The transfer thread

Good to hear! Just curious if the conversation with Coach Lewis touch on NIL needs?

I never have thought Lewis was hated by his players.  I think he cares about them and they know that, but his intensity and intimidation factor are probably too much for some kids, especially if you're not seeing the rewards of the effort.  If we had prevailed in even 3-4 of the games we lost in OT or by a basket then I think we see a different vibe from some players, particularly Anderson.  It's not an excuse because we lost those games fair and square.  Our record was exactly who we were as a team.  Good bones and potential and not enough moxy or chemistry to win close games. 

Who knows what private conversations happen between Coach and the players.  Mike comes across to me as brutally honest but also someone who genuinely wants the best for his players.  His job is to win basketball games but primarily it's also to help young men improve and prepare for life off the court eventually.  Instead of pouting or turning his back on Sparks last year, he helped him get in the door and signed at IU because it was what the player wanted to pursue despite it not being beneficial to us.  Even though rumor had it that Sparks left BSU partially because of the verbal culture and intensity, he must have learned that the grass was not actually greener and Coach Lewis' way may be OK after all.  

Anderson's departure feels like a combination of $$, opportunity in his last year to be on a contender and the need to leave some demons in his head back in Muncie.  His implosion in the waning moments of a couple of our home losses was brutal to watch let alone to experience.  

That sucks, and I don't get it.

-NIL is not going away. 
-NIL is a huge factor in recruiting
-recruiting is the biggest factor in winning basketball games
-Lewis is the person most responsible for BSU winning basketball games.

I understand the university, and by extension Lewis, cannot "exercise governance" over NIL but maybe he should get over his f-----g bashfulness and talk about it a little.  In fact, maybe he should talk about it A LOT.  A WHOLE LOT.  And loudly.

His is supposed to be the leader of the program, and the program needs NIL.  Who or what is he waiting on?  Who has the attention of potential basketball NIL donors more than the basketball coach? He should be actively promoting the raising of NIL money to the absolute limit that the rules allow.

It's hugely disappointing and concerning to hear that he doesn't want to talk about it, even when an interested person asks.  

I usually prefer to write my own posts rather than cut and paste, but this is a good summary from CBS sports:
But the smartest coaches have mostly stopped complaining about NIL deals, at least publicly, and started evolving and adjusting to their new realities. They don't all think it's sensible that somebody averaging 11 points and seven rebounds for a middle-of-the-pack power-conference team is getting hundreds of thousands of dollars. But most of them seem to understand that there's no going back now, and they know that unless they're working off the court to ensure they're competitive in the NIL space, at least relative to their conference foes, it's going to be difficult to turn around and be competitive on the court when things tip off each November.

Indeed.  It's a time of change and the coaches that just hope NIL will somehow magically go away are going to get steamrolled by those who aggressively get after it.  Lewis has a choice to make.


 

Well Rob is a loyal fan of the program and has a big mouth. Why would he NOT be a person to stress the importance of NIL to, in order to help spread the word?  As opposed to "you can tell its not something he wants to discuss much."  That's 180 degrees from what I want to hear.

None of our coaches seem to want to diacuss it nor does our ad maybe they have been instructed not too I dont know. Maybe he doesnt want to talk about it to me. We dont have in depth conversations I ask a question sometimes he answers sometimes he does not. Were not friends having a beer.

No experience running fund-raising campaigns, but from a distance I see very few campaigns where public pleading for cash really has great results.

You have a $10 million campaign and 80% of it comes from like 5 donors. By comparison very little seems to come from the everyday Joes a public cry goes out to. Big money, it seems, is often courted without a lot of fanfare.

Everyone who cares knows NIL is now an issue. Perhaps BSU doesn't want coaches harping on it because it will seem like they're making excuses. Hard to imagine, I know.