Good article behind a pay wall, but some highlights:
“This isn’t a manufactured situation,” a Big 12 football assistant told On3. “I had a recruit this summer sit down in my office – and it was the first time we met in person – and within 30 seconds he and his family were asking what we can do for them from a NIL standpoint. It was pretty shocking.”
For the most part recruiters in both sports say it’s normally not the recruits that bring up NIL repeatedly or early in the process. Basketball coaches say they tend to deal more with AAU coaches or even players that have signed NIL representation agreements with agencies. On the football side, it’s a combination of everything.
“We’ve had some discussions with players and some with parents,” an ACC football coach told On3. “I’ve had some with high school coaches. I’ve had some with trainers. It’s more likely to come from adults just because of the general understanding of it.
“They also understand money more than kids do in general. In my experience, it’s being led by whoever their adult representative is.”
“I think it’s a turnoff,” the SEC coach said. “And that would be the same with the other fringe things that we do in recruiting. If a kid’s not asking about academics or asking about the offense you play – assuming they don’t know those things already and it’s early in the recruitment – it can be concerning.
“If they’re asking, ‘Hey, can I have a photoshoot?’ How about, ‘Hey, why don’t you sit down and learn about our offense first? Or maybe learn something about our school first.’”
A Pac-12 football recruiter with experience also in the Big 12 agreed.
“It’s a big red flag if NIL is all the recruit is talking about,” the Pac-12 coach said. “You have to wonder what the kid’s true priorities are. But if they went to three places before you and the first thing they jammed down their throat is NIL, of course, the first question they’re going to ask is about NIL because of what the last three schools said.
“It’s no different than if somebody is jamming NFL down their throat. It’s fresh in your brain. The first thing you’re going to ask to see is all the statues of NFL players. It’s the same thing with NIL.”
“This isn’t a manufactured situation,” a Big 12 football assistant told On3. “I had a recruit this summer sit down in my office – and it was the first time we met in person – and within 30 seconds he and his family were asking what we can do for them from a NIL standpoint. It was pretty shocking.”
For the most part recruiters in both sports say it’s normally not the recruits that bring up NIL repeatedly or early in the process. Basketball coaches say they tend to deal more with AAU coaches or even players that have signed NIL representation agreements with agencies. On the football side, it’s a combination of everything.
“We’ve had some discussions with players and some with parents,” an ACC football coach told On3. “I’ve had some with high school coaches. I’ve had some with trainers. It’s more likely to come from adults just because of the general understanding of it.
“They also understand money more than kids do in general. In my experience, it’s being led by whoever their adult representative is.”
“I think it’s a turnoff,” the SEC coach said. “And that would be the same with the other fringe things that we do in recruiting. If a kid’s not asking about academics or asking about the offense you play – assuming they don’t know those things already and it’s early in the recruitment – it can be concerning.
“If they’re asking, ‘Hey, can I have a photoshoot?’ How about, ‘Hey, why don’t you sit down and learn about our offense first? Or maybe learn something about our school first.’”
A Pac-12 football recruiter with experience also in the Big 12 agreed.
“It’s a big red flag if NIL is all the recruit is talking about,” the Pac-12 coach said. “You have to wonder what the kid’s true priorities are. But if they went to three places before you and the first thing they jammed down their throat is NIL, of course, the first question they’re going to ask is about NIL because of what the last three schools said.
“It’s no different than if somebody is jamming NFL down their throat. It’s fresh in your brain. The first thing you’re going to ask to see is all the statues of NFL players. It’s the same thing with NIL.”
