Big events! NIL investigations! Fanta news! It's all happening!

It's a relief we don't have to only focus on the transfer portal and NBA Draft for once

June 15, 2022

The direct contact recruiting period — when coaches can start to contact 2024 prospects — began at 12:01 am ET. Pretty sure it was mostly texts because any calls after midnight go straight to voicemail, right?

But that’s a focus for another day. We’ve got plenty to discuss, including the NCAA’s new NIL probe, more transfer news, Rob Dauster’s debut (!) in the Daily and a fun way to kick off the 2022-23 season.

Let’s get to the news.

STARTING FIVE

1. Play ball!

College basketball’s always needed a marquee event to open the season. Usually it’s the Champions Classic, but usually it’s a series of random non-conference games as fans await the holiday tournaments in late November.

Tuesday’s announcement of the “Brew City Battle” at American Family Field on Nov. 11 in Milwaukee isn’t quite the marquee event I wanted … because we need more of them!

Watching the Wisconsin and Stanford men and Wisconsin and Kansas State women play basketball on a baseball field is cool (San Diego and San Diego State first did this in 2015), but unless it’s unseasonably warm, the retractable roof will be closed, taking away some of the aesthetic appeal. It’ll still be a fun event, though.

Brew City Battle Rendering

Still, we need more. More like Gonzaga and Michigan State playing on an aircraft carrier on Nov. 11. Even if when they tried this a few years ago the court was too slippery (you know, because water.) But hey, the scenery was spectacular and the game featured two iconic programs (UNC and Michigan State). But let’s think bigger.

Let’s try the Champions Classic at one of these venues … maybe Venice Beach for the 30th anniversary of White Men Can’t Jump? Get Marques Johnson on the call/a guest spot in the game? The possibilities are endless for the right promotional group to kick the season off in style.

Bonus outdoor court image!

This is from “London Got Game” Tournament last weekend. Just don’t lose the ball in the river.

2. Phi Slamma Winna

Plenty of college hoops programs try to build a winning “culture,” meaning you find the right mix of players of various skill levels and goals, but all of whom prioritize winning. (It was a requirement to use it within 10 words of “Jay Wright” and “Villanova.”)

Houston has it.

Since Kelvin Sampson’s arrival in 2014, the Cougars have averaged 25 wins a season (and topped 30 in two of the last four), reached five straight NCAA Tournaments, won three AAC titles, and reached an Elite Eight and a Final Four. Heading into 2022-23, they’re a lock to be a Top 5 team, and they’ll probably stay there all season. So how do they do it?

This terrific article from CJ Moore at The Athletic details Sampson’s approach to team building, and why this team is viewed as a national title contender. But most interesting is how Houston — still another season away from regular national TV appearances as a Big 12 member — secured a commitment from Jarace Walker, a consensus Top 15 recruit. Sampson didn’t promise the moon, or sugarcoat things. Or, as Walker told Paper City Magazine: “They never told me a lie... He always kept it real with me. He always told me things. Even things I didn't want to hear.”

Honesty in recruiting. I guess when you have a program rolling like this, it sells itself.

3. NCAA gets serious with NIL deals

From the Department of No Surprise:

NCAA investigators reportedly spent at least two days in Miami, but Ruiz, as the tweet notes, isn’t worried.

“I think that the NCAA is starting to get a handle on the fact that it’s not capable of navigating within the [state] NIL laws and their own bylaws. There is an internal conflict,” he told SI.com.

“I felt the people from the NCAA were extremely pleasant. They are tasked with the job of making sure they gather enough information and create a functioning standard for everybody. There has to be better regulation.”

The NCAA lifted rules last summer in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling to allow athletes to earn compensation from their Name, Image and Likeness. Since then, there have been a raft of NIL deals, but none perhaps as notable as the one Nigel Pack signed with Ruiz’s company in the spring once he committed to attend Miami. Expect more news from the NCAA on the NIL investigative front.

4. The evolution of Man(ek) is … Pete Nance (obvs)

I don’t know how it took this long, but Pete Nance is expected to visit North Carolina this week (gas has gone up like $4 since rumors began). The Northwestern transfer averaged 14.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and hit 45% of his 3s last season, giving UNC fans dreams of a pop-and-play Brady Manek, the only starter the Heels lost from their Final Four squad.

In other transfer portal news:

5. Get ready for even more Fanta

Hope fans of The DTF podcast excuse me for making this the fifth headline, but they say you save the best for last.

Congrats, Fanta! (And don’t worry, there’s more to that tweet; he’ll still be working with The Field of 68.

THE NBA DRAFT

There shouldn’t be a second-round stigma

Today and Thursday: Rob Dauster examines why college players don’t mind staying the NBA Draft — even if they’re not a first-round lock.

When it comes to criticizing players for leaving school early, the lowest of the low-hanging fruit is the argument that anyone leaving school without being a first-round pick is taking too big of a risk. They are not getting guaranteed money so it’s foolish for them not to come back to school.

That couldn’t be further from the truth. Some numbers:

In the last four NBA Drafts, there have been 100 college basketball players selected in the second round.

  • 57 got at least one year guaranteed salary at the league minimum, which was $925,000 in 2021-22.

  • 38 got at least two years guaranteed (which was $2.4 million minimum salary for 2021 second rounders).

  • Of the 43 players that did not get guaranteed contracts, 34 got two-way deals (half the league-minimum, $462,500 last season, non-guaranteed).

It’s getting better if you’re in the top half of the second round. In the last two years, 20 of those 32 players got at least two years of guaranteed money. Among the Top 50 picks, nine more players got two-way deals. And only one (Marcus Zegarowski, No. 49 overall to the Nets), inked a G League deal; the rest were European players.

Put another way, if you know you’re going to end up being a Top 50 pick, pencil in a two-way salary, which is equivalent to some of the best NIL deals available.

Coming Thursday: What prompted these favorable player changes.

PREVIEWING THE NBA DRAFT

Jabari Smith, a sure-shot star

You’re the Orlando Magic. You have the No. 1 pick in next week’s draft. Your options: Paolo Banchero (the “safe” pick), Chet Holmgren (the most upside), or Jabari Smith (the best shooter).

Yes, that implies Smith is more limited than Banchero or Smith. Analysts worry about his ability to create off the dribble, but there’s much more to Smith’s game than some would have you believe. Rob Dauster and Randolph Childress explain.

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THE FAST BREAK

Links as you order your canned Jack and Coke.

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