Gamecocks Connection: Let’s talk NIL
Hey, I’m Chris Clark with GamecockCentral.com, and welcome to Gamecocks Connection.
This weekly newsletter will consist of a summary of some of the latest happenings in Gamecock Country, reader questions, and one “main idea” that’s on my mind. Plus, there will be some other goodies along the way.
If you would like to get this piece directly to your inbox, you can get it for free here.
Do you like listening to your Gamecocks news? Find our podcasts here. Or, watch us on YouTube.
What’s on the docket today?
I am giving my thoughts on name, image, and likeness (NIL), fan involvement, and its importance to success in Gamecock Athletics.
A word from our sponsor.
Clint Hammond is the branch manager for Movement Mortgage. An avid USC fan, Clint has been in the mortgage industry since 2003. His years of experience allow him to assist everyone from the first-time home buyer to the complicated and complex jumbo buyer.
Whether you’re looking to purchase a new home or refinance, nothing is more important than a well-thought-out financial strategy that comes with five-star customer service.
His entire approach to this business revolves around doing right by the borrower and setting everyone up for long-term financial success and well-being. This approach is Clint’s core philosophy in the mortgage business.
Contact Clint for all of your mortgage needs: clint.hammond@movement.comor 803-422-6797.
His NMLS number is 71597. Interest rates and products are subject to change without notice and may or may not be available at the time of loan commitment or lock-in. Borrowers must qualify at closing for all benefits.
Get caught up.
Three quick things to know about your Gamecocks from the last few days.
Carolina is adding a piece to its 2023 recruiting class with a familiar namesake. Austin Herro, the brother of former Kentucky standout and NBA player Tyler Herro, is joining the program as a preferred walk-on.
A four-star target for USC has a commitment date now set; Georgia DB Jalewis Solomon is going to pledge on August 5. FSU and South Carolina are thought to be the main two programs in play here. He may be back on campus this month, too…
Mark Kingston’s baseball program landed a couple of intriguing additions since our last edition.
Vanderbilt transfer infielder Connor Noland, who brings experience and versatility, was first up to pledge.
Then it was a high schooler, 2024 in-state prospect PJ Morlando out of Summerville. The former Mississippi State commitment is now a Gamecocks commitment.
He’s a top-10 prospect nationally, and the MLB Draft should be a big factor at the appropriate time.
The main idea.
Today, I want to touch on a subject that some fans may not want to discuss, or even hear about, frankly.
The ability for athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness has changed the college landscape, to be sure.
The sport is still wildly entertaining, The ratings are still great. To that extent, I admit that I roll my eyes at the prognostications that college sports are being ruined because some athletes are being paid.
There’s so much that can be said on the subject, and we’ll probably have more to say in future editions.
This time around, I wanted to focus on how NIL has become important in recruiting, and where things are at with the Gamecocks on this front.
A common objection two NIL, as previewed above, is: “I don’t like NIL.”
It’s a perfectly reasonable take, whatever the reasons behind it may be.
Here’s the thing: it doesn’t really matter who likes it or not. It’s here, it’s important to recruiting and roster retention, and it’s not going away.
We are not going back to a fully amateur model. This thing will probably change more in the coming years, if not months, but the days of guys getting suspended for selling autographs is not coming back.
Adapt or die. Embrace or lose the race. Insert whatever cliche you would like.
Interestingly, NIL allows fans to directly participate in the success of the programs. What do I mean by that?
NIL dollars do not exist just out there in the ether. They either come through brand/business deals or through individuals (this can be in the form of a “collective” like Garnet Trust). And the majority of NIL activity has come through individual/collective activations.
If a school thinks it is behind its competitors in an area like facilities, it can raise money (or borrow money) to build a new indoor practice field or operations center. If the fan experience at games needs to be upgraded, funds can be thrown at it.
That’s not the case with NIL. Schools cannot directly pay athletes. There are limits to what it can do to help facilitate NIL deals.
And that leaves a lot of it up to fans and donors – many of whom would be counted on to help fund things like facilities anyways.
Facility upgrades will still happen, but now administrators and coaches believe that NIL is a more important pitch to prospects. That’s because more prospects are asking about it. So that means that administrators and coaches are privately – sometimes publicly – encouraging fans to sign up for the NIL cause.
As an example, a recent recruiting weekend for Gamecock football had double-digit prospects in town. A majority of them asked about potential NIL opportunities in Columbia. All of those will have NIL options at other programs recruiting them, some of them very appealing options.
So, where is South Carolina compared to the competition? There’s a pretty good infrastructure in place, but funding is certainly not as high as at other programs.
Another deterrent to fan involvement we have seen is a belief that small memberships of say, $10 per month on an individual level will not matter in the grand scheme.
To go back to the cliche well, there is strength in numbers.
Increasingly, Gamecocks coaches and staffers are being asked questions about the NIL landscape in Columbia.
The answers they are able to accurately give will go a long way toward determining how successful they can be on the recruiting trail in this new era.
A question from the crowd.
Q: With the three big sports (football, basketball and baseball), which do you see as the best system as far as how the recruiting process runs?
Football has more of the headlines and bigger NIL deals, but you have to recruit up to signing day even if you have a commitment as there are more flips at the last minute.
In basketball, coaches will somewhat back off a recruit once they commit to a school and it is up to the athlete to decommit for the recruiting to ramp back up.
Baseball is similar, but you are dealing with the MLB draft and a larger number of the highly rated recruits will skip college overall and go to the pros.
– Michael from Columbia, S.C.
— I spend the majority of my time focusing on football recruiting, so my answer could admittedly be a bit biased.
You point out some interesting differences in how each sport is administered on a recruiting front.
Baseball, to me, seems incredibly difficult. The starting point is that you are attempting to build a roster of 35 with just 11.7 scholarships to divvy out among that group.
That makes scholarship management both immediately and in the future challenging, not to mention competing against other programs that may be able/willing to give someone a bigger piece of scholarship. NIL now plays into that equation, too.
Throw in the fact that players are typically committing very early in the process – which causes a unique pressure – and it seems to me to be the toughest exercise out of any of these.
Basketball’s interesting because one acquisition can start to change your fortunes. A few of the right acquisitions can take you from pretender to contender in a hurry.
Those types of gets are tough in an industry that had some of its seediness exposed over the last few years. Now, what was done behind the scenes can be done more out in the open; it just looks a little different.
There are also, as you mentioned, not as many decommitments in the world of college basketball. There are fewer prospects overall per school, which surely contributes to that percentage. The culture of hoops recruiting is also different than football, though.
Now, to football. One of my colleagues in the industry likes to joke that when a prospect commits to a school, it really just jumpstarts his recruitment.
There’s some truth in that, though. Because of the recruiting calendar and the amount of devoted resources, college football recruiting is the most cutthroat, to me.
I have some qualms with the system; administrators must find a way to cut the calendar down, particularly in December, when schools are juggling bowl practice, high school’s early signing period, going on the road and hosting visitors for the late signing period, and the transfer market.
NIL’s importance is rising in every sport. It’s led to some “no mans land” feelings on the part of administrators and coaches in that sport. And, those coaches, more than others, are looking over their shoulder constantly until signing day.
There’s always a tradeoff, since they don’t have to deal with some of the other things that baseball and basketball coaches have to deal with on a regular basis.
Overall, I like the college football system the best. Maybe it’s just because it can be fun to cover.
Want to have your Gamecocks question answered here? Email me: clark@gamecockcentral.com or hit me on Twitter: @GCChrisClark.
Members can ask on The Insiders Forum. FYI: Premium subscribers do get priority; it’s only fair!
What we’re talking about.
Over the holiday weekend, there was a lot of conversation about Gamecocks target Dylan Stewart.
Ohio State has picked up some industry buzz with the five-star, but we know that USC still has a really good shot.
Stewart also released a very interesting USC-centric video on social media recently.
There’s a thread going on The Insiders Forum with a little “tweet science” as to what it may mean.
If you are a subscriber with us, VISIT to see what they’re saying and to weigh in!
A thanks and a request.
I sincerely thank you for reading this newsletter and hope it’s informative and enjoyable for you.
GamecockCentral.com is a small business that is South Carolina Gamecock-owned. We launched in 1998 with a goal of providing the very best in coverage, community, and experience.
Our team works hard to provide just that on a daily basis, and we have boots on the ground in Columbia to do the job. In the days of media being so divisive, we want to be here to serve you in a way that will make you proud.
We are not afraid to ask: please take a few moments to help us with one or more of the following:
Consider becoming a premium member. Our work is supported primarily through subscription revenue. For a limited time, you can get six months of access to everything we do for just $29.99.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, like us on Facebook.
We have been working hard on taking our video to the next level. Subscribe to our channel (free) on YouTube!
Are you a business owner who wants to reach a huge, highly engaged audience? Fill out this form to learn more about growing by advertising with us.
Forward this email to tell a fellow fan about Gamecocks Connection.
The post Gamecocks Connection: Let’s talk NIL appeared first on On3.
