[The Miami Ute]

Thanks for all the comments to my original question. I’m thinking that if this Ficklin kid is more in line with the offense that Beck wants to run, that might really make Wilson redundant. We shall see.

[The Miami Ute]

He’s a University of Utah fan that lives in Vegas…they had a short interview with him at halftime.

[The Miami Ute]

Someone posted here recently that Miro Little, at $500K, had the highest NIL payout of any current Ute. If so, wow…never has so much been ventured for so little return. Well, maybe Rising’s last two seasons are up there as well, but at least he had a massive body of work backing him up.

[The Miami Ute]

If he was paid $500K, then that shows how screwed up the system is. Based on his performance this season, Little wouldn’t even be a benchwarmer in the G League, and even the best players there earn a flat base salary of $40,500 for the five to six-month season. It’s the world turned upside down…

[The Miami Ute]

Well, if this Ficklin kid is as good as he’s showing in practice, it might reduce the odds of even having IW on the team.

[The Miami Ute]

Butler was a bad team in a G5 conference and Utah still lost to them in a neutral (but favorable to Utah) venue. Makes you wonder how this Utah team ever won any conference games at all. Seeing as almost all of their conference victories took place at the JHC, I tend to think that altitude had something major to do with it. The only exception to that victory narrative was the victory versus BYU but that was a rivalry game, which is a completely different dynamic.

[The Miami Ute]

His play in the last minute of the game would have seen him cut immediately if he was a pro…his airball with the game tied and 20+ seconds left in the game was a microcosm of his soon-to-be short career at Utah.

[The Miami Ute]

I don’t know if that’s good or bad for basketball, but it certainly is good for the individuals cashing the checks. It’s the only reason why guys like Lovering are politicking to get a fifth year of eligibility when he has no legitimate leg to stand on. Somewhere down the line, you might see players challenging the whole “four years of eligibility” ecosystem. I can envision guys saying that they should be allowed to play for schools as long as they want, provided that they’re full-time students. You could conceivably see guys in their mid-to late 20s playing college ball, strictly due to NIL, while working on their doctorates.

[The Miami Ute]

LOL…that would really be a unique approach. But, when lawyers and agents get involved, anything is possible. Essentially, they’d be trying to convince the decision-makers that common sense doesn’t apply when it comes to “student-athletes.” Gotta love it. I’m not blaming Lovering for anything, since he’s just following his interest, but, in order to make college athletics a thriving entity, you have to have some rules.

[The Miami Ute]

Honestly, I don’t keep track of anything related to the Big 12. I personally don’t feel any connection to those schools and that’s never going to change. It’s unfortunate but that’s just the way it is. In fact, I feel way more of a connection to other schools in the Mountain West (like Utah State, Wyoming, Colorado State, etc..) than anything related to the Big 12 barring the Arizona schools and Colorado. Case in point, the only road trip I have planned for next season is when we play Wyoming. I have zero interest in going to Texas or Oklahoma or Kansas or West Virginia or Orlando (maybe that one is different since I’m from Florida) or Cincinnati, etc…I’m just holding on and hoping I live long enough to see the next wave of expansion where Utah is affiliated with western teams.

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