine. But, I recognize that this is where we are in college athletics, and it’s probably just going to get worse. 

College sports as they currently exist are bastardized versions of professional sports. They’re professional sports without salary caps and without contracts. Players can come and go as they please, playing for whoever they want in a given season. It’s a terrible setup and needs to be corralled big time. 

The weather is amazing today - some of y’all should get out, enjoy and revisit the board later this evening. 

That's just plain stupid.  Yes, I know that's what the college landscape is these days but it's still just plain stupid.
Not trying to rain on the Conwell parade but from another board, it sounds like our staff has really been working to get Conwell on campus but can't get a date pinned down.  Is the hesitancy to set a date on Conwell's part or is it truly just a calendar issue?  Don't know the answer but to me if he was that interested in IU he'd be anxious to get on campus for an OV and would find a date on the calendar.  

In theory, recruiting portal players with more than a single year of eligibility is a good thing but in the current environment every kid on your roster is technically nothing but a 1-year rental.  I hate it but that's what it's become.