What is our argument when we lose to teams with less NIL than we have??
Coaching matters here and that is in all facets of the game....
Coaching matters here and that is in all facets of the game....
Cronin postgame
- Thread starter MCKnight
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13 out of the 34. Don’t dispute that he’s a great coach (reminds me of Mike Leach in that weirdo/football savant kind of way), and he still has to cook them meal - but it’s easier to shop for ingredients when you have money (and/or have a sous chef prepping the ingredients).
No question Hoiberg is a better coach than Pike - but that’s more praise for Hoiberg than criticism of Pike.
I think spending 8 when others are spending 12 is a lot better than spending 3.5 when others are spending 12. That’s the difference between being frugal and being broke. At 8 mil, you may not get everything you want, but you should be able to address some of the things you need.
if our budget is 6, we probably have a B1G caliber 5. If our budget is 7, we probably have a shooter taller than 6’ and can play d. If we have 8, we probably address another need and were a viable tourney team.
no one is crying about it, but we need an AD who takes it seriously. And she has been, for (checks watch) 6 months. NIL isn’t something regular fans or Pike are going to fix.
You need to do the math. Even $3.5M (and I heard it was less) across a 14-man roster is chump change in this era’s P4 (keep in mind that Somerville got $900K to be a backup center at Washington). No one knows the real numbers but this is my guess, as there is only an average of $250K per player to distribute among 14 players:
Francis $550K (2 years eligibility) (MD guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie got $2.5M to transfer to Tenn)
Buchanan $400K (2 years eligibility)
Dylan Grant $300K
J Mike $300 K
Zrno $300K (21-year-old European pro with freshmen eligibility)
Ogblole $200 K (centers are over-priced)
Dortch $200K
Badalau $200K (19yearold freshman with European pro experience)
Powell $225K (our top-rated freshman)
Mark $225K
Nwuli $200K
Ware $150K
Fall $150K
Jones $150K
1. Politi reported the $3.5m directly from Pike. So it is what it is. Regardless.
2. Richie said we had nearly $2m(??) and were targeting 3 transfers.
You have the 3 transfers at just over $1m.
Regardles
2. Here's the simple math just with your numbers:
Nwuli, Ware, Fall, Jones = $650k
That alone could get a player better than Francis and be our highest paid player.
And we lose near zero production.
Add Dortch and Badalu = over $1m
Ok add CCSU to the win column we’re 10-13
now how do you feel about the situation
are you really trying to say a simple coaching change and same 3.5 budget is fine to run it back ?
Anyone saying a simple coaching change and the same budget is fine - that's foolish
I would also say that equally foolish is simply more money and the same coaching.
To me, we need both.
However, the coaching staff changes (or even just change in philosophy - doesn't have to be different people) is much more obtainable than finding this magical pot of money.
Obviously - the buyout is a huge roadblock.
Most likely? Neither item gets adequately addressed anytime soon.
A younger hungrier savvy coach that understands the landscape is not the same as a passive old school dinosaur coach who had no nitiative to pursue NIL
You are not accounting for retention. You have to pay to keep the players you want. $3.5M divided by 14 is $250K. My point was that we did not pay much for most of the transfers we got. The numbers show that. You are now saying we'd have been better off having only 10 players on the roster and paying more to a handful of transfers. A 10-man roster is very risky proposition given injuries, etc. One injury and you can't even run a competitive practice.
What do you mean retention?
I literally used the numbers you listed as estimates.
You dont have to retain everyone.
The $$ has to be right.
It's not just scholarships anymore.
If Nwuli wants more than the bare minimum, then he isnt retained.
Same for Badalu and the rest.
If Grant wants $2m - then he isn't retained.
Retention isnt some automatic thing.
Its a negotiation.
Fill the rest of the roster with walkons/literally free players (just a scholarship).
Yes, depth woupd be an issue.
The alternative is what we have now.
"Depth" of players who arent very good.
I don’t know why we’re even talking about paying 14 players, when 12 should be more than enough.
Might give you an extra $300k to help match or beat an offer for a player you really need.
Might give you an extra $300k to help match or beat an offer for a player you really need.
This is interesting. Kelvin Sampson is bemoaning the lack of funding. And his team is winning. A lot
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/47838117/kelvin-sampson-bemoans-houston-nil-budget-poor
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/47838117/kelvin-sampson-bemoans-houston-nil-budget-poor
Your opinion, which is the easiest to change our NIL situation or are coaching situation? Obviously there’s the Hobbs contract but in my humble opinion it’s B. Kelli can make Pike more accountable. Staff changes, making sure the GM has actually decision making power, etc. she might have to micro manage it a bit but I think that’s the first step in fixing this. NIL does need to be addressed but I think it’s a longer road then to just putting some controls on Pike. NIL is needed so a future coach can feel they can compete here. Also damage control would need to be done in future interviews assuring said coach that Zion doesn’t prefer to micro manage. But to make next year better, not fix it, just get the program headed in a better direction, I feel making Pike make changes is better than just giving an inflexible, unwilling to change Pike more money. Both would be ideal.
This!!! As a bottom 1/4 p4 in NIL yes we have to work for more NiL but we have to go outside the box for now. We can’t pay 14. We don’t have the luxury of depth. If a major injury happened but we shot our shot I think most can live with that in the NIL era. When Mag got hurt Pikes poor prior recruiting hurt our depth. I’d think we could even get away with paying nine handsomely.
These numbers are way off. I highly doubt Francis is the highest paid player on our roster. I’m not sure he’s even top 3 as he had no other high major interest supposedly. We really hit a home run with him. Dylan Grant was projected to be our star and is likely getting way more than 300K. He’s probably getting double this.
First of all, I highly doubt we paid Francis more than Grant. So why pick on him? Grant is probably getting 650k plus and not contributing all that much. Meanwhile whatever Francis is earning, you are undoubtedly wrong that we could’ve easily “gotten someone better” for 650k.
Again - he ranks 13th in the entire BIG in PPG on above average efficiency. Name someone who you think we couldve realistically landed for 650K at Rutgers that would’ve made Rutgers “better” in place of Tariq.
If you read the whole article he’s indicating they won’t be able to sustain spending but they didn’t shy away from spending the last couple years
it’s widely reported they still were in the 8-10 million range this season roster
imagine his crying if he was spending Rutgers money
everyone he has is getting their market value and paid comparable to what they’d be paid elsewhere he’s stating Houston won’t be able to sustain the budget they have
This is what I’ve been saying for 2 years
if we only have 4 million we should take our chances with 7-8 actual players not feel forced to pay 13-14
But none of that was known in the offseason.
Nobody knew (other than Knight?) that he would be so vastly underpaid.
So yeah, if didnt pay the last 3-4 players on the roster, combined those funds, we could have gotten a player who PROJECTED to be our best player.
Over Grant (or whoever is our highest paid player).
If Francis was expected to perform like this, he wouldnt be behind Grant in salary.
Will Grant make more than Francis again next year?
no. I don’t think Grant will be on the team next year. His defense shows no signs of improving and we’d have a better record if he could close on a 3pt shooter.
My point is - sadly, that 650k probably “is” about what we paid our projected best player and I’m not sure all that many players at that price point are materially better than Grant - I just wish we had someone better at defense in his position. In my opinion, we’d be better.
Francis would’ve been a “bargain” even at 650k. I don’t think some folks understand just how bad RU would’ve been on offense (if Francis had performed at his preseason forecast). No kid wants to play on an offense that projects to be a laughing stock travesty of epic measures. If we keep Francis, we’ll project to just “suck normal” at offense next year which will at least allow us to have a shot of competing in the market to pick up some defensive first high major players. It may actually incentivize some who might see themselves as being able to be more of a force on offense situationally based on the need for them to be on floor for D (like Caleb who arguably would not have started in many other systems). That’s what we’re looking for and I’m cautiously optimistic that we’re finally at least positioned to have a legit chance to compete for what we need.
My point is that $650k didnt have to be our highest paid player.
Don't pay the bottom 3 or 4 or even 5 players.
Take that money and get that defensive forward/center we need.
Every dollar spent on end of bench guys is a dollar not spent on front of the roster guys.
I don’t pretend to know the real numbers. I was just trying to show when you spread the RU budget around to 14 players, RU was at a huge disadvantage. Jerry Carino (and others) have reported that “proven impact players were fetching $1.5 million and up” In last year‘s transfer portal and those numbers will only go up this year.
We were talking about last year, not what RU will do after this season. I don’t disagree that many of the current players are not worth retaining, but that’s beside point of how much we had to spend on last year‘s roster. Impact players were getting $1.5 to 2,000,000 each in the transfer portal. Our entire 2025 roster budget was $3.5 million according to you.
That’s fair I guess although we don’t know what level “non-paid” would be at this point. Practices and scrimmages are counterproductive if some of the bodies are D3 level, and injuries do happen so it can’t be exactly 10 playable bodies. It may just be reality now that everyone costs 150k. Even frosh. Who knows these days?
Well this year there’s an allocation limit at least. So we’ll see. They say we have 10M to spend. Pike needs to go into the cycle prepared to spend 5M (possibly even more if necessary) to retain Francis and add a center and a forward who play good high major D. They do not have to have amazing metrics. We’re hopefully in the market for junior MJ like numbers at the power level. He needs to get this done swiftly even if it means overpaying his perception of FMV. It’s only “overpaying” if you can actually get someone remotely comparable for less money to plug a massive hole which is what we have if he doesn’t take care of these 3 needs immediately.
From there he can make other retention decisions around his 3 core guys. He can set a ceiling of 3M or so and methodically navigate negotiations skewing his focus throughout the process towards the guys he wants to keep the most. Out (unless staying for free) - Fall, Ware, Denis. In play for negotiation: Buchanan, J Mike, Powers, Ogbole, Dortch, Zrno, Grant, Nwuli and Lino. That’s 8 guys - Pike should aim to retain 4-6 of them in my opinion. If I was him - I’d prioritize one each as my focus of J Mike / Lino, Ogbole / Dortch, Zrno / Powers, and Buchanan / Grant / Nwuli (starting with Buchanan) and then depending on price consider a few more (maybe)- would love to keep both Dortch and Ogbole as back ups for foul trouble.
From there - things are coming into play - you now have at least one experienced high major player locked in at every position (and we’re “done” at center). We have a frosh guard in Jones coming in who is billed as a lock down defender. A nice ticket balancer. That’s good. Wooten is a forward to pair with a portal veteran and one or two of Buchanan, Grant and Nwuli. Let’s hypothetically say he keeps J Mike, Buchanan, Powers, Dortch, Ogbole and Zrno and spends 3 M total to do it and another 500K for Jones and Wooten (hopefully it’s less than this).
That puts us at a roster count of 11 with a spend total of 8.5M. We have another 1.5M to spend and I’d use that to get the best ball handler I could find with a registered height of 6-4 or better (doesn’t necessarily have to be a natural point). If we have to spend the remaining 1.5M on this player - so be it. Roll with 12 as Nick suggested and if another guy or two want to come prove themselves for free and scholarship only add them to the roster.
Rutgers basketball coach Steve Pikiell responds to roster budget comments
Rutgers AD Keli Zinn and UCLA coach Mick Cronin both cited his funding problem. The Scarlet Knights have lost six straight with Nebraska coming in.
sports.yahoo.com
Rutgers basketball coach Steve Pikiell responds to roster budget comments
Rutgers AD Keli Zinn and UCLA coach Mick Cronin both cited his funding problem. The Scarlet Knights have lost six straight with Nebraska coming in.
good article. But as weve said, it still comes down to finding players, and value players. because Even with money, what top portal player is choosing Rutgers Over all the other schools with winning records and more money? Hopefully the GM has some ideas
We have to hope that this disaster of a
defense season doesn’t destroy Pike’s brand strength on that side of the ball because he has to sell the vision for what he did the rest of his career before the past 2 years to the kind of kids who play that style ball. We need D. Outside of making sure the center isn’t inept in the post, our focus should be about D.
Thank God it wasn’t UConn. They’re mad at us for taking what they consider to be “their spot” in the B1G.