'Recruiting Wasn't Really A Challenge, Until Recruiting Didn't Become Recruiting Anymore' - College Coaches Need To Stop Bitching And Moaning About NIL

I have nothing against Mike Boynton. He's just the latest example of complaining about NIL and people eating it up. I think Mike Boynton got fucked by the NCAA when they decided to hit Oklahoma State with sanctions after the whole FBI investigation. He wasn't even there when the allegations took place. Whatever, I'm just saying that because I'm sick and tired of coaches bitching and moaning about NIL. It's the easiest way to win over people who think college athletics was always pure. 

Now, I also want to bring up Mike Boynton because he talks about Cade Cunningham. Mike, you hired his brother to get him to commit to Oklahoma State. NIL is just using different tools for the same game we were always playing. Those with the best resources land the best recruits. Look at the top-25 recruits every year for the last 25 and guess what? Majority of them are going to the same schools whether there was NIL or not. 

The difference is obviously keeping your team together. The transfer portal has 100% changed the sport more than NIL and it's not even close. It's the same game in terms of building a culture and keeping guys that can help you win in that culture. Shit, look at UConn. Look at Purdue. Look at Houston. Those teams all have a culture and you don't hear them complaining about NIL and everything else. Is it harder to build a culture? Sure, of course. It's called adapting or quitting as a coach. It's that simple. 

People just hear NIL values or reported money that's out there and freak the fuck out. Coaches should always be pushing for more NIL collectives from their boosters and fans and what not, but that's always been the case. You can point to resources since the beginning of the sport as a form of NIL. What sort of facilities do you have, can you get me to the NBA Draft, what do you have set up for me after the eligibility ends, etc. There's always been this sort of shit. It's not new by any means. The only new part is having NIL money out there. 

Recruiting really isn't all that different. At least not from the high school level. Go look through the team rankings on 247 and guess what? The same schools are in the top-5/10 of recruiting rankings every year. You can go back to the early 2000s and it's the exact same as 2023. Recruiting has always been the same. What can you provide to a player? What benefits do they have? What sort of relationship do you have? 

NIL has played a bigger role in keeping players. You see it across the board with more guys coming back to college instead of trying to be a 2nd round pick in the NBA Draft. Again, the transfer portal is the bigger change and that still has a caveat. We have too many players in college basketball because of the COVID year still in play. When that goes away, I'm curious to see the true portal numbers. 

Finally, sports and college basketball are still a zero sum game. You still have wins. 16 teams still make the Sweet 16. Four make the Final Four, etc. It's called adapting or quitting. I'm fine if you want to try and build more resources, but to come out and just complain about NIL in general doesn't make sense. 

Get a team on the floor and coach them to win. It's as simple as that. If NIL dictated everything the three best teams in the country wouldn't be UConn, Purdue and Houston.