What do you do with Juju?

[Jaydumo20]

Clearly it would make little sense for USC to part ways with Juju. Even missing a lot of time, it's worth keeping someone of her caliber as she is everything to that program.

But in the age of NIL, what happens if you are a football/baseball/basketball school like SC and you lose a pricey bball star to a major injury?
Let's spitball the number of 1-2 million dollars for a star player, if you are a football school, and your budget isn't unlimited, can you justify throwing 2 million dollars away on the player's out year? This is where the union/contract question really rests.

 

[Zonepress]

I think the real question is what does juju do with USC

 

[Kaizen]

Get body well and prepare for next year ....

 

[Just.A.Fan]

Clearly it would make little sense for USC to part ways with Juju. Even missing a lot of time, it's worth keeping someone of her caliber as she is everything to that program.

But in the age of NIL, what happens if you are a football/baseball/basketball school like SC and you lose a pricey bball star to a major injury?
Let's spitball the number of 1-2 million dollars for a star player, if you are a football school, and your budget isn't unlimited, can you justify throwing 2 million dollars away on the player's out year? This is where the union/contract question really rests.

This is a ridiculous question! JuJu has put USC on the basketball map again and that hasn't happened for years. And where did you get the idea that schools can drop players??? The Trojans will simply take a hit next season as JuJu recovers, they will recruit like crazy grab a few quality players from the portal and be back near the top the following season.

 

[ISUnorth]

I think the real question is what does juju do with USC

Yeah, I mean it is essentially pro ball now for the elite players but teams can't trade players!

The "paying' her seems mostly not relevant as a school issue since the very top of the food chain playing are generating their own legitimate NIL, real deals with real businesses to promote their real products/services not the pay-for-play next tier that is just salary pretending to be NIL.

 

[JoePgh]

Do you or anyone else have actual knowledge that the University of Southern Calilfornia is directly paying JuJu $1-2 million per year?

She may be making that much money, but I suspect that the lion's share is coming from State Farm and similar enterprises when she appears in their ads, or from sales of jerseys. I doubt that the university itself is paying anything approaching that sum (maybe nothing at all).

 

[Bone Dog]

Juju only costs the program a scholarship for the year, and whatever medical costs the school picks up, which is probably all of them. The collective is another story, but I'm sure they can still find endorsements for her, probably more than ever. They won't lose money and neither will Juju.

As for the opposite question, I think staying at USC is probably a mixed bag for her. She'll be allowed to pick up where she left off. But is this her best choice? If she can't expand her game under Gottleib, she might want to move. I'm sure Geno could explain this to her, though I have no notion that she'd go to Storrs or that Geno would make her an offer. Dawn could tell her the same things. I wouldn't be surprised if Geno and Lindsay have a few conversations on this topic, and I am confident he would have lots of good advice.

The current version of her offensive game, driving to the rim and forcing foul calls works really well at this level. But it may not be as effective in the W where refs aren't so easy with the whistle on plays like that. Also, the wear and tear on someone rehabbing an ACL tear may discourage her from plowing into the paint so often. Can she become a better passer? She's already a good defender and a great rebounder, but there's room for refinement.

 

[Zonepress]

Do you or anyone else have actual knowledge that the University of Southern Calilfornia is directly paying JuJu $1-2 million per year?

She may be making that much money, but I suspect that the lion's share is coming from State Farm and similar enterprises when she appears in their ads, or from sales of jerseys. I doubt that the university itself is paying anything approaching that sum (maybe nothing at all).

usc is not directly paying anyone directly
Nil $ are a contract between the player and an outside entity which could be a collective and individual a corporation etc
obviously, there is coordination between the coaches and those who provide the money

 

[cancontent]

Do you or anyone else have actual knowledge that the University of Southern Calilfornia is directly paying JuJu $1-2 million per year?

She may be making that much money, but I suspect that the lion's share is coming from State Farm and similar enterprises when she appears in their ads, or from sales of jerseys. I doubt that the university itself is paying anything approaching that sum (maybe nothing at all).

Or it could be a situation she's not part of the collective, similar to what Clark did while she was at Iowa. In my opinion, this isn't a concern to USC.

 

[Zonepress]

Yeah, I mean it is essentially pro ball now for the elite players but teams can't trade players!

The "paying' her seems mostly not relevant as a school issue since the very top of the food chain playing are generating their own legitimate NIL, real deals with real businesses to promote their real products/services not the pay-for-play next tier that is just salary pretending to be NIL.

in theory, you are correct regarding NIL
in actuality on the mens side in football and basketball have commitments through a collective
for so many $ and they determine how much goes to each player
In some cases, the players do some promotional work etc but the reality is these are direct payments
Wbb is it’s working its way toward that same model and time will tell if it will become the norm
Obviously, TCU has lots of funds for this
so Carolina through a collective pays the players $25,000 a year Rumors are that Oklahoma
arranged significant $ as well
it’s hard to know what’s really going on with an NIL on the women side but safe to say some schools will be able to “buy” a roster
Uconn Wbb because of his stature and popularity and the Coach G A strong stance
is doing what you outline as “legitimate “
NIL
I think it’s fair to say that there will be more
schools following the TCU model
Smu probably will as well

 

[Gamecockfan77]

in theory, you are correct regarding NIL
in actuality on the mens side in football and basketball have commitments through a collective
for so many $ and they determine how much goes to each player
In some cases, the players do some promotional work etc but the reality is these are direct payments
Wbb is it’s working its way toward that same model and time will tell if it will become the norm
Obviously, TCU has lots of funds for this
so Carolina through a collective pays the players $25,000 a year Rumors are that Oklahoma
arranged significant $ as well
it’s hard to know what’s really going on with an NIL on the women side but safe to say some schools will be able to “buy” a roster
Uconn Wbb because of his stature and popularity and the Coach G A strong stance
is doing what you outline as “legitimate “
NIL
I think it’s fair to say that there will be more
schools following the TCU model
Smu probably will as well

Highly likely that whatever money went JuJu's way from a collective came from funds specifically donated to promote WBB.

It's not really the same pot of money.