godanesgo99

Just saw it reported that Marcus Jackson will be suiting up across town. Blah. I'll still root for him to do well while rooting for his team to lose. Hard nosed kid, whatever he lacked in skills was more than made up in effort and grit. Good luck to him in the future.

Watching roster construction around the AE is starting to feel like Fantasy Sports. We are in the 4th round of the draft after everyone selected their keepers - LOL

Kacper Klaczek is a good get from the highlights I saw. 6"8" and looked strong defensively, at least in the highlights. Should fit well. It looks like a great start to rebuilding. Killings has been great at recruiting talent. Figuring out how to put it together on the floor has been the challenge. As someone else said, this is pretty much make/break for him. I see 8 Scholarships used (9 if Filien returns. Verbal Commits has him as a Sr., but I thought someone mentioned that he had a year left). So that is 5 (or 4) spots to fill, unless I missed someone else that is returning. 2024-25 1/2 Adnan (So, 6'2") Linsey (Fr, 5'10") 2/3 Langford (Sr, 6'5", BC/UCF) Matulu (Fr, 6'4", Walk-On) 3/4 Reddish (Sr, 6'7") Neely (Jr, 6'5") 4/5 Klaczek (Sr, 6'8", StJoes) Adewale (So, 6'8", Iona) Taylor (Fr, 6'7") Walker (So, 6'7", Walk-On) 5 Its a solid start considering there is still almost 40% of the roster to fill. Probably need a true PG, another 2/3, and another big 4/5 type player and the team could compete. A true 5 is hard to find in the AE, and while I'd love one, I am not sure it is needed to win the AE if you have some plus defensive PF's. Didn't get to see much of Adnan last year, not sure how much playing time he is ready for, but he did show some ability. Would love it if they were able to convince Jackson, Marshall, and/or Margoupis to return.

As is the case with any charitable gift. Are any collectives qualified?

I knew the money was taxable to the kids, my question is if a NIL collective fund, like a school endowment, would be tax deductible for the donations made to it. I guess probably not, as it wasn't a non-profit venture, but I'm willing to guess that it could be a non-profit venture supporting paying players for their appearance at charity events or something like that. There are always loopholes. The income to the students is always going to be taxable.

For the Men's team, at least in the short term, it needs to be... we have an empty roster, you are talented and just need a spot to showcase that you can do it at the D1 level - we have minutes for you in a decent low/mid major conference. Come here for 1-2 years and put up big numbers then the world is your oyster. If we win, you can stick around with a path to play in March, or you can try your hand in the P5 with earning potential. In the long term, we need to either accept the above strategy or find a way to build a real NIL program. If we could create a fund with 1 million dollars in it, that should generate $50-$60k per year in income that could be paid to players relatively risk free (with 30-year corporate or municipal bonds), or more if invested wisely but aggressively. I am not an investment professional, but I bet an investment fund could be set up the would guarantee a 2% return to investors, then the excess earnings could be paid as NIL deals to players. 2% isn't great, but its better than most savings accounts and I am sure it could be considered charitable. I do not know the laws on how those work at all, but we need someone to step up and create a fund. Maybe the financial minds and legal team at Broadview FCU could get something going. "Put your savings in the Broadview FCU UA-NIL Savings Account. Earn interest while supporting UA Athletes and getting a tax deduction!" I'd move some of my accounts there to participate! As for the women's team: I think staying the course works fine. They have become a perennial power in the AE, the team has a chance to dance every year. With the popularity increase in WBB and the Caitlyn Clark show, I am sure NIL will start to gain steam for women's programs, so I guess the above could work there as well. If college ball has become the minor leagues and a decent income source for players, we need to jump on board and participate, or accept what we are and know that we are just a lowly feeder.

Well that's a good start... I guess the recruiting line could be: we've wiped our roster that couldn't win. Let's start over. Sultan had offers from Clemson, George Washington, Memphis, Arizona State, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, Rutgers, Ole Miss, Oral Roberts, DePaul, Washington, and Buffalo out of High School. Probably a new mid-major one and done. That's what I'm now calling the High Major potential guys that transfer down a year to build stats and move up.

Obviously it was a tongue in cheek comment

Unless someone leaves the portal, this team is going to have at least 10 new players next season. Crazy.

So as it looks now... PG: Adnan (so), Lindsey (fr) SG: Matulu (fr/wo) Wing: Reddish (sr) SF: Neely (so) PF/C: Walker (so/wo), Taylor (fr) I count 5 scholarship players and 2 walk-ons? Am I missing someone? Who is going to play on this team next season? Updating my post from before now that Newton has entered the portal. 8 scholarships available now? No news of any new commits? Might have the play the season 4 on 5 if there is even a team lol.

Newton now in the portal as well. Will we even have a team next year? https://twitter.com/RivalsPortal/status/1778845882655633431?t=Tkcsr5utKcnT3B81MjqCVQ&s=19

So as it looks now... PG: Adnan (so), Lindsey (fr) SG: Matulu (fr/wo) Wing: Reddish (sr) SF: Neely (so), Newton (Sr) PF/C: Walker (so/wo), Taylor (fr) I count 6 scholarship players and 2 walk-ons? Am I missing someone? Who is going to play on this team next season?

Maybe it's a generational thing. To me it has to be the no "I" in team and the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back. Sure, go get yours when the season is done. Do what you have to do to be successful, but in the season your teammates are your family. Your coaches are your parents. There may be discipline and tough love, but it's only to make you a better person and player. Sure your brothers might piss you off, but you have a commitment to them to remain family and overcome challenges together. To quit when the going gets tough means you are weak and putting yourself before your family. It takes a pretty abusive relationship to make leaving your family in a bad place acceptable.