kreed5120

Losing either of those 2 would be devastating as it magnitudes the loss of Nate that much more.

Any time the NCAA tries to put rules in place to get things under control they get sued and lose in court. They have no authority. Without the players forming a union and a collective bargaining agreement being formed, there is no way to restore order.

The article mentions that back when it started top players were making $400k. Now those same caliber players are making $2.5-4 million. P5 payrolls have climbed to $5-10 million. At some point one would think it will level off. Not saying we're there yet, but players pay doubling annually isn't sustainable long-term. Also, one wonders if donor fatigue settles in at some point. Not at a place like Florida or Purdue as you're seeing your dollars are making a difference. More so at places like Georgia Tech, Boston College, Penn State, etc where alumni are spending millions a year and the team still isn't competing for Tournament appearances.

A tad unrelated, but it appears feartheroocollective.com has been updated so football and soccer are now live for donations. The general fund link still prompts an email.

The Toledo Blade ran an article a week or two back where they pulled MAC coaches to find out what MAC teams are paying and what players are making. If I recall correctly, one anonymous MAC coach said he believed Nate Johnson would be worth $400k on the open market and said Akron's total roster had to be $1+ million. What exactly Nate will sign for I have no idea.

Probably not, but his defense alone should make him good enough to see the floor 15-20 minutes/game. I think that's the part of his game we'll miss most. We have other offensively talented guards to help fill the void.

I wouldn't be surprised if a school reached out to his agent and a deal is already in place. If he was dead set on transferring, he probably would have entered much sooner. Teams that missed out on their initial targets are probably getting more desperate to land a difference maker as the portal is nearing close so upping offers.

That certainly stings. Fortunately we're already deep at guard so we can absorb some of the lost production in the aggregate of the current roster. Still it's tough losing a two way player of Johnson's caliber.

It seems very premature with the portal still active and rosters still being finalized to rank teams.

Kam Craft to Georgia Tech. He announced yesterday, but I just noticed it. So much for the return to Miami like the Redhawk faithful were praying.

I'm not even sure if I'd want him. He played 8.3 minutes a game and only averaged .9 boards. The person you'd be asking him to replace averaged 18.2 minutes and 7.2 boards. If you multiply Parks stats by 2.2 to account for the minutes disparity, he'd average 1.98 boards a game. Heck, even Okonkwo's 2nd year at WVU he averaged 3.2 boards while playing 11 minutes so that's a fairly apples to apples comparison since the minutes and level of competition is more level. How big you play is often more important than how tall you are. We saw that with Freeman as a prime example for a number of years. Just because Parks is taller doesn't make him better. I would hope that we could find better even if it means bringing in another 6'8 PF to play C. Edit: All that said, I trust whoever Groce and his staff decide to bring in.

Players can't enter the portal after April 22nd, but players who are already in the portal can commit to a new school after that date.

EMU named Maxx Crosby assistant GM. I assume this role is more assisting the program in getting donations and appealing to recruits. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/44673506/eastern-michigan-tabs-raiders-maxx-crosby-assistant-gm

The article stated CMU is near or at the bottom of the MAC in NIL. Probably the only way for them to succeed is being able to identify D2 players who are overlooked and then landing them. I wouldn't bet on him succeeding unless financial support steps up for the program, but he's probably the type of candidate that gives them their best chance.

CMU has a head coach now. They only have 1 scholarship players on the roster so this will be a year 0 build situation. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/more-colleges/2025/04/14/central-michigan-to-hire-andy-bronkema-as-new-mens-basketball-coach/83086164007/

Also, like the pros the better you are the more teams are willing put up with. He was fairly mid last season. Would he be a upgrade at a lot of schools? Sure, but not a big enough one to give him the $4 million he's asking for or dealing with his antics.

It's hard for me to fault the kid. I love my job, but if a recruiter reached out to me telling me they would double or triple my pay to do the exact same job for a competitor, I'd probably leave as well. That doesn't necessarily mean he didn't enjoy his time here.

This is my thoughts as well. His agent behind the scenes likely gathered a few offers and Okonkwo picked whichever one he thought was best. A deal was most likely in place before he even entered his name in the portal. It's also likely why the Memphis reporter broke the news he was entering the portal. His agent probably reached out to Memphis to see about getting a offer. Someone on staff passed the news onto the beat reporter. It would seem unlikely we would force him out. He was a productive player, particularly on defense which Groce loves, for us and his game was still developing offensively. Besides it would be a poor look for us to force a guy out this late in the recruiting process when we're promoting a team culture. Proven quality bigs are in short supply in the portal and cost a pretty penny. They all will find their way onto a P5 or high major roster. My best guess is we'll target someone under the radar who wants an opportunity to play and prove themselves. Parks from OSU is still available I believe. Some speculated we had interest in him earlier before we signed his his teammate (Evan).

It looks like he has visits scheduled with both Penn State and Villanova.

The YSU C committed to USC last night. @Captain Kangaroo lost one of his desired replacements.

We would only ever face those type of programs on a neutral court if we play them in an exempt tournament anyway. I don't mind playing Purdue on the road. Either we win and gain instant credibility or we lose, like everything expects, and it doesn't really ding us any sort of way.

That was kind of my thought process as well. He's going to be worth more to Tennessee than anyone else as he'll have to go in and learn an entirely new playbook. Perhaps even a new offense. Had he just transferred back in January he wouldn't be so far behind. Now he's playing catch up and many of the teams that would be willing to spend $2+ million on a QB already have a QB they're okay going into the season with.

I don't know, but all these kids have agents these days. It wouldn't surprise me if he had people in his ear telling him he could make double, triple elsewhere.

Really good move by Tennessee IMO. Tennessee's offense ranked 9th in the SEC and he barely surpassed 100 passing yards in the playoffs. I'd be surprised if anyone gives him $4 million this late into the recruiting process.

Bigs that are 6'10+, can run the floor, and score are hottest commodities in the portal. You're probably talking $1 million as every team wants them, but very few exist. Edit: I think we hit on just about every transfer last year, excluding Harris who got injured. We'll likely go a similar route and find someone under the radar and within our budget.