(2027) WR Monshun Sales

[IUHoosierJoe]

3 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

I think IU needs to be willing to overspend here.  
 

Winning Sales is a signal.  Breaking that barrier makes it easier to sell other ultra elite recruits.  
 

Don’t go crazy with the overspend but find the money if it’s manageable 

Winning Sales will send a signal to elite recruits. Winning big without him will send an even bigger signal to the recruits Cig really wants. Would be great to get him, but if he gets a bigger bag somewhere else, so be it. 

[Stuhoo]

This is a classic Moneyball exercise for the staff. 

For each player that interests the staff, we have a large but not unlimited budget. Each player that we spend on, whether it's a developmental high school recruit, an elite high school recruit, or a portal player, comes at an opportunity cost of using that budget to pursue other players.

The ultimate goal is to have a high sign rate on the players that we think are cost effective. And cost effective can include elite/expensive high school players.

[Lebowski]

1 hour ago, Stuhoo said:

This is a classic Moneyball exercise for the staff. 

For each player that interests the staff, we have a large but not unlimited budget. Each player that we spend on, whether it's a developmental high school recruit, an elite high school recruit, or a portal player, comes at an opportunity cost of using that budget to pursue other players.

The ultimate goal is to have a high sign rate on the players that we think are cost effective. And cost effective can include elite/expensive high school players.

There's nothing Moneyball and/or cost effective about this. The market value jumped 3 to 5 times from last year according to Coach Cig. Coach Cig's brand alone and offer to a recruit jumps the recruit's market value. Whether IUFB is able to stay in the top 1/3 on spending is the bigger question and Coach Cig has sounded the alarms. 

[Stuhoo]

2 minutes ago, Lebowski said:

There's nothing Moneyball and/or cost effective about this. The market value jumped 3 to 5 times from last year according to Coach Cig. Coach Cig's brand alone and offer to a recruit jumps the recruit's market value. Whether IUFB is able to stay in the top 1/3 on spending is the bigger question and Coach Cig has sounded the alarms. 

I'd define Moneyball as maximizing the roster given the money a team has.

So the calculation of whether a kid like Sales is worth it is a contextual, opportunity cost calculation. It's along the lines of; Sales and a player like Nick Marsh eat up the same budget amount -- who should we pursue? Or, should we throw a million at a freshman like Sales and have a million less to throw at multiple $250k three/four star top 500 freshman.

Last year we threw a giant bag at Fernando - turned into a fantastic moneyball play. We could have kept Tayven Jackson and spent more on other positions, but instead spent a lot on Fernando.

[Lebowski]

35 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

I'd define Moneyball as maximizing the roster given the money a team has.

So the calculation of whether a kid like Sales is worth it is a contextual, opportunity cost calculation. It's along the lines of; Sales and a player like Nick Marsh eat up the same budget amount -- who should we pursue? Or, should we throw a million at a freshman like Sales and have a million less to throw at multiple $250k three/four star top 500 freshman.

Last year we threw a giant bag at Fernando - turned into a fantastic moneyball play. We could have kept Tayven Jackson and spent more on other positions, but instead spent a lot on Fernando.

That's not what Moneyball is though. Moneyball is a strategy used to build teams by identifying and signing 'undervalued' players based on 'advanced stats' rather than relying on traditional scouting. 

Your examples aren't undervalued players. All of them were/are ranked towards the top if not the top amongst their peers when they were offered or signed with IUFB. 

Folks like Drew Evans or Riley Nowakowski or Mario Landino or Rolijah Hardy were undervalued when they committed to IUFB and examples of Moneyball in the true sense of the word. 

[Stuhoo]

3 minutes ago, Lebowski said:

That's not what Moneyball is though. Moneyball is a strategy used to build teams by identifying and signing 'undervalued' players based on 'advanced stats' rather than relying on traditional scouting. 

Your examples aren't undervalued players. All of them were/are ranked towards the top if not the top amongst their peers when they were offered or signed with IUFB. 

Folks like Drew Evans or Riley Nowakowski or Mario Landino or Rolijah Hardy were undervalued when they committed to IUFB and examples of Moneyball in the true sense of the word. 

We identified Fernando Mendoza at $2 million-ish per as a severely undervalued player.

This year? We are likely spending $2 million on Hoover and consider him undervalued compared to other available top tier QBs.

In any event - we agree on much of this - seems like a semantic difference.

[Lebowski]

6 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

We identified Fernando Mendoza at $2 million-ish per as a severely undervalued player.

This year? We are likely spending $2 million on Hoover and consider him undervalued compared to other available top tier QBs.

In any event - we agree on much of this - seems like a semantic difference.

That's market value. That's not what Moneyball is. Again, Moneyball is signing Hardy and him being a 0 star. We more than likely paid pennies on the dollar if anything at all for him. His market value changed based on performance and that will shift his value because it's safe to say he's not a 0 star. 

[Iufan71]

I feel like Texas and LSU would both be ok with overpaying for Sales .....cant see Cignetti getting to a bidding war. He has a number he is comfortable with and thats it.....take it or leave it. Becker (850k) and Marsh (950K) are the rumored numbers and proven players on the college stage.....Monshun is not.  

Edited Thursday at 02:58 AM by Iufan71

[DChoosier]

22 minutes ago, Iufan71 said:

I feel like Texas and LSU would both be ok with overpaying for Sales .....cant see Cignetti getting to a bidding war. He has a number he is comfortable with and thats it.....take it or leave it. Becker (850k) and Marsh (950K) are the rumored numbers and proven players on the college stage.....Monshun is not.  

I get your point but I’m not sure what overpaying Sales means as I don’t know the market value of the #1 rated WR in the nation.  Maybe it is 1mm+ and/or whatever Texas/LSU/Miami are willing to spend.

Would love to land him but it’s certainly not as crucial as it would have been pre-portal era.

[skhoosier2]

I will be shocked if he ends up at Indiana.  We won't be the highest $$ offer he gets.  I've never seen him ending up at IU.  I could definitely see him at an LSU/Texas/Miami.  All the pundits putting in crystal balls for IU really have no clue.  This one won't be over until its signing day.  

[Hardwood83]

He's good and I love the optics of getting a 5 star "in-state" player...but doesn't feel important to me. If he goes to Texas or L$U, oh well. 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

5 hours ago, skhoosier2 said:

I will be shocked if he ends up at Indiana.  We won't be the highest $$ offer he gets.  I've never seen him ending up at IU.  I could definitely see him at an LSU/Texas/Miami.  All the pundits putting in crystal balls for IU really have no clue.  This one won't be over until its signing day.  

The payday seems to be incredibly important to him.  I’d imagine Indiana would compensate him well, but not what a few others will do.  I’ll be shocked if it ends up being Indiana. 

[Brass Cannon]

All It takes is one mega donor willing to give the money for the sole reason of bringing sales to Bloomington.  
 

It’s a crapshoot 

[Banksyrules]

On 6/10/2026 at 2:26 PM, Lebowski said:

There's nothing Moneyball and/or cost effective about this. The market value jumped 3 to 5 times from last year according to Coach Cig. Coach Cig's brand alone and offer to a recruit jumps the recruit's market value. Whether IUFB is able to stay in the top 1/3 on spending is the bigger question and Coach Cig has sounded the alarms. 

Wonder if a shift of offering late is a necessity. To get the upside recruits

[skhoosier2]

3 hours ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

The payday seems to be incredibly important to him.  I’d imagine Indiana would compensate him well, but not what a few others will do.  I’ll be shocked if it ends up being Indiana. 

Payday and optics.  He seems like an attention wh**e to be honest.  It would be great to land an in state 5 star but I've never felt like he was a Cig guy.  Surprised we've put so much into him but may be because he is in state and we need those connections even if we do not win every battle.  Just theorizing ofcourse.  I know nothing lol

[Pagoda]

He doesn’t sound like the highest probability, but our staff knows what they’re doing.  If we had no shot they would cut bait.

Cig recruited Julio Jones.  We just landed the #2 WR in the portal.  This is nothing new for this staff.

He’s just one of many HS recruitments.  If he comes here great.  If not, we’re fine.

[Banksyrules]

The only recruit I’d like to sign a big check to is Brewster, because he’s scary scary. Otherwise I’m good with whatever decision they make.