NIL Blues

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're only a third of the way through the NCAA
Basketball Tournament, and Creighton basketball fans are already worried about
next season, afraid that maybe their best days are behind them.
I get it. The last ten years qualifies as a
golden era other than the two years the coach McDermott
used to retool the roster. Since joining the Big Boy,

(00:21):
Bad Boy Big East Conference, Creighton has been a fixture
in the top three of that league, winning it in
twenty twenty and advancing to the conference title game regularly.
Starting with Doug McDermott, the best player ever here we
have seen a parade of arguably the best talent in
the history of the program, Watson Patten, Kyrie Thomas, Tyshawn,

(00:44):
Alexander Zagarowski, Shireman Trey, Alexander Kalkbrenner, throw in, Damian Jefferson,
Ryan Hawkins, and Steven Ashworth, who in a lot of
other places would have their jerseys retired. And how about
the coaches McDermott assistance from Darren Devrees, Alan hust Steve Lutz,

(01:04):
Eric Henderson to Ryan Miller. Only Rick Pattino has a
leafier college tree in all of basketball. Well, other than
a trip to the Final four, which was one very
very controversial foul call away from happening. If Creighton's last
ten years were a rock concert, they'd have two encores.

(01:25):
So you can appreciate Blue Jay Nation wondering aloud if
their best days are behind them. In building that resume,
coach Max sold the Big East, national TV coverage, exposure
in NBA cities, the building, the fans, and his style.
Very little of what matters anymore today. As has been
articulated by other coaches out loud, it isn't about the money,

(01:48):
It's about how much wins now are a reflection of
the size of your payroll. The change has been breathless.
Consider the plight of Iowa very respectable basketball tradition. Jud
Olsen took him to the Final four. Tom Davis got
them to the Final four and a half. Fran McCaffrey
won the Big Ten. The fans are wildly passionate. It's

(02:08):
a destination job. Only in the last hour, it seems
a breakthrough in negotiations with their next coach, Ben McCullum,
have occurred. He was a no until the university committed
a necessary amount of nil funds for basketball otherwise, neither
McCollum nor anybody could win there. Just this week, Louisville
bounced out by Creighton, declared therein for eight to ten

(02:31):
million dollars a year just for basketball players. Moving forward,
Does Creighton have that yes? Will they spend it? Unclear.
They have the coach, the building, the facilities, the fans,
but if they don't commit to the payroll, it will
be very hard to equal the success of the recent past.
Sure you might get a terrific recruit who, like Jackson

(02:54):
mc andrew, bloomed late in the season, but keeping him
will be expensive. They're going to hang Ryan Kalchbrenner's number
from the rafters, but he was here five years, his
first two and a half developmental We just remember the
last two and a half. The five year All American
at one school will go the way of the peach
basket in college basketball. We'll never see it again unless

(03:18):
or until Congress acts to overhaul antitrust laws. There will
be no end to this. Prices will go higher and higher.
So if you're one of the high priests or trustees
of Creighton, you what do you do? You got two choices?
Get out go Division three, leave the Big East Conference,
end all athletic scholarships big money coaches, eliminate some sports

(03:40):
and invest in academics, or you go all in. Commit
a fifty percent annual increase in the school's appropriation for sports,
thus freeing the athletic department to go mining for nil
gold from boosters and businesses, overhaul the school's fundraising department,
granting full and unfettered access to all Creighton donors for sports.

(04:04):
From my seat in the stands, the school can't afford
to not do that. As bored as this is to academicians,
sports drives everything at major universities today, branding applications, recruiting
for everything, including donations for academic stuff. Most high school
kids see their college experience through that lens. Instead, if

(04:28):
what they see is a losing team and a half
empty arena, they'll behave like donors and sponsors and find
someplace else