If we only have $8-10 Million Next Year...It'll Be Horrid Yet Again

I won’t deny that if we don’t have enough money, we’ll be in trouble again.

But I can’t help but feel like you’re pulling your numbers out of thin air. Cliff was offered $2 million (not from Alabama). Someone like Paul was offered $500k-$600k, I thought. Maybe prices have risen, but $2 million for Tariq and $1 million for Kaden. GTFOH. I like those players, but even if we had $12.5 million, I think we can do better.

Can someone clarify how much money we had the last couple of years? I was under the impression we only had like $2 million, so when I heard $8 million, I thought that wasn’t too bad.

That's kind of why I asked Richie if he could get Sullivan on a podcast; and he mentioned that he did have a plan to do so in due time; which I took to mean after the season is over (which would make sense). Do I expect them to get into dollar details - no; but he was pretty good during the Politi interview; so I'm confident Richie & Mike & Alec will be able to help us decipher what we have through their questions. Some comments want to add the Center (of course) but pretty much keep this team intact. I don't know why we have to play 10 or 11 (like it's some type of obligation).

How does Rutgers basketball get $8 to $10 million?

Rob didn't sound confident Pike will have $8 million in hand to pay next season's roster.

Politi: "Rob the number we're hearing out there is $8 million for a roster next year which certainly is an upgrade of what you guys got now. Is that enough to win in the Big Ten?"

Rob "Great question. I think it is to be determined. Um, as you know what, uh, are some recent, you know differentiation in the financial piece for NIL for coach Pike and the team has been, um I think if we got to that number which isn't, uh, definitive right now it would be awesome."

Let's say Tate and Keli give Pike $4 million to pay players for the 2026-7 season

Who gives Pike the next $4 million to $6 million?

TKR posters write they are hearing $8 million. See here, here, here, here, and here. What serious companies will allocate millions to Pike to give to Rutgers players when nobody knows who those players will be?

Call me skeptical. Who knows, maybe Rutgers has a bank account with $8 million dollars inside earmarked for Pike's 2026-2027 players and I am wrong.

I love Kaden Powers and think he can be very good down the line but if he costs a million, then prices are going to be exorbitant across the board.

Fat Koko said:

How does Rutgers basketball get $8 to $10 million?

Rob didn't sound confident Pike will have $8 million in hand to pay next season's roster.

Politi: "Rob the number we're hearing out there is $8 million for a roster next year which certainly is an upgrade of what you guys got now. Is that enough to win in the Big Ten?"

Rob "Great question. I think it is to be determined. Um, as you know what, uh, are some recent, you know differentiation in the financial piece for NIL for coach Pike and the team has been, um I think if we got to that number which isn't, uh, definitive right now it would be awesome."

Let's say Tate and Keli give Pike $4 million to pay players for the 2026-7 season

Who gives Pike the next $4 million to $6 million?

TKR posters write they are hearing $8 million. See here, here, here, here, and here. What serious companies will allocate millions to Pike to give to Rutgers players when nobody knows who those players will be?

Call me skeptical. Who knows, maybe Rutgers has a bank account with $8 million dollars inside earmarked for Pike's 2026-2027 players and I am wrong.

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If we only scheduled duke instead of Central Connecticut we'd close that revenue gap, right?

RUskoolie said:

If we only scheduled duke instead of Central Connecticut we'd close that revenue gap, right?

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The athletics department revenue gap between Rutgers and the Big Ten median is roughly $60 million.

To close that gap, Rutgers needs to double ticket sales revenue, double sponsorship and ad revenue, and quintuple donations.

One way to earn more ticket sales revenue is to bring on blue chip non-conference teams - this would be obvious common sense for a change. In men's basketball, Rutgers ranks 344 in non-conference schedule strength. Lame. Rutgers reported 8,000 attended the Central Connecticut game. False.

RedChucken123 said:

I won’t deny that if we don’t have enough money, we’ll be in trouble again.

But I can’t help but feel like you’re pulling your numbers out of thin air. Cliff was offered $2 million (not from Alabama). Someone like Paul was offered $500k-$600k, I thought. Maybe prices have risen, but $2 million for Tariq and $1 million for Kaden. GTFOH. I like those players, but even if we had $12.5 million, I think we can do better.

Can someone clarify how much money we had the last couple of years? I was under the impression we only had like $2 million, so when I heard $8 million, I thought that wasn’t too bad.

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Don’t you get it? If player X costs Y “we can do better” is the candy store syndrome again. If Tariq costs $2M, so will every player remotely comparable to him and Rutgers University will have to pay a premium to a player transferring from a different program to buy their 13+ ppg scorer, because at the moment, why would Rutgers be the school of choice? Coming off a losing season. Our best player walks out the door. So then what - you think a star guard from another school is picking RU at FMV relative to all their other offers? Why? With the current players - there’s way more of a chance. They have lives now in NJ. Friends, girlfriends, etc. if they like it at Rutgers and we make a a fair offer there’s reason to at least hope they stick with us. We are an unlikely choice destination for any star player from a high major or even a good mid major to pick up and transfer here unless we offer well above market. So no - it’s simply not true that if FMV for Tariq is $2M, we’re likely to do better in the open market.

I realize this same logic applies for everyone. And that’s why I’m torn about Grant. Defense is cheaper than offense and I don’t think it will cost that much to improve the frontcourt D from what Grant brings. So then the question is the offense. If we brought someone a little worse than Grant at offense but way better at D, might that cost a couple hundred thousand less? I think there’s a chance.

We don't really know what players are going to cost.

Given the current environment, it is a legitimate concern that costs are going to be inflated every year. We don't know how much, nor do we know how much other teams will be able to spend - or how many can enter the 'big money" pool.

We can assume the sky is falling or we can hope for the best. The system is so broken we have no idea which way it will go.

Loyal-Son said:

We don't really know what players are going to cost.

Given the current environment, it is a legitimate concern that costs are going to be inflated every year. We don't know how much, nor do we know how much other teams will be able to spend - or how many can enter the 'big money" pool.

We can assume the sky is falling or we can hope for the best. The system is so broken we have no idea which way it will go.

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No we don’t know what market value will be for anyone, but I’m not sure why anyone thinks we would be able to “do better” in the open market than Tariq regardless of what that value is. If the market says he costs 2M, that almost certainly will mean other high performing guards with decent metrics on high major teams will have offers in this range also. And again - if we’re not the incumbent, we have to beat out other offers or somehow convince said player to pick us over their other options (there isn’t the convenience factor of remaining where they are with friends, etc. with a transfer which might be a tie breaker for some kids).

I just googled what Dylan and Ace NIL deals were worth. It said $1.6M each and were top earners. If someone wants to pay Tariq $2M, more power to him. I like him and he’s great for the team and probably a better team player, but if he’s out-earning Ace and Dylan, I’m just saying… Relatively-speaking, that’s overvalued and college basketball (& us) are cooked.

These numbers can’t last for college basketball. You’ll be down to a small number of teams that pay the guys who can actually play at a pro level and the rest of us are cooked. I follow MLB, not the minors. Why should i continue to follow overpriced minor league players In basketball?