Another former Hokie headed to Nashville.
NEWS: Virginia Tech transfer guard MJ Collins has committed to Vanderbilt, he tells @On3sports.The 6-4 sophomore averaged 7.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game this season.https://t.co/z6a0IqxyQL pic.twitter.com/yO18cZHD5k— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 17, 2024
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I'm sure years from now his and Nickel's transfers will make sense. But I'm having a lot of trouble finding why this makes sense for either of them.
New coach at Vandy that Nickel has known for years and bottom line...$$$$. I expect Collins got more than Nickel so north of $400K. Going to be a low stress environment considering Vandy was second to last in SEC last year.
For the players, it's a total non-brainer. For the schools, there's some really questionable money being thrown around. I mean, Lynn Kidd is going to make most teams better. But Collins and Nickel are literally the poster children for Average College Basketball players. They aren't going to make any decent team appreciably better. No chance they're worth half a million for a year. The sport simply doesn't generate enough revenue to get a reasonable return on investment for that type of money for mediocre players.
I think a major market correction is likely coming soon in college basketball. The players are probably smart to take the money while they can, because I think in a couple of years these salaries are likely coming down.
NIL culture couldn't be more succinctly summarized
My hope- since I am a VT fan- is that this goes the way of the mid 90's Nike NBA Shoe deals. Nike started giving silly show deal money to mid guys and they quickly realized it was a dumb investment because Shawn Marion doesn't sell shoes in Kansas or New Mexico. Even now- 2024, NBA exclusive shoe deals are rare and only for the top top stars.
Depends. What are the tax implications for the sources of the funding?
If the amounts that are rumored are even close to true, it's beyond questionable..its just dumb money.
You're 100% right, Nickel and Collins are puzzle pieces, not really guys who generate substantial revenue via their own brand. Lets be honest, they could be standing in front of 99.9% of America in a grocery store line and not be recognized--that's not commiserate with 6-figure NIL deals, sorry.
But here's the thing about "market correction"--what is the market? Before we can even begin to adjust NIL, there needs to be transparency--which should have been required and regulated from the start.
Also, who is going to be the first one to put their foot down and tell the 4.5 ppg guy that they're not worth $750k? LSU? Ohio State?? Kansas???..yeah no chance at that.
I don't see the market correcting until it implodes and multiple mid-major schools are simply priced out of fielding teams in revenue sports and the damage is irreparable. But some 17 year old will be driving a luxury car to campus before ever even putting on a uniform so I guess that makes this all make sense.
1. It's not NIL- let's stop that fantasy. MJ Collins might sell 3 jerseys- to his family. Waffle House is not signing him to a deal- let's be fucking real here please. Also - shoot me, but in terms of Collins- 100% mid at best. Not a great shooter, not long, not a great defender. If Young can't upgrade there, he can't and won't win in the ACC. And the "market" is simply coaches telling their boosters "I need MJ Collins and Tyler Nickel"... to win 4 SEC games. And boosters- with monopoly apparently- fake money like the private golf market in Phoenix right now- stupid money paying Collins. Let's please be real.
What's this?
Its 6 figure initiation fees to have access to 7 day tee sheets and play after noon only in the winter/spring. If you want morning times, open tee sheets, etc. it's nearly double that. BTW- I am not talking about SilverLeaf or DC Ranch here - which are 3-400K to join. Point I was making was there is a lot of money out there that real working people can't identify with. Golf in PHX is the priciest it has EVER been. Winter tee times on public courses in north phoenix/scottsdale are easily 250-300 dollars now. That's (theoretically) why you join a club, to spread the costs out. Now, that's insane too. Funny money.
are they privately funding their own dam to water the course???
Good Question, and in terms of PHX- all of that is centrally planned. The water situation here is better than parts of NM, TX, Colorado and Cali. To open a golf course, you must prove underground water tables for 100 years and must use a certain % of gray water. It's actually tightly controlled.
It's not NIL it's pay to play. And as long as there are some schools willing to openly play that game, it's not going anywhere and in fact will only create an arms race. Current rumors are that Durr out of Citadel wants a $1.3m check to sign with a school and you know someone is going to pay it. And next year, those numbers will be higher and higher and higher. And it'll continue happening because SEC and B1G schools make more money than they know how to spend off their TV deal and this is just a way to give them a leg up on schools in the Big XII, ACC, and Big East.
One year- it might not be 2025, but one year the harsh business reality will hit. Players that suck won't get paid. That's coming, but it's not here yet. I'll get my popcorn ready for the "they are only college kids, you can't say they suck" responses. Or "its the coaches fault"... nope in business, the gloves come off. So players- if you suck, you are about to be punched in the face. This is how the market will somewhat correct.
I'm not sure this is true. Rich people don't get and stay rich by throwing money at stupid investments that lose money. Why would you spend $5-10 million a year (plus $3-5 million for the coach) on a basketball roster for a team THAT DOESN'T MAKE MONEY? Remember, that huge TV money is coming in for Football. College basketball generates pretty modest TV revenue. And this isn't the NBA or MLB, where you have 41 or 81 home games to generate a TON of revenue. You have, what, 20 home games in college basketball?
I think the money is being spent right now because...well, you can do it now. You couldn't before. But I expect there to be some buyer's remorse sooner rather than later. Is the money going to disappear? Of course not. But I think the days of half a million dollars a year for average players are going to be short lived.
"Rich people don't get and stay rich by throwing money at stupid investments that lose money." Except Saudi terrorists using golf to try to sports wash, of course.
It's not about sound investments or making a return on the investment. The return is that the team from their alma mater, or just their favorite team wins and they are happy about that.
You know, a billionaire can throw $1 million/year at his alma mater's NIL collective for literally a millennium before he runs out of money. There's a reason they call it "fuck you" money
There just aren't usually all that many Charles Foster Kanes.
Although just after Covid, there were appreciably more. There was a LOT of money thrown around recently, and it's no surprise some of it ended up in sports.
Rich people make stupid "investments" all the time. They are make bad purchases, which is really what this is, they are not expecting a return in money, they want to be entertained.
If Rich people only made good investments then yachts wouldn't be a thing, range rover wouldn't sell cars, the rich would drive rolls royces that last 50 years. No one with money would get in to the restaurant business. Bernie Madoff wouldn't have gotten any takers. Frye festival doesn't get funding. Personal jets, etc.
There are tons of things the rich do that don't have ROI in money. But a personal jet buys you time, a Lamborghini buys you fun, a good sports teams buys you excitement.
"No one with money would get in to the restaurant business" - this is the damn truth. Razor thin margins, huge waste, and if that is not enough you wait staff will rob you blind the first chance they get. The lone exception being high end novelties like Joe's Stone Crab- a cult that can charge whatever they want, or getting a celebrity chef to put their name on it - Guy Fieri/Gordon Ramsey- you can literally charge 32.99 for a bacon cheeseburger. The highest margin/low risk businesses are pizza shops that sell a large volume of alcohol. You can make money there.
yup, always exceptions and guys like Jose Andres or Gordon Ramsey who have tons of restaurants and made it work might be worth the investment.
I think Tech has attracted some of the smarter players around. They probably recognize they are not going to go pro in BB. Take this opportunity to cash in and invest for your future. The schools are picking up their educational costs, and now they have a heck of an advance on their retirement savings. If somebody had handed me $200,000 after taxes, I would have been a millionaire by the time I was 35.
Unless you get married and divorced..... /s but not really
They are professional basketball players now. They are free agents. They took a one year deal worth more money. It is what it is. Pro sports.
Vanderbilt gonna do well in the NIT next year
Never in a million years did I think Tech would miss MJ Collins....
And then we signed Rodney Brown...sheesh.
Ivy Curry is more the Collins replacement. Brown is more the Nickel replacement. Hopefully Young can get Hysier Miller from Temple this weekend. Still need another point guard if Pedulla goes.
Really really hoping we can land Jalen Leach at PG. Reportedly visited last weekend and would be a big time pickup.
Seems to me CMY really stood by Collins. Never gave up on him and Collins improved as the year progressed. (It can be argued no one else was able to win his spot).
I was hoping CMY's loyalty would be rewarded and Collins would return.
The sorry state of college sports today.
I get it, and it stinks we couldn't keep him, but I wouldn't be loyal to my bosses at work if someone offered me almost 500k to do what I am doing now...
These dollar values aren't sustainable and we will see some sort of correction in a few years, but it will be painful to get there.
Yes. I get it too. I'd most probably do the same.
But again, the sorry state of college sports. I just hope Tech is able to keep up. And keep our coaches. And land somewhere good when the music stops.
You aren't wrong, but only in college sports 2024 are you going to be grossly overpaid for your recent performance. No company in your field is going to actually give you 500K for shits and giggles. Not in the real world.
Don't tell that to the Mets. Bobby Bonilla Day will continue for another 11 years :)
Bobby Bonilla Day. The gift that keeps on giving.
I hate it too. My 4 year old loves to "play" basketball on the little tikes goal in the house, and he pretends to be VT players. He's always saying that he's Sean Pedulla, MJ Collins or Lynn Kidd. Going to be hard to explain to him that he has a whole new lineup of players every year.
Tell your kid to go full VT basketball player and chase that bag. See if he can get some cash to pretend to be a UNC or Kentucky player.
Is that considered the Adoption Portal?
Where is everyone seeing MJ Collins got $500K?
Most projections had him getting more than Nickel and numbers on Nickel was $400K. I don't think I have seen a reliable source put out an actual number for Collins.
This whole thing was presented to be the athletes using their own Name, Image and Likeness to get a piece of the pie from things like Madden, other video games, Uniform sales, autographs and advertising promotions, etc.
As predicted, it turned into a pay to play scheme with obscene amounts of money going to teenagers for the hope of future accomplishments paid by schools in order to compete in a yearly free-agency purchase scheme.
Have we seen the last of the fan favorite Sam Rogers type players? The guys that grey shirt and through sheer grit and tenacity become team leaders and fun as hell to root for? Do we find the diamonds in the rough and coach and train them to play the sport just so they can cash in for a year or 2 at a different school that can $$$$?
I'm trying hard to hang on to my college football fandom. I feel it's slipping from my grasp though.
I'm rooting for Cole Nelson and Keyshawn burgos to turn it up this year after a number years in the program. Or Stroman to have a SR season like his brother did.
We had a roster turn over to purge the team so we're going a lot of places but there are tons of guys I want to see succeed and become great players.