Portal Begins (MBB)

[Bobcat4Ever]

Well... Let's stay positive. Think of all the exiting Commit posts we will have coming up... Like 8 of them!!

I think to make us feel better you also need to officially announce that you will NOT be entering the announcer portal.

Actually some schools are making announcements of returning players.

Very true, I'm just wondering at this point if MSU (men's) will have any of those to make it if we'll have to settle for the TV announcer.

1) I am coming back as TV announcer next year for both Men's and Womens Basketball..
2) You don't want me on the court, only on the Mic.

YAAS!!!!!

Just saw the official announcement:

The commitment graphic is simply stellar, more players should hire the guy who did that!

The only part of this I understand is the Name-Image-Likeness part. Your commitment bonus will be NIL.

[MSU01]

I see that Sac State is continuing their "publicity at any cost" strategy by signing Shaqir O'Neal (son of Shaquille) out of the transfer portal from Florida A&M. His stats don't exactly blow you away - 6.7 PPG, 3.4 RPG for a team that went 14-17.

In other Portal news today, Blaise Threatt of Weber entered the portal and Dylan Darling of ISU announced he is staying for next year.

[lutecat]

Darling is now entering the portal after announcing he was staying earlier.

[4KornerKat]

Darling is now entering the portal after announcing he was staying earlier.

Are you saying we should have been suspicious about the day this was posted?

[rfischer94]

Darling is now entering the portal after announcing he was staying earlier.

I was skeptical as soon as I saw his tweet. Looks like I was right to be so.

[mslacat]

Griz are doing very well in the portal so far this spring.

[saintcat40]

I hate to say it, but it seems like our men’s basketball program is in big trouble. Less than zero momentum right now.

[Common Cat]

Griz are doing very well in the portal so far this spring.

Yup - and for us…crickets.

[MSU01]

Are we really going to start freaking out because the Griz got a guy who played in 4 games last year for the 16th place (out of 16) team in the Big 12? Hard to be too critical at this point when we have no idea what's going on behind the scenes or even if there have been additional commitments that the players haven't chosen to announce yet.

[nanacat]

Is it possible that the deal with Walker has caused players to turn away from this program? I mean, guys talk. Logie chose to stand firm in benching Walker, even when he could have been helpful at tournaments. Guys see that, Snap or tweet each other privately about not wanting to play for that coach, and then politely decline offers? And if MSU doesn't have much NIL money to boot, what's the draw? Maybe there's more going on behind the scenes that will all come out soon, but it sure does seem pretty quiet.

[MSU01]

Is it possible that the deal with Walker has caused players to turn away from this program? I mean, guys talk. Logie chose to stand firm in benching Walker, even when he could have been helpful at tournaments. Guys see that, Snap or tweet each other privately about not wanting to play for that coach, and then politely decline offers? And if MSU doesn't have much NIL money to boot, what's the draw? Maybe there's more going on behind the scenes that will all come out soon, but it sure does seem pretty quiet.

MSU has a lot going for it in terms of recruiting. They've been to three of the last four NCAA tournaments and have comparatively good community and fan support for the level they play at, leading the conference in attendance last year despite having a .500 record for the season. Unless MSU was recruiting friends or other former teammates of Brandon Walker who might change their minds now that he's no longer on the team, I think it would be reading way too much into the situation to suspect that what happened may influence other recruits. Logie made a drastic decision and it appeared to be working...until the team went ice cold in the semifinal game to the point that they were losing no matter who played and who didn't that night.

Also, remember that it's still very early in the portal process for this off-season. Players still have two more weeks to decide to enter the portal and commitments to new teams are just getting started - most of the available players at this time haven't committed to a new school yet so the pool of potential recruits is very far from starting to dry up.

[nanacat]

Is it possible that the deal with Walker has caused players to turn away from this program? I mean, guys talk. Logie chose to stand firm in benching Walker, even when he could have been helpful at tournaments. Guys see that, Snap or tweet each other privately about not wanting to play for that coach, and then politely decline offers? And if MSU doesn't have much NIL money to boot, what's the draw? Maybe there's more going on behind the scenes that will all come out soon, but it sure does seem pretty quiet.

MSU has a lot going for it in terms of recruiting. They've been to three of the last four NCAA tournaments and have comparatively good community and fan support for the level they play at, leading the conference in attendance last year despite having a .500 record for the season. Unless MSU was recruiting friends or other former teammates of Brandon Walker who might change their minds now that he's no longer on the team, I think it would be reading way too much into the situation to suspect that what happened may influence other recruits. Logie made a drastic decision and it appeared to be working...until the team went ice cold in the semifinal game to the point that they were losing no matter who played and who didn't that night.

Also, remember that it's still very early in the portal process for this off-season. Players still have two more weeks to decide to enter the portal and commitments to new teams are just getting started - most of the available players at this time haven't committed to a new school yet so the pool of potential recruits is very far from starting to dry up.

Thanks for the response. Guess we'll need to be patient a little longer.

[Cats and Dogs]

Are we really going to start freaking out because the Griz got a guy who played in 4 games last year for the 16th place (out of 16) team in the Big 12? Hard to be too critical at this point when we have no idea what's going on behind the scenes or even if there have been additional commitments that the players haven't chosen to announce yet.

I'm freaking out because the Cats Men's bball team went 15-18 last year, 9-9 in the Big Sky Conference and to date I've seen nothing to think that this will improve next year. Hope I'm dead wrong but middle of the pack, losing to gris twice and the appearance that there is no real program build started yet is concerning. Going into year 3 you would think the roster would at least kind of look like a plan is in place. Looks like a hodgepodge to me. It's a new deal for sure trying to recruit/retain, and not just for the low mid majors, but looking at the core coming back, does anyone have confidence they can contend for a Big Sky title next year? Hoping that Coach can do wonders in the portal but that's a tall order.

[MSU01]

Are we really going to start freaking out because the Griz got a guy who played in 4 games last year for the 16th place (out of 16) team in the Big 12? Hard to be too critical at this point when we have no idea what's going on behind the scenes or even if there have been additional commitments that the players haven't chosen to announce yet.

I'm freaking out because the Cats Men's bball team went 15-18 last year, 9-9 in the Big Sky Conference and to date I've seen nothing to think that this will improve next year. Hope I'm dead wrong but middle of the pack, losing to gris twice and the appearance that there is no real program build started yet is concerning. Going into year 3 you would think the roster would at least kind of look like a plan is in place. Looks like a hodgepodge to me. It's a new deal for sure trying to recruit/retain, and not just for the low mid majors, but looking at the core coming back, does anyone have confidence they can contend for a Big Sky title next year? Hoping that Coach can do wonders in the portal but that's a tall order.

Fair enough. I guess I don't see MSU as being significantly behind other schools at this point by having only one transfer signed so far. Logie had some hits and misses in the portal last year and ultimately it showed, so I agree that he'll need to do better moving forward. I've said it other places but it's worth repeating that he has matched Sprinkle so far with two 5th place finishes.

The idea of building a program is now basically dead as far as I'm concerned, you just can't do it anymore when your best players are highly likely to get lured away by bigger schools with more money to offer. Maybe you hit the jackpot with a Pat McMahon or a Brandon Whitney who will stick around for four or five years, but more likely it's going to become a game of which coaches are better at doing their yearly portal rebuild than others. You look at the transfer list out of the Big Sky this year (or any year) and it's just laughable how much talent is leaving.

[nevadacat]

From a weekly newsletter I get.

MASS TRANSFERS. More than 1,000 of the approximately 5,400 players in Division I men’s basketball entered the college basketball transfer portal from 3/24 to 3/31. One notably hard-hit team was the Indiana Hoosiers: All eleven of its scholarship players either entered the portal (7) or will graduate (4) this year. (Source: Athlon Sports)I

[CatBlitz]

What sucks is the Logie is genuinely a solid coach. This player attrition isn't going to do him any favors and he's already set up for failure. Like most of the mid major school coaches.
He's going to bear the brunt of the unsuccessful fallout of this program. It's a travesty.

[Desert_Bobcat]

Are we really going to start freaking out because the Griz got a guy who played in 4 games last year for the 16th place (out of 16) team in the Big 12? Hard to be too critical at this point when we have no idea what's going on behind the scenes or even if there have been additional commitments that the players haven't chosen to announce yet.

I'm freaking out because the Cats Men's bball team went 15-18 last year, 9-9 in the Big Sky Conference and to date I've seen nothing to think that this will improve next year. Hope I'm dead wrong but middle of the pack, losing to gris twice and the appearance that there is no real program build started yet is concerning. Going into year 3 you would think the roster would at least kind of look like a plan is in place. Looks like a hodgepodge to me. It's a new deal for sure trying to recruit/retain, and not just for the low mid majors, but looking at the core coming back, does anyone have confidence they can contend for a Big Sky title next year? Hoping that Coach can do wonders in the portal but that's a tall order.

If you want competitive teams and want to be at the top of the conference consider donating a couple bucks to the basketball NIL collective!
Money talks and currently MSU hoops doesn’t have enough NIL money to actively compete in this market. I’ve said it multiple times before, for MSU hoops to be consistently a top dog in the conference they need to have at least $250-300k of NIL/University profit-sharing at their disposal every year. And guess what, that’s not going to happen because the majority of the money is getting funneled to football!
MSU Men’s hoops currently has about $100k in NIL from what I know. I also know that players in leagues of a similar size to MSU are getting paid 6 figures by Power 4 schools to transfer to be on their practice squads. Try competing with that.
It sucks that this is the state of college athletics but if you truly want a successful men’s and women’s basketball team, then reach into that wallet and help out.

[tetoncat]

Are we really going to start freaking out because the Griz got a guy who played in 4 games last year for the 16th place (out of 16) team in the Big 12? Hard to be too critical at this point when we have no idea what's going on behind the scenes or even if there have been additional commitments that the players haven't chosen to announce yet.

I'm freaking out because the Cats Men's bball team went 15-18 last year, 9-9 in the Big Sky Conference and to date I've seen nothing to think that this will improve next year. Hope I'm dead wrong but middle of the pack, losing to gris twice and the appearance that there is no real program build started yet is concerning. Going into year 3 you would think the roster would at least kind of look like a plan is in place. Looks like a hodgepodge to me. It's a new deal for sure trying to recruit/retain, and not just for the low mid majors, but looking at the core coming back, does anyone have confidence they can contend for a Big Sky title next year? Hoping that Coach can do wonders in the portal but that's a tall order.

If you want competitive teams and want to be at the top of the conference consider donating a couple bucks to the basketball NIL collective!
Money talks and currently MSU hoops doesn’t have enough NIL money to actively compete in this market. I’ve said it multiple times before, for MSU hoops to be consistently a top dog in the conference they need to have at least $250-300k of NIL/University profit-sharing at their disposal every year. And guess what, that’s not going to happen because the majority of the money is getting funneled to football!
MSU Men’s hoops currently has about $100k in NIL from what I know. I also know that players in leagues of a similar size to MSU are getting paid 6 figures by Power 4 schools to transfer to be on their practice squads. Try competing with that.
It sucks that this is the state of college athletics but if you truly want a successful men’s and women’s basketball team, then reach into that wallet and help out.

Your post is accurate but also why D1 athletics as we know may be gone in 5 to 10 years. At some point boosters will have had enough. In football there has been the dream to get a national title. In basketball there is no chance for that. So raise 300,000 to get a big sky title? Then it goes to 500,000. 1 player on power 5 gets more than that. MSU will never compete with those numbers.

[Cats and Dogs]

Are we really going to start freaking out because the Griz got a guy who played in 4 games last year for the 16th place (out of 16) team in the Big 12? Hard to be too critical at this point when we have no idea what's going on behind the scenes or even if there have been additional commitments that the players haven't chosen to announce yet.

I'm freaking out because the Cats Men's bball team went 15-18 last year, 9-9 in the Big Sky Conference and to date I've seen nothing to think that this will improve next year. Hope I'm dead wrong but middle of the pack, losing to gris twice and the appearance that there is no real program build started yet is concerning. Going into year 3 you would think the roster would at least kind of look like a plan is in place. Looks like a hodgepodge to me. It's a new deal for sure trying to recruit/retain, and not just for the low mid majors, but looking at the core coming back, does anyone have confidence they can contend for a Big Sky title next year? Hoping that Coach can do wonders in the portal but that's a tall order.

If you want competitive teams and want to be at the top of the conference consider donating a couple bucks to the basketball NIL collective!
Money talks and currently MSU hoops doesn’t have enough NIL money to actively compete in this market. I’ve said it multiple times before, for MSU hoops to be consistently a top dog in the conference they need to have at least $250-300k of NIL/University profit-sharing at their disposal every year. And guess what, that’s not going to happen because the majority of the money is getting funneled to football!
MSU Men’s hoops currently has about $100k in NIL from what I know. I also know that players in leagues of a similar size to MSU are getting paid 6 figures by Power 4 schools to transfer to be on their practice squads. Try competing with that.
It sucks that this is the state of college athletics but if you truly want a successful men’s and women’s basketball team, then reach into that wallet and help out.

Your post is accurate but also why D1 athletics as we know may be gone in 5 to 10 years. At some point boosters will have had enough. In football there has been the dream to get a national title. In basketball there is no chance for that. So raise 300,000 to get a big sky title? Then it goes to 500,000. 1 player on power 5 gets more than that. MSU will never compete with those numbers.

Yes and Yes! Both spot on. I'm assuming that no other Big Sky school has significant NIL for Men's basketball. Maybe Missoula, Weber, NAU, more traditional bball schools but who knows how MSU ranks? Just need to compete with the rest of the conference. If middle of the pack NIL equals middle of the pack in the standings so be it. I guess.

[Bobcat4Ever]

And I thought universities were bastions of higher education. Apparently economics doesn’t do outreach to athletics. If teams are paying their practice team players that much (more than NFL teams) then they are seriously getting taken to the cleaners. There are plenty of other basketball players in this country that are good enough to be practice players for a whole lot less bread. I’d have to have an affidavit signed in blood by the head coach that not one penny of my donation was spent so frivolously. I made $7,821 in my first year with MSU. Position required a BS, and I was encouraged to obtain an MS which I was doing while working full time. I was also playing pretty good rec league ball to relax. All that to say, there are so many financial needs in a community that are existential.

I’ve no problem at all with dropping a donation for a team representing my beloved Blue and Gold — but I draw the line at funding carpet-bagging practice players who will just take their fancy car and enter the Practice Player Portal at the end of the semester.