I guess pal and 84 think Laurel Hosmer and staff, in conjunction with Valpo's legal team, are all idiots. Or maybe, just maybe, they might rather think that this is a complicated matter better left to those who actually do this sort of work for a living.
Jeff Bidwell seems to agree with '84 and me, as well. He says you might as well opt-in but there is no advantage for a school like Valpo to opt-in except to not be stigmatized or ostracized by the other MVC programs and to have an option of paying players, which Valpo cannot competitively do.
However, he points out there is a disadvantage for Valpo opting-in with the roster limit—once "grandfathered" athletes leave—at 105 for football, which supplies valuable non-scholarship tuition enrollment for the university. Even you wrote in a previous message about opting-out, noting a current roster of 118 in football : "football had 118.... Many of these kids wouldn't be at Valpo if it weren't for D1 athletics. If roster limits actually are a reality, then the decision for Valpo is an easy one." Have you changed your mind?
My comments on roster size was based on the little information floating about at the time. Have I changed my mind? Yes. I would rather take the decision of those who fully understand the new rules--like Laurel Hosmer--versus sticking with a comment made without benefit of the full scope of the situation.
Well, this has been a boatload of fun. Months of speculation and conjecture and, still, no one on this forum really knows anything about this NCAA settlement cluster for sure - including even the NCAA. Hey, it is whatever it freakin is. It is completely out of our hands (and Valpo’s for that matter). Let’s get off this gerbil mill and do what this forum does best.
What do we actually know? We know we are still in the MVC. We know we have a full roster full of promising young players. We know many might be one and done - especially the best ones. We guess that we have a comparatively non-competitive NIL or whatever the new cash cow is - and so what. And we know we have our guys on campus pounding away in the Hilltop practice facility getting ready to play a full schedule
So can we just get back to stuff we do know a little bit about. IOW, can we just talk VU basketball and make this forum interesting again (MFIA) ? 😉
@vulb62 I mean...it's not like we aren't talking basketball. And a lot more has come out on the settlement in recent years. I think I shared a few links that might be worth looking at
It may be an unpopular opinion, but I refuse to directly donate to any type of NIL fund for college athletes. I understand that this is the landscape of NCAA sports moving forward, but I refuse to pay college kids directly. I will continue to directly donate to the Baseball program, but I won't be tied to any impression that college athletes need to be paid.
Interesting. I am glad to see that Valpo seems to believe it's found a way to do this and compete. I look forward to Paul's work on The Victory Bell where he mentioned that he'll be diving into this more. It still seems like a long shot that VU can compete, but I look forward to seeing where things go.
valpotx - I share your opinion and do exactly the same (though my donations are to a different and non-marquee sport).
Just checked and it looks like every Horizon League team opted in as well.
All MVC schools are in. New College sports commission drafted a comprehensive list
Big news of the day - Valpo has officially launched the “Excellence Funds” for both the men’s basketball and women’s basketball programs. If you donate to either of these funds, you will receive the Valpo Victory Fund benefits if you meet the donor-level requirements listed above. This is essentially the “in-house” NIL. This fund will go towards much more than NIL, but it offers our basketball programs more flexibility. This might even go towards things like home buy games. This is coming out at a GREAT time with men’s basketball starting strong. We all agree that we will always want more talent and continuity on our roster. These funds should help with both IF there is interest and support.
For those of you asking yourself "Whats the point of the collective". Other schools whom have chosen to keep their collectives open have pivoted to utilize them for Olympic sports.
