Long Beach State Athletics!: Re: yikes!!

You and I sir on are obviously on opposite ends of the spectrum.

A school like Long Beach needs to think in terms of time horizons and then act accordingly. Without any sort of solid/active/impactful NIL organization in place with a big money booster or four, pouring money into the coffers, LB simply doesn't have an NIL program that makes ANY sort of difference. hell, kids leave SDSU to go to Kentucky... yes the same SDSU that made it to the Championship game two years ago that plays in front of 18k fans and that has a coach and staff that develops players.. why? ONLY for the NIL $$$.

Let's play out your scenario.. LB goes the HS route... and a few of those kids do well during their 1st year. You realize that kids have agents right? and agents shop kids DURING the season right? You also realize that opponents ALSO shop for kids during the season right? Danny Hurley was on TV (UCONN Coach) on Sat and said he fully expects 60% of his roster to turn over in the off-season ONLY because of NIL opportunities from other schools. That's Danny Hurley one of the BEST college coaches in the game and a NC coach that sends many players to the league on a constant basis.

Like it or not, College athletes are nothing more than 7 month rentals. They are free to come and go whenever they want. Players that are any good chase NIL $$, and are chased by NIL $$ as soon as they can. Need proof? CFB in 2024 had QB starters that had transferred more than 2x in four seasons in search of PT and NIL $$$ (Cam Ward, Dillon Gabriel, WillHoward, Riley Leonard, etc.) all at top 10 programs. If it's happening at THOSE schools by certain it's happening at lower tier programs. CBB is no different. Duke's starting PF is a 5th year senior from a diff school.

NIL $$ are the #1 and #2 factors in a half way decent players decision process of where to play. I'd say that #3 is PT.

THIS is why I wrote that the literally the ONLY card that LB can play (unfortunately so can many others) is the PT card. To sweeten the offer? you have to limit or reduce competition thereby doubling down your commitment to that kid. Does this suck? is this completely against tradition? yep, absolutely! But if want to WIN, you have to think out of the box in this new world order.

Perhaps LB can offer more than say a North Texas or a Central Michigan or a Wofford, simply due to weather, location, perhaps education (depending on major)... but to expect kids to come and stay at LB for education and to be developed is just wishing for the good ol days which unfortunately have come and gone and never to return.

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there is so much on this

I do not think there is a set formula

actually, getting the right HS kids is a path, because you may keep them for 2 years. and now HS kids know they are going to places where there are already grads and 4th years coming in, they may want to play.

simply can't box in coach (or they box themselves in ) with depending on 4th and grads, especially since everybody is chasing everybody

you DO have to develop good community members

no good coach has EVER guaranteed playing time

a coach that sticks to their guns will be a coach kids want to play for.

a coach needs a wide net of relationships now more than ever to deal with the turnover. frankly, have no idea how a coach can even begin to deal with that, especially assistants who let's face it over time (not just last few years) have increasingly been hired not for coaching but for their connections/recruiting ability

I think the simple answer though is LB does in fact need to develop some level of NIL, I'll say $100k a year, something to offer a few players. in five years it needs to be about $250k.

it's almost impossible to coach now. players coming to Long Beach are 'trying out' in their minds for NIL. before they might have been more focused on the team. it was bad enough, now downright horrible to manage a team

I think Long Beach has to offer the 'anti-NIL' Experience.

Get kids who might be committed to 2-3 years, with studies, with a culture of a student-athlete.

Acker has a lot to figure out to live in this world. IMO, they did play hard to the end, that's a plus.

Beach / Acker has to figure out a student-athlete experience, where players want to stay maybe if for just one more year, and do get some level of money.

and yes, has to get some 4 year and grads, who nobody wants and out to prove something or experience some

one can't predict a roster, some years it might be 6 deep, some it might be 11. have to recruit for depth no matter what. definitely have to maybe try for some players that might only be pure shooters and/or single role type players.

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Ok ladies and gents... we all understand by now that every college athletic department has had to have a hard operational re-set over the past 2-4 years due to the new rules of the world with TP and NIL policies. And weirdly this has nothing to do with D1, D2 or D3 categories but everything to do with NIL budgets.

That being said, it seems as if there are basically three buckets of programs in this new world order..

1. Programs with $0-$1mm NIL budgets
2. $1mm - $5mm
3. $10mm +++

Obviously, the Long Beach's, Fullerton's, San Bernardino's.. and most other schools that struggle fall into the #3 slot.

Schools like SDSU, fall into the 2nd category and of course P5 conference schools fall into the 1st.

So HOW do the LB's of the world compete in this new world order? While it's not simple, it can happen.. my thoughts

1. Accept the fact that in D1 basketball, unless you're an established coach with a proven history of winning that your roster will have literally 70% or more turnover per year.

2. Don't forget that you are paid to win, NOT to develop players, NOT to develop good community members, NOT to develop great students, etc.. development takes time and that's one commodity you simply don't the luxury of having.

3. It doesn't matter where a player currently is located because he is free to leave within a few months so you much constantly be recruiting for your next starting 5.

4. Since you literally can't offer an NIL package of more than $50k to your BEST player and $0 to your worst, playing time, playing style and exposure are literally your ONLY cards to play with recruits.

Taking those new operational rules into question.. how to formulate a team? My .02 if I was the LB HC

1. Focus exclusively on 4th year kids and grad transfers. At least this way I understand these guys want to play and to play now.

2. FORGET about HS kids that want NIL $$..

3. Here's the biggie... My roster would only be 7-8 deep with literally guaranteed PT. The other players would be walk-ons. Yes this is a huge risk but if ya want PT, you've got PT.

4. Since we don't have NIL $$, you've got to bring something else.. a network of recruiters, a "life AFTER" support program of alumni that will work with these kids.

Thoughts?