Heard from a reasonably solid source that investor types are talking to ADs about structuring some sort of “contribution” (ie, investment) that garners a percentage of the school’s NCAA men’s tourney payout (perhaps women’s, too).

I assume the idea is to bolster the school’s NIL budget in order to attract talent, win more games, etc.

I have no idea if it’s permissible, or what happens if a team doesn’t make the tourney, but when there’s money to be made….

Do they still have a spring LOI window sor signing HS seniors?... or is it now only in November?... and if still in April, when is it?... and who among men's & women's are hoped for or p[otential signees?

Drake Nugent mentioned. Behind paywall but accessible to NYT subscribers.

Thesis: For some, NIL payments are effectively scholarships that don't count as scholarships.

https://theathletic.com/5424013/202...ign=5888993&source=dailyemail&userId=11088053

Read and watch that here.

2025 3-star cornerback Lonnie McAllister out of Gonzaga College High School has committed to Stanford. Visited in January for an Elite Day and then earlier this month for a second visit. I put in a FutureCast earlier today to help signal what was coming. I’ll drop my article in here when I get it posted.

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Read that here.

to advance to the regional final. Not likely to get past the regional although UCLA faltered and did not get to the regional final.

2 teams advance to the final from their bracket. #3 seed Cal first in the group. Stanford second with a score much higher than their season average.

I’ve landed at Sunken Diamond. 5-1 lead for Oregon over Stanford. Bottom of the 4th.

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Stanford men are about to win the Natty! Massive lead with one event to go.

Stanford qualifies for the final, of course. That will be tomorrow. Today's scores were poor. Especially on floor and rings. I could not watch the meet because I am working. Hope the guys get it together tomorrow.

I'm ready for the 2024 season!

Andrew speaking now.

Read that here.

Former Stanford baseball standout Dave McCarty passed away of cardiac arrest. Really sad news. He meant a lot to the Stanford program and community.

ACC #1, even with Stanford still in PAC12.

So, relevant to the discussion of Ben covering nonrevenue sports, I'd like to see more.

Read that here.

Says the critical turning point was 1992. Perhaps.

In one of the threads on NIL, last week I posted that the next frontier of cheating in college sports would be universities finding a way to get media rights money into NIL collectives. Well, now in Virginia, it's not even going to be considered cheating:

BLUF: Virginia passed a law that goes into effect on July 1, prohibiting the NCAA from sanctioning any school in Virginia that pays athletes directly for NIL compensation.

The law says schools can't pay athletes for playing for them, but can pay them for any use of their NIL in marketing initiatives. Of course, all this does is make sure the talent aren't compensated as employees, so schools don't have to pay payroll taxes.

Now the question becomes what is the distinction between NIL collectives and schools themselves, and how do they work together in Virginia? And is a collective even needed if the schools can directly compensate? Whatever the case, the story suggests Virginia did this because it probably knows other states will follow suit, and this whole situation is going to force some sort of uniform standards and dare I say, rules, for compensating professional college athletes and their movement in the market.

It's certainly relevant for Stanford and Cal as they are moving to the ACC, and probably compete against Virginia for athletes.

Out of 12 on the roster, 7 in the portal, 1 graduating, 2 declaring for the draft. The NCAA graduation stats are going to become irrelevant in revenue sports.

Per Rocco Miller, Stanford’s opener for the Kyle Smith era will be on Tuesday, November 5th against Denver. The Pioneers coached by former Stanford assistant Jeff Wulbrun.

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Kate Paye has officially been announced as the next head coach for Stanford women’s basketball. Presser is tomorrow at 3:30 PM PT. Team release is here.

The WNBA Draft is tomorrow (Monday, April 15) at 4:30 PM PT on ESPN. Cameron Brink is expected to be a top three pick. Most mocks I’ve seen have her going 2nd behind Caitlin Clark. I’ll add my write up in here after Brink gets picked, but just wanted to start the thread now as a reminder to you all and myself! 😊

Cancer is out of remission and he is back in chemo. Terrible news and I hope Stanford has oncologists that can help


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Jimmy Wyrick has entered the transfer portal.

This is a surprise. I’ll see if I can get some of the backstory to this. He was supposed to be healthy.

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6'10 with a 4.0 GPA, from the Sacramento area (Roseville). Late bloomer who averaged 19/11/3 as a senior and was offered by/committed to Smith at Wazzu less than a month ago.

Stanford football and basketball success in the past has been driven by large contributions from 4th and 5th year seniors. With athletes entering early in the spring or summer, many athletes can graduate in three years. In this transfer portal world, Stanford has below average attrition of non-grad transfers as the appeal of the degree is big. Once the degree is in hand, the allure of the transfer portal and NIL is large. (as evidenced by Kiki and Wyrick in the last week). Would either of them be in a position to transfer out with a degree at this point without summer school credits? Would we be better off for the athletes to be training all summer without taking classes so they can get the full four year Stanford experience?