Another One Bites the Dust (NC State’s Diamond Johnson) Enters Portal

[Geew1992]

And the "me, me, me" players you describe are of no interest to Geno and thanks for that.

Hmm....... who do you consider a me me me player? Cuz, I'm pretty sure he recruited many of those players.

 

[sun]

The transfer portal & extra covid year are helping to grow the game & creating excitement because there's so many more teams & players compared to the WNBA.
Coaches gets paid millions to win & they're trying to alter their team chemistry while players are after fame & fortune before their popularity flames out & they need to go overseas just to continue playing.
This is a pre-cursor to WNBA expansion and the upcoming TV contract for women's March Madness.
I think that the fans of some teams feel threatened because it promotes parity & teams can improve so quickly & challenge the blue bloods.
Up until the portal, coaches were forced to recruit at earlier ages, too early according to Geno, to determine how good they would be when they enter college.
Geno has begun recruiting more international players, while other schools on focusing on the more experienced transfer players.

Everything about WCBB has been monetized by corporate sponsorships anyway, of team uniforms, shoes, advertising on the courts, even which ball that they use.
And up until now, it was all built on the backs of young women playing for relatively little personal benefit.
If we want the game to grow then there needs to be more success stories, more hype, heroes & WCBB millionaires like Paige, Caitlin Clark, Boston, Juju Watkins getting the big NIL deals.
But they still need to produce excitement & success for their teams which Angel Reese sure fit the bill.
It's a lot like women's wrestling or mixed martial arts when Rhonda Rousey made such a big splash.
It's just like how every young girl wants to become popular enough to make it onto the silver screen.
Then they can achieve international fame & fortune via the basketball court like Ray Allen did & make a movie.
That's the American dream in action.
Now it's time to make that happen for the women.
Next there will be a women President of the USA and WCBB players will be entering into national & state politics.
It's all a springboard to the social media age of fame & fortune, step right up & spin the wheel of fortune.

 

[Inthepaint]

It's what I have been saying all along. Combine this nonsense with the NIL money and it's unrestricted free agency and you are going to see scandals at some point that will jeopardize the entire nature of the sport and its rising popularity.

Way back in the olden days, free agency came to MLB.
It was quickly evident that it was GREAT for the players but really crummy for the sport.
If NCAA doesn’t get some kind of grip on this, WCBB could be heading down the same path.
Unfortunately, getting the genie back in the bottle may be impossible.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I will be curious if the NCAA sit out for 2nd transfer rule is enforced or if this will be yet another “you get a waiver and you get a waiver”.

If the NCAA caves again, they may as well just call it a free for all every off season.

 

[BBallF]

Way back in the olden days, free agency came to MLB.
It was quickly evident that it was GREAT for the players but really crummy for the sport.
If NCAA doesn’t get some kind of grip on this, WCBB could be heading down the same path.
Unfortunately, getting the genie back in the bottle may be impossible.

What grip can they get? The NIL was first a creature of various laws in state legislatures with California being the first and several others adopting similar ones. Then the Supreme Court struck down NIL "educational" benefits restrictions by the NCAA, not monetary, but the language clearly indicates that a monetary restriction would fail. Their big self destructive contribution was the transfer portal which combined with NIL money is creating unrestricted free agency. Go into the portal if you are a valued player and get the best deal you can. No one is going to tell me that booster money hasn't infiltrated the process and won't do so in the future. If all money received by every player whether for transfer or NIL was open and transparent, the fan base would be horrified.

 

[Galaxyshooter]

Enter portal becomes a fashion now ..... LOL

can boneyarders enter the transfer portal or can we put some in the portal, what about a boneyard NIL deal? we have not because we ask not so now I'm asking

 

[90BSEE]

The portal is a quick fit and potentially a very good one for contenders or near contenders to move near the top of the list. From Uconn's standpoint this is a down-year regarding the portal for us. We had only one need, and that was very limited, namely a proven, tall C that was good enough to be a likely starter ahead of two talented newcomers in Ice and Jana. Only one player entered the portal that met those restrictions (Betts), and apparently she is not interested in us.

So this year we won't be able to make a major addition like Lou or Dorka that fills a definite need, while we wait to see how much better our major competitors get from the portal. Morrow is still out there for someone, but the main beneficiaries are probably the teams that are already very good, but could use another guard.

LSU, South Carolina and others are very likely to get a major addition in the backcourt. That is mostly because there are still 4 top candidates out there with the two from Oregon, Hailey Van Lith, and now Diamond. if they strike out on one of them, they are still likely to get one of the others, and all four are significant.

This becomes a frustrating period for us, where our opportunities to improve via the portal have pretty much dried up, while our biggest competitors that could use a guard can likely reload. Just the way it is this year, not like the last couple of years when Dorka and Lou were such good fits and the portal helped us a lot.

I think Isnelle Natabou would be a good fit and likely instant impact for us. She scores at a high efficiency and she is a great rebounder.

 

[awhom111]

I do not agree with those deriding the portal and the NIL money as detrimental to the sport. Like it or not, sports is business. The players are doing what is best for themselves. I think the difference is that female players don’t have a ‘one and done option’ so it makes transfers of star players more likely. If Lauren Betts was a male she would be going to the NBA this year. She also would have likely been a starter on her team, because both Haley Jones and Cameron Brink would have only played one or two years. What we are seeing is women ignoring the expectations that they will put everyones else’s needs before theirs and instead doing what is best for themselves. They don’t need to be loyal to a program, they need to be loyal to themselves. It’s about time.

That's an unusual choice of example. Betts was born outside of the United States so the WNBA might have ruled that she would still have international status as long as she was not residing in the United States at the time of the draft so she actually theoretically could have been in the WNBA this year.

 

[Cuango]

I think some are forgetting that this portal thing works in more than one way. Sure, Betts evidently was not interested in UConn but I think it’s fairly likely they were not interested in her either. Lou was indeed a critical and wonderful addition last year but just how many perfect marriages are there to be had? Methinks, not that many! At least some of these transfers may well end up hurting both participants. There is a lot more to improving a team than simply adding a good player. If the player is a bad fit, regardless of whose fault it is, things will not usually turn out well. The scary thing is, there are a myriad of ways in which a player could be a bad fit, not all of which are foreseeable. That is why I’m glad Geno & Chris are in charge as we can be fairly confident that any player coming here will be a good fit for our team. That, I believe, is why we are never likely to be a big participant in the portal.

 

[Puppy Love]

That's an unusual choice of example. Betts was born outside of the United States so the WNBA might have ruled that she would still have international status as long as she was not residing in the United States at the time of the draft so she actually theoretically could have been in the WNBA this year.

Actually, no.
From page 110 of the collective bargaining agreement:
(e) For purposes of this Section 1, an “international player” means any person born and residing outside the United States who participates in the game of basketball as an amateur or a professional. An international player who exercises intercollegiate basketball eligibility in the United States shall be subject to the eligibility rules set forth in Section 1(b)(iii) above. (Bold added)

Once you have played in the US as a college player, you no longer have international status.

 

[TheGOAT23]

can boneyarders enter the transfer portal or can we put some in the portal, what about a boneyard NIL deal? we have not because we ask not so now I'm asking

I refuse to transfer! I’m committed 10,000% to the BY for the long haul. No other place that I’d rather be. Also, my parents told me that it’s not an option and I’m not going anywhere.

 

[Geew1992]

can boneyarders enter the transfer portal or can we put some in the portal, what about a boneyard NIL deal? we have not because we ask not so now I'm asking

I just want a couple of NIL deals

 

[pvdoggy]

I refuse to transfer! I’m committed 10,000% to the BY for the long haul. No other place that I’d rather be. Also, my parents told me that it’s not an option and I’m not going anywhere.

This makes me wonder how student-athletes are different than normal fans. In a "normal" world I would think that a student-athlete is like other people, they must have a team they grow up rooting for and if they are lucky wind up playing for that team and in turn do not like the competitors, especially when you are an athlete. Instead in today's "bizarro" world, we have players crisscrossing the landscape, moving from one team to their hated rivals on a regular basis, and posting IG about how excited they are to do so. I can't imagine growing up a Texas Longhorn and happily playing as an Aggies for example

 

[awhom111]

Actually, no.
From page 110 of the collective bargaining agreement:
(e) For purposes of this Section 1, an “international player” means any person born and residing outside the United States who participates in the game of basketball as an amateur or a professional. An international player who exercises intercollegiate basketball eligibility in the United States shall be subject to the eligibility rules set forth in Section 1(b)(iii) above. (Bold added)

Once you have played in the US as a college player, you no longer have international status.

Yes, I posted the hypothetical under the assumption that she decided to play professionally overseas instead of going to Stanford. The point is that she had an option not available to most top prospects and she still chose college. Even top American prospects without European nationality are pretty much stuck in college, which was more of your original point.

 

[PJCLaw]

What’s interesting in her case, is that she is risking not playing next season because she may need a waiver to play due to this being her second time transferring.

Is she graduating?? If so, no waiver is needed!

 

[ucbart]

I will be curious if the NCAA sit out for 2nd transfer rule is enforced or if this will be yet another “you get a waiver and you get a waiver”.

If the NCAA caves again, they may as well just call it a free for all every off season.

She better have to sit out a year or the NCAA will have lost total and complete control.

 

[Kat]

The transfer portal and the NILs are overhauling the structure of college sports. UConn will benefit from this. No other WBB team gets more exposure than the Huskies. That translates into more NIL bucks for players. Paige made around a million dollars without playing a game last year and Azzi raked in over a million. The team is always in the NC hunt, and has the coach and staff which has put more players into the WNBA than any other.

 

[hoopsfan22]

The transfer portal and the NILs are overhauling the structure of college sports. UConn will benefit from this. No other WBB team gets more exposure than the Huskies. That translates into more NIL bucks for players. Paige made around a million dollars without playing a game last year and Azzi raked in over a million. The team is always in the NC hunt, and has the coach and staff which has put more players into the WNBA than any other.

How do you know how much money Paige and Azzi made? Did they post it somewhere?

 

[Zarathustra]

I do not agree with those deriding the portal and the NIL money as detrimental to the sport. Like it or not, sports is business. The players are doing what is best for themselves. I think the difference is that female players don’t have a ‘one and done option’ so it makes transfers of star players more likely. If Lauren Betts was a male she would be going to the NBA this year. She also would have likely been a starter on her team, because both Haley Jones and Cameron Brink would have only played one or two years. What we are seeing is women ignoring the expectations that they will put everyones else’s needs before theirs and instead doing what is best for themselves. They don’t need to be loyal to a program, they need to be loyal to themselves. It’s about time.

There is no " I " in " T E A M ", and then again, Chemistry does count. IMHO. I cannot imagine
Nika's response to " What we are seeing is women ignoring the expectation that they put everyone
else's needs before theirs and instead doing what is best for themselves." There are other analogies, but
I'll leave it at that.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

She better have to sit out a year or the NCAA will have lost total and complete control.

Pretty much no one got a waiver 10 years ago under the old rules then they started handing them out like Candy, which is part of the reason for the one time rule now.

 

[Puppy Love]

There is no " I " in " T E A M ", and then again, Chemistry does count. IMHO. I cannot imagine
Nika's response to " What we are seeing is women ignoring the expectation that they put everyone
else's needs before theirs and instead doing what is best for themselves." There are other analogies, but
I'll leave it at that.

There is a difference between being a good player on a team (sharing the ball, working hard, having a positive attitude) and being tied to a team that cannot meet your needs.

 

[Zarathustra]

There is a difference between being a good player on a team (sharing the ball, working hard, having a positive attitude) and being tied to a team that cannot meet your needs.

True.... I just had a need to express a view that there could be many issues and that
"What is best for themselves" may not allow for sharing and altruism, things like that.
E.G. What if most people, nations, had the option that ruining the environment was
in " THEIR BEST INTEREST ". That is one of those short-sighted vs long- sighted conundrums.
People must, and usually will, do what they " believe " is " in their best interest". The
bottom line (for me) is that each of use must accept the responsibility for our own decision. Maybe
that works for both of us.? (And others). What is 'best"? It is a judgement call. Usually both
sides of a discussion have some merit if we know the reasonings and feelings behind it. Cheers!

 

[uconnfan68]

I just want a couple of NIL deals

You'll have to settle for "nil" deals. As in zip, zilch, nada.