NLIs in the Age of NIL

[TubbyUteStreetwise]

NIL, and its affect on collegiate sports, has been discussed quite a bit on this board. Also, recruiting and its potential pointlessness with the transfer portal have been topics of conversation as well. I wanted to join those conversations with a question: with schools increasingly being able to pay players, is there a future state where schools will punt on recruiting altogether and defer their recruiting budget to getting players through the transfer portal? Would schools optimize their funds by purchasing the services of known commodities rather than spend time on developing “lottery ticket” high school athletes?

A more specific way to look at this would be – why should we spend money (and time) sending coaches all around the country to scout high school athletes when we could use this money to buy the services of the athlete a year later after they have proven their ability?

This approach seems a bit cynical, and I’m not sold on it, but it’s also clear that recruiting is no longer the life blood of a college athletics program. There are many more variables. Certainly, one continued bonus of recruiting is the perception of a program’s health. This affects the quality of athletes that can be signed from both recruiting and the transfer portal.

What are other reasons that we will still care about recruiting in 5 years? What is the biggest downside with letting other teams sign and develop players just so that we can steal them after they show ability?

[2008 National Champ]

talent acquisition will always be 75-90% of the success ratio for any program and I don’t know how you do that without some contact. So I don’t think you will ever completely get away from having your staff do in-person meetings and scouting instead of just relying on HUDL’s.

If anything I think the need to properly vet recruits, whether high school or transfer, will increase if athletes become employees due to liability.

[//r00t4Utes]

I’m not saying schools don’t pay for players. However, you mentioned schools using the money from recruiting to pay players NIL, but that’s not how NIL works.

The schools pay for those coaches and those trips, schools don’t pay for NIL, or aren’t supposed to at least.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

You need both recruits and transfers. Some 4 and 5 stars may be able to play immediately. 3 and 4 star not quite ready need a year or two to develop. The portal is a way to fill needs when someone transfers or some players don’t pan out.

I think Whitt and staff have done a great job of putting together the best team every year. With QB being the exception last year. Good coaches learn from mistakes and fix them. QB room looks good this year.

[Author]

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