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Marcus Blaze thread

I’m perfectly happy with Cael having great relationships with KD and Cornell Robinson.

And I hear he’s pretty tight with Zain Retherford who is about to start a club somewhere in the middle of Pa - a place that has some untapped reserves of wrestling talent to be mined.
Wait -- are you trying to say Cael has never no-showed a pre-planned visit to Wyoming Seminary?
 
Come on Markus, you can’t expect us to keep hitting refresh in this forum waiting for news
Come to Penn State!!!!! Exciting times here
Couldn’t agree more, does blaze have more upcoming visits? If so, cancel them
 
Couldn’t agree more, does blaze have more upcoming visits? If so, cancel them
Listen, Blaze is really, really smart.

He knows if he can outlast Bo and Jax' commitments, Iowa will be left looking like they will take the big o-fer. Bag o cash Bob will probably up the ante into the millions at that point while he's tapping Tom's eyeballs back into his sockets, and Blaze can end up where he really wants to be (PSU or tOSU) with another hundred or two hundred thousand on the table for himself.

None of them want to go there, but there may be a staring contest to be the last man standing to use Iowa to REALLY drive up the price at their preferred destination. It's just good business.

Work Submit GIF by Team Kennedy
 
Listen, Blaze is really, really smart.

He knows if he can outlast Bo and Jax' commitments, Iowa will be left looking like they will take the big o-fer. Bag o cash Bob will probably up the ante into the millions at that point while he's tapping Tom's eyeballs back into his sockets, and Blaze can end up where he really wants to be (PSU or tOSU) with another hundred or two hundred thousand on the table for himself.

None of them want to go there, but there may be a staring contest to be the last man standing to use Iowa to REALLY drive up the price at their preferred destination. It's just good business.

Work Submit GIF by Team Kennedy
Imagine how big the bags get when Iowa finishes 55 back with the dream lineup …
 
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Listen, Blaze is really, really smart.

He knows if he can outlast Bo and Jax' commitments, Iowa will be left looking like they will take the big o-fer. Bag o cash Bob will probably up the ante into the millions at that point while he's tapping Tom's eyeballs back into his sockets, and Blaze can end up where he really wants to be (PSU or tOSU) with another hundred or two hundred thousand on the table for himself.

None of them want to go there, but there may be a staring contest to be the last man standing to use Iowa to REALLY drive up the price at their preferred destination. It's just good business.

Work Submit GIF by Team Kennedy
LOL.

Aside from this being funny on its own: as if Slumlord Bob will offer any money to Blaze before 2029.
 
You really think Iowa will be only 55 points behind us at 2025 NCAAs? I think they will once again be over 100 points behind us,.
Good point. Last year Iowa wound up 105.5 points behind PSU, so 55 points behind would mean they would basically cut the lead in half. I don't think the good guys have lost a step and I don't think Iowa is THAT much better.
 
You really think Iowa will be only 55 points behind us at 2025 NCAAs? I think they will once again be over 100 points behind us,.
Wasn’t meant to be taken literally. 55 was a good number that would make it seem to Half Dismes that “only a few more of the right bodies” would get them there — at the right price.
 
Speaking of roadtrips. Off to hike a bit, hopefully add to my grizzly count.
Planning to drive through Willie’s CDA on our way up to Canada. If we spot him, we’ll rough him up some, put him under hot lights and sweat out any valid scoop on the Blaze, Bo, and Jax decisions. Only after that will we buy him a beer.
Fingers crossed I’ll return to fantastic news on Blaze’s choice. ;)
Terrific hikes in Alberta! Alas, no grizzly (but two moose), though one was seen on our trail the day before. On our pass through CDA, no @smalls103, either, and no resolite lawn to give away the safe house he conjures from.
I see Bo got some revenge, Jax shined, and Blaze didn’t show his cards. Probably wicked smart of Marcus, as the bidding war behind the curtain does nothing but grow all bags!
 
Is anyone else surprised that the Blaze announcement hasn’t happened yet? Perhaps I’m just really impatient.
 
He basically has to sign somewhere in November, right?
An athlete is not required to sign a Letter of Intent. Some people advise just that, it gives someone options. Since Blaze is awesome, he does not have to do anything....any program in the country will take him whenever he decides.

If you are a lesser athlete and are offered athletic scholarship money, in that case you might want to sign the LOI to lock-in your spot.
 
An athlete is not required to sign a Letter of Intent. Some people advise just that, it gives someone options. Since Blaze is awesome, he does not have to do anything....any program in the country will take him whenever he decides.

If you are a lesser athlete and are offered athletic scholarship money, in that case you might want to sign the LOI to lock-in your spot.
The risk used to be that the scholarship money wouldn't be available later -- or at least less of it would be. With the 9.9 limit, schools don't hold large amounts of money back for what-ifs in the spring.

But with NIL, that matters a lot less.

When schools eventually raise funds for the new 30-man roster/scholarship cap, then the LOI deadline will matter less still for a Blaze. At the expense of a depth recruit who will be left twisting in the wind, or forced to sign at a different school in order to have a roster spot.
 
Plus it appears the National Letter of Intent will no longer be a thing:

I'm skeptical of this being a good thing.

Until we see evidence to the the contrary, this will likely be a leverage shift from the athletes to the coaches. "Sign right now or we pull your offer" hard sells are unlikely to reduce.

Am open to being persuaded otherwise, but when has NCAA done anything in the other direction without court order?
 
Someone posted a video of a PSU wrestling podcast on Rivals (or maybe it was On3, I seriously don't remember) but forgot which thread.

The guys on there said they expect Blaze's decision to come sooner rather than later and almost certainly this month. Could they be guessing? Maybe but they sounded confident and hopefully that information is coming from the wrestling coaches.
 
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I'm skeptical of this being a good thing.

Until we see evidence to the the contrary, this will likely be a leverage shift from the athletes to the coaches. "Sign right now or we pull your offer" hard sells are unlikely to reduce.

Am open to being persuaded otherwise, but when has NCAA done anything in the other direction without court order?
The very best athletes will now have the power to do pretty much what they want on their own schedule. Moreso than in the past.

The NCAA itself is a paper tiger becoming more irrelevant by the year.
 
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I'm skeptical of this being a good thing.

Until we see evidence to the the contrary, this will likely be a leverage shift from the athletes to the coaches. "Sign right now or we pull your offer" hard sells are unlikely to reduce.

Am open to being persuaded otherwise, but when has NCAA done anything in the other direction without court order?
I can't mention any names here, but a friend of mine has a son who was a 3X state champion in HS. My friend played hard ball poker with several D1 college coaches and ended up getting his son a 100% ride to a very good school. He has since then graduated and is doing very well with his career. I told my friend he really had guts to do what he did because a lot of it was bluffing.
 
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LOI doesn't do anything to lock up a spot for the student. It locks the student to a school. I know that that sounds like the same thing, but it isn't. The school doesn't have to honor the LOI, but the student does. As an example, DJ Newbill LOI'd to scumbag Buzz Williams at VaTech. He had more commits than scholarships (and he 100% knew it), so DJ had to scramble for a new school and ended up in Mississippi before transferring to PSU. From the student's side, you sign a LOI and the coach leaves/fired then you need to ask the school to release you from the LOI, which is the school's prerogative.
 
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NIL matters, that is what the athletes are after, the $$$$$. The combination of NIL and unlimited transfers is ruining college sports. They are now professionals. It is like free agency in professional sports, much like the NFL will all the behind the scenes negotiating before the first day of free agency.
 
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NIL matters, that is what the athletes are after, the $$$$$. The combination of NIL and unlimited transfers is ruining college sports. They are now professionals. It is like free agency in professional sports, much like the NFL will all the behind the scenes negotiating before the first day of free agency.
Worse than NFL free agency, it's a series of 1 year contracts, if that.
 
NIL matters, that is what the athletes are after, the $$$$$. The combination of NIL and unlimited transfers is ruining college sports. They are now professionals. It is like free agency in professional sports, much like the NFL will all the behind the scenes negotiating before the first day of free agency.
Yeah, it's such a shame that the athletes no longer have to pay $40k - $60k or more per year for their services.
 
Yeah, it's such a shame that the athletes no longer have to pay $40k - $60k or more per year for their services.
I am all for the athletes being able to make money off of their Name, Image and Likeness. Caleb Williams getting paid to do Dr Pepper commercials, good for him. Livy Dunne getting millions because she is really good at marketing herself, good for her. I am not a fan of athletes getting basically bags of cash to go to a school. This is from the perspective of a father with a daughter who currently receives a partial athletic scholarship at the D2 level.

As I posted, it is the combination of NIL and the unlimited transfers that is ruining college athletics. You have certain schools literally poaching/buying players to fill a need. A lot of high school kids are getting pushed out of opportunities because coaches would rather take a transfer than a high school athlete. I know two high school athletes that have or are struggling to find a spot. One is a basketball player looking to play D3, has had several coaches, no interest because they focus on transfers. I know a swimmer who before the unlimited transfer rule was in place would have been a low level D1 scholarship swimmer...with the transfers he most likely will be D2.

It is not even a charade anymore that academics matter.

When asked to contribute to NIL funds, I find it interesting that I will be giving money to a football player on full scholarship when I have put 3 kids through college and the fact that my contribution will help the same football player make more per year than me.

Interesting times.
 
Just an opinion.

I think we should probably wait and see how things play out before crying about the current downfall of collegiate athletics.

It used to be teams were only allowed to be shown on TV once or twice a season and allowing multiple appearances was going to be the downfall of college football.

Allowing student-athletes to be drafted prior to their senior year would lead to the downfall of college football and basketball.

Allowing student-athletes to play one sport professionally and maintain amateur status in others would lead to the downfall of all amateur and college sports.

Everybody on this board could offer multiple additional examples.

Changes, especially those that seem to benefit student-athletes are always going to lead to the demise of....
 
Just an opinion.

I think we should probably wait and see how things play out before crying about the current downfall of collegiate athletics.

It used to be teams were only allowed to be shown on TV once or twice a season and allowing multiple appearances was going to be the downfall of college football.

Allowing student-athletes to be drafted prior to their senior year would lead to the downfall of college football and basketball.

Allowing student-athletes to play one sport professionally and maintain amateur status in others would lead to the downfall of all amateur and college sports.

Everybody on this board could offer multiple additional examples.

Changes, especially those that seem to benefit student-athletes are always going to lead to the demise of....
I get what you are saying, but I never felt the same way about the examples you give. For me it isn't as much about NIL as it is the free agency aspect. Maybe if a kid signs a 4-5 year contract with the school I would feel differently about the whole thing. As it stands now, it seems to be a yearly thing. I like the aspect of cheering for a team of guys who I will see progress on that team over time.

To support your position, only a relatively small percentage of athletes would have the opportunity to sell themselves to the highest bidder. Maybe 20 wrestlers at most in any given year may want to move and be worth opening the checkbook for imo. Like everything else, there are other factors other than money that are important. Girlfriends, academics, location, etc.
 
To quote Barry Switzer: NIL means Now It's Legal.

People have been bemoaning the end of college athletics since before I was born. It's never happened, and won't until the financials no longer work -- and to be clear, NIL has nothing to do with that since NIL is being externally funded.
 
To quote Barry Switzer: NIL means Now It's Legal.

People have been bemoaning the end of college athletics since before I was born. It's never happened, and won't until the financials no longer work -- and to be clear, NIL has nothing to do with that since NIL is being externally funded.
Switzer is right...all the cheating of the past is now legal with NIL.

This will evolve. For example, eventually we will see multi-year contracts regarding NIL to lock athletes in place. This past offseason, a starting freshmen offensive lineman at Texas A&M, who was from New Jersey, entered the portal, lots of offers, stayed at TAMU. Rumor is he had signed his NIL rights away to TAMU, on the OTOH, he might have gotten a bigger payday.

Will be interesting when the IRS nails the first college athlete for not paying their taxes on NIL. I would assume this is something else athletic departments now have to counsel athletes about.
 
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To quote Barry Switzer: NIL means Now It's Legal.

People have been bemoaning the end of college athletics since before I was born. It's never happened, and won't until the financials no longer work -- and to be clear, NIL has nothing to do with that since NIL is being externally funded.
Gonna have to disagree about the last line. I think we’re all still waiting to see exactly how that plays out. No doubt some big NIL providers will up their game, but for many lower-level givers it’s more a zero sum game: (1) give directly to ICA, (2) pay to ICA for experience (tix), (3) give to athletes (NIL)? What I’m most curious about is which schools arrive at the best optimization. For example, do you feel okay about losing a bit of (1) for more (3) to get more on-field success leading to a subsequent rise in (2)?
 
Switzer is right...all the cheating of the past is now legal with NIL.

This will evolve. For example, eventually we will see multi-year contracts regarding NIL to lock athletes in place. This past offseason, a starting freshmen offensive lineman at Texas A&M, who was from New Jersey, entered the portal, lots of offers, stayed at TAMU. Rumor is he had signed his NIL rights away to TAMU, on the OTOH, he might have gotten a bigger payday.

Will be interesting when the IRS nails the first college athlete for not paying their taxes on NIL. I would assume this is something else athletic departments now have to counsel athletes about.
Iowa teaches the pay your taxes class at the same time they teach "they are serious about do not "bet"". So chances are those 500 thou cash bags may lead to Tom crying into a microphone that they aren't asking the right questions.
 
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