AH1971

Overton and the kid from North Florida visiting today as that 3rd wing spot make sense as they have both have multiple years of eligibility left. The JUCO kid is intriguing to me although I'm not sure I'd be totally confident with him in that first big off the bench role. But the roster is coming together and Wilkerson and DeVries are two players who you can absolutely build a successful team around.

Assuming Conerway commits this week, a 3&D as your 3rd guard/wing and a big with size and strength who can defend the rim for ~20 mpg need to be the biggest priorities. Conerway Wilkerson 3 and D DeVries Bailey Would make an incredible and efficient offense to watch. Do still need to add some levels of size and athleticism however.

Well the game in Rupp this coming December certainly just got more interesting.

And the coveted "he doesn't care about winning"

My son is sending screenshots by the minute. It's better than you can imagine. They're definitely on level 4 of cope right now.

Who cares? It's good discussion

You're vastly underestimating big money college athletics and how it pertains to university marketing. Why do you think so many athletic departments are content to operate in the red, sometimes $10-20 million dollars? None of that happens without good players and coaches who win games and championships. It's not the players faults the NCAA ran an illegal model for as long as they did. Research the University of Alabama's enrollment spike and tuition hike the last 20 years, a timeframe that directly coincides Saban's dominance. Both have nearly doubled in a 20 year frame. Whatever Saban was making, he was worth 10x more the university....as were the kids he recruited who won him games.

How did the Duke brand get to where it is today?

Duke built its brand by consistently winning. How do you win consistently? By having the best players. Those players, up until the last few years, weren't compensated anywhere close to their fair market value. If Duke decided one day they only wanted to admit athletes who fit their admissions standards, they would lose their brand and lose it rather quickly. We know that will never happen though.

He wore Duke across his chest for 5 straight months. He's one of the more visible athletes in the country. That's $4.8 million in marketing and promotion alone. Not every college athlete is worth what they're being paid in NIL but Cooper is easily an exception.

Easily.

Probably more

It's nothing that hasn't already been said on here...basically says it's IU or UK for Wilkerson. Says Freeman has visited IU and Auburn so far and visiting Tennessee this week; too early to call a leader. Also Conerway down to IU, Miss St, and Vanderbilt with IU in the lead. Also mentions that NC State is the favorite to land Mgbako and Alabama F Derrion Reid.

Potential 3 and D guy to play alongside Wilkerson or is he an alternative? Know nothing about him individually but as fun and as electric as UNF was offensively, they were equally as bad defensively.

If tonight comes and goes without a commitment, I think it’s IU. I don’t think Auburn is offering anything close to what UK or IU is offering, rendering the Auburn visit useless.

Or Auburn is nowhere near the ballpark in terms of what IU or UK are offering. These guys have agents now, he’s visited two schools this weekend and will almost guarantee LW’s agent phoned Auburn today and said, “Here’s where you need to be to even sit at the table”.

You're losing sight that Duke likely has the largest NIL budget of any team in college basketball and by a decent margin. Those other 4 and 5* players you considered weren't "cheap". Cooper Flagg is a generational talent....something Dix, Conwell, and Tucker aren't. IU can't afford to sink 80% of their NIL budget on 3 guys and still expect to sign "cheap" role players like Proctor, Evans, Foster, etc. who are all 4 and 5* talents with NBA potential. Hence why the comparison isn't really applicable to IU's situation.

Not all $4.5million of that was from Duke collectives by the way, he had other 3rd party endorsement deals. If a guy like Gabe Cupps is getting $600k to go to Ohio State, there isn't a chance in hell IU could dump ~80% of its NIL on 3 players (Conwell, Dix, and Tucker DeVries) and expect to be competitive next year surrounding them with "jersey fillers".

Duke had 3 top 15 picks on their roster last year and 5 other top 50 prospects that were all getting paid. They added two role guys in Gillis and James. Terrible comparison.

You've missed the point. He doesn't need to be highly skilled to make a huge impact next year at 7 foot. If he can catch lobs and protect the rim for ~15 mpg next year I don't care how unskilled he is as that would net a solid portal addition. How skilled was the Chinyelu guy from Florida this past year?

Like Rutgers who had a losing record? An "underpaid role player" in the NBA is 100x more serviceable than a college jersey filler. Comparison isn't really fair.

I know they are still getting paid, but when you have an established roster you know how much money you have to work with from the jump and where and how to allocate it, it's very different. Louisville keeping their 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 guys or whatever (and probably at a discount as not every single player in college basketball is portaling and bag chasing) allows them to be aggressive and upfront about who they need and how much they can pay. Imagine if IU landed both Conwell + Dix along with Tucker in the first week of the portal? That's $7-8million in NIL right there. Now what? My comments reflect that. It's much easier to spend money to fill your gaps as opposed to buying an entirely new roster. Woody was able to land 3 or 4 of the top 20 portal players last year by simply filling the gaps.

If this guys floor is ~10-15 solid minutes a game of rim protecting and screening and rolling offensively I'd consider that a win for next year. I'd think a raw prospect like Opurum could greatly benefit in a P5 weight room with some elite level coaching; an opportunity that has yet to be afforded. We have 4 confirmed players for next year...you absolutely need depth and bodies.

It's been reported that at least 10-15 other programs have $10mil+ to spend on NIL this year, IU included, and plenty of other programs who have the money to spend $2-3mil on a single player. Would guess IU is the only team literally starting from scratch this offseason. Simply cannot sink 50%+ your NIL funds in 2-3 players and expect a successful season (see Rutgers).

Obviously a highlight tape, but he appears to have really good hands and some already polished footwork which suggests he’s further along offensively than I would have guessed. Very intrigued by this one…definitely needs to bulk up.