"Go to your boosters and say we need $25-30M": 3x SB champ Shannon Sharpe calls out coaches "scurrying away" due to NIL rules
The introduction of the NIL has been the biggest change in college sports for some time. The ruling allows players to make money from their sponsorship deals, in what was seen as a massive blow to the NCAA's perception that those involved in college sports are "student-athletes."
However, in college basketball and college football, the name, image and likeness deals and any potential earning from it have been key in bringing players into programs.
Three-time Super Bowl winner Shannon Sharpe spoke about the NIL on the recent edition of his "Nightcap" show.
"The greatest key to survival is adaptability," Sharpe said. "Stop talking about the NIL. It's here to stay. Go to your boosters and tell them we need $25-$30 million to get the players we need to get, either out of high school or in the transfer portal. You see a lot of coaches now scurrying away, because now you don't have an advantage."
(Timestamp: 9:56)
Sharpe was discussing the NIL as part of a longer conversation involving former Kentucky Wildcats coach John Calipari, who announced he would leave the program and join the Arkansas Razorbacks as their new coach.
This move has appeared to have been on the cards for a while. Wildcats fans have been calling for Calipari to leave since they suffered a shock defeat against No. 14-seed Oakland during the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. This was their second first-round defeat in the last three years, and the Wildcats have only won one postseason game in the last four years.
One of the reasons for Ketucky's poor results was, according to Shannon Sharpe, its poor recruitment.
In the era of the NIL, programs need to not only make recruits think that they will become the best players they can be but also satisfy their NIL desires. For some, the latter will be more important, so they will gravitate to the larger schools where they can become household names.
Read More: 5 reasons why John Calipari's Arkansas transition will create seismic shifts in college basketball landscape
Shannon Sharpe stresses the need for more "one-and-dones"
Sharpe suggested how Kentucky, or any struggling college basketball program, can improve their fortunes.
"A lot of people didn't like to recruit those one-and-dones, because they say it messes up, you're recruiting guys and they're gone next year," Sharpe said. "But Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) started recruiting one-and-dones. Can't beat them join them."
In college basketball, a player referred to as "one-and-done" is someone with a standout high school career who would go straight to the NBA. However, as players are required to wait a year after their high school graduation to join the pro league, these players play in college for one year and then immediately declare for the NBA draft the next.
Former Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski, aka "Coach K," was known to use many of these highly skilled players in his teams. The rule was established in 2005, and since then, until Coach K's retirement in 2022, the Blue Devils made every NCAA Tournament, winning two of them.
John Calipari will need to learn from the likes of Coach K, embrace the talents that both the one-and-done rule brings and try to lure top talents to Arkansas through effective NIL opportunities.
Do you think the NIL will continue to impact college basketball in the future?
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