Kind of a long one, read at your own peril.
Just got done listening to the VC Show, Vince Carter's podcast. He had Antawn Jameson on and he asked Antawn what went wrong with this year's UNC team and without hesitation Jameson answered "NIL". This really got me thinking about the impact of NIL in today's game and fresh off of the first ever Final Four to not feature a top 3 seed, I've got some thoughts on what we're maybe not talking about with NIL:
1. Time Management Issues
- One of the things Jameson really stressed was how they played pickup non stop during his time at UNC. They did nothing else besides school and basketball...they played every pickup game they could play and how that created chemistry and a feel for the game. Kids now, for the first time in their life, have other commitments. So add on this being the first time they're away from home, first time they're on their own, and first time they have more in life than school and basketball...that's a recipe for disaster.
2. There isn't a "Don't be like THAT guy" case yet
- The NBA is filled with stories about busts. Guys who couldn't handle the fame, the money, the women, etc. etc. Thousands of examples over the past 40 years. The NBA has trainings for rookies about what to do, what not to do, who to hire to manage your time/money, and many other safeguards in place to help these young men. Right now, we don't have that in the college game. College kids don't have a bunch of guys in the past to look at and say "wow, that guy really screwed up his future because of NIL, I don't want to do that." College kids don't have managers who keep their calendar and control what they sign and how stretched out their commitments make them. Unfortunately, as with anything new, there will be failures and the future generations will be able to look at those failures and learn.
3. Staying in College for the Wrong Reasons
- If NIL money is the main driving force behind someone returning to UNC, that will turn out badly. We talked about Redemption as the main reason Bacot, Leaky, and Caleb came back to school last offseason...but it's apparent that wasn't their main reasoning. They were flooded with NIL opportunities and that seemed to dominate their offseason plans, not staying on campus all summer to get better. Vince and Antawn said after they lost to Arizona in the NCAA's they didn't leave Chapel Hill for the next 12 months. They worked out til 2am every night because that loss stung them. It didn't seem like our loss to Kansas really stung like that. I'm sure it did to a degree, these are competitors who hate to lose...but man, they sure didn't play like a team that was out for revenge like our 2017 team did.
4. Coaches need to learn how to deal with this also
- Every coach is going to pitch NIL, and UNC should be no exception. You aren't landing kids without it and every school is pitching it down to the last guy on the bench. That said, once these kids get on campus, coaches need to do a better job at handling the 3 things above. UNC isn't the only team that struggled this season with it, we just had the highest expectations of the bunch. The final four right now is SDSU, FAU, UConn, Miami. Not exactly filled with top recruits getting top NIL money. Is that a coincidence? No way. Coaches MUST demand more of their players in terms of staying focused on the basketball and education side of college. Their job is harder now, they must adapt to it. We praise these younger coaches for understanding how to pitch NIL to kids...now they need to learn how to make sure their players are motivated as Vince and Antawn were.
Just some thoughts. We talk so much about NIL on here and it's usually only the benefits of it. Hell, we have some guys who post only about NIL and throw around crazy figures like it's all gravy. As with anything money related, it can get ugly quickly. Let's hope the future Tar Heels have learned from the 2022-23 Tar Heels.
Just got done listening to the VC Show, Vince Carter's podcast. He had Antawn Jameson on and he asked Antawn what went wrong with this year's UNC team and without hesitation Jameson answered "NIL". This really got me thinking about the impact of NIL in today's game and fresh off of the first ever Final Four to not feature a top 3 seed, I've got some thoughts on what we're maybe not talking about with NIL:
1. Time Management Issues
- One of the things Jameson really stressed was how they played pickup non stop during his time at UNC. They did nothing else besides school and basketball...they played every pickup game they could play and how that created chemistry and a feel for the game. Kids now, for the first time in their life, have other commitments. So add on this being the first time they're away from home, first time they're on their own, and first time they have more in life than school and basketball...that's a recipe for disaster.
2. There isn't a "Don't be like THAT guy" case yet
- The NBA is filled with stories about busts. Guys who couldn't handle the fame, the money, the women, etc. etc. Thousands of examples over the past 40 years. The NBA has trainings for rookies about what to do, what not to do, who to hire to manage your time/money, and many other safeguards in place to help these young men. Right now, we don't have that in the college game. College kids don't have a bunch of guys in the past to look at and say "wow, that guy really screwed up his future because of NIL, I don't want to do that." College kids don't have managers who keep their calendar and control what they sign and how stretched out their commitments make them. Unfortunately, as with anything new, there will be failures and the future generations will be able to look at those failures and learn.
3. Staying in College for the Wrong Reasons
- If NIL money is the main driving force behind someone returning to UNC, that will turn out badly. We talked about Redemption as the main reason Bacot, Leaky, and Caleb came back to school last offseason...but it's apparent that wasn't their main reasoning. They were flooded with NIL opportunities and that seemed to dominate their offseason plans, not staying on campus all summer to get better. Vince and Antawn said after they lost to Arizona in the NCAA's they didn't leave Chapel Hill for the next 12 months. They worked out til 2am every night because that loss stung them. It didn't seem like our loss to Kansas really stung like that. I'm sure it did to a degree, these are competitors who hate to lose...but man, they sure didn't play like a team that was out for revenge like our 2017 team did.
4. Coaches need to learn how to deal with this also
- Every coach is going to pitch NIL, and UNC should be no exception. You aren't landing kids without it and every school is pitching it down to the last guy on the bench. That said, once these kids get on campus, coaches need to do a better job at handling the 3 things above. UNC isn't the only team that struggled this season with it, we just had the highest expectations of the bunch. The final four right now is SDSU, FAU, UConn, Miami. Not exactly filled with top recruits getting top NIL money. Is that a coincidence? No way. Coaches MUST demand more of their players in terms of staying focused on the basketball and education side of college. Their job is harder now, they must adapt to it. We praise these younger coaches for understanding how to pitch NIL to kids...now they need to learn how to make sure their players are motivated as Vince and Antawn were.
Just some thoughts. We talk so much about NIL on here and it's usually only the benefits of it. Hell, we have some guys who post only about NIL and throw around crazy figures like it's all gravy. As with anything money related, it can get ugly quickly. Let's hope the future Tar Heels have learned from the 2022-23 Tar Heels.
