On the NBA and NIL

As players continue to move through the NBA Draft process, how is NIL affecting how coaches build out their rosters? Plus, Matt Painter on NIL and Zach Edey's decision

Author

Mike Miller
May 24, 2023

Thank you, basketball gods. Not sure I could’ve taken more than a week of hype for the NBA Finals.

Let’s get to Tuesday’s college basketball news.

1. Matt Painter on Zach Edey’s possible return and NIL

Few teams will have their 2023-24 season impacted more by a single decision than Purdue.

Is Zach Edey returning to West Layfayette for his senior season?

The 7-4 center was the game’s most dominant force last season, averaging 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks as the national POY. He wrapped up his participation in the NBA Draft Combine last week and will spend much of this week talking with NBA teams about what might be in store next year.

There’s little doubt Edey has an NBA future. It’s just a matter of when.

Purdue coach Matt Painter recently termed Edey’s decision a “win-win situation” because of his options. Come back to school and Purdue’s a Top 5 team — maybe even No. 1 — and he’ll have a shot to repeat as POY and, of course, avenge a stunning NCAA Tournament loss. Go pro, and you start your professional career.

He expanded on that thought during an interview with Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster.

Painter also discussed the impact of NIL on Edey’s decision and how it can positively affect an outcome for a player.

“I really like Name, Image and Likeness in these scenarios,” Painter said. “Now he can handicap and gauge it, and say ‘OK, here’s where I’ll be if I go back to Purdue, here’s where I’ll probably be financially [if I go pro.]’”

Painter admits NIL isn’t perfect (he discusses the bidding wars within the transfer portal), but he knows it can be huge for someone like Edey.

“I do think, in this situation, that this is what it’s about. This is good for college basketball when you get to keep guys such as Zach Edey if this is what happens.”

2. Meechie Johnson back to South Carolina

South Carolina’s 2023-24 season didn’t have many highs. That’s not unusual for an SEC program with a new coach and not much tradition.

But the few highs the Gamecocks did experience usually stemmed from Meechie Johnson. Like when he dumped 26 on Kentucky in a Jan. 10 win. So this was a pleasant (and expected) sight for Lamont Paris on Tuesday.

Johnson, a 6-2 junior, was the Gamecocks’ second-leading scorer last season, averaging 12.7 ppg, while shooting 33 percent from deep. It was a solid debut in his first season after transferring from Ohio State. Now comes the hard part.

South Carolina finished 11-21 last season and was last in the SEC. it loses five players, including freshman GG Jackson, its leading scorer. It’s adding four players via the transfer portal (Ta’lon Cooper, Minnesota; Myles Stute, Vandy; Stephen Clark, The Citadel; BJ Mack, Wofford), and two incoming freshmen (4-star Collin Murray-Boyles and 3-star Arden Conyers), but all of them except Cooper are bigs, meaning Johnson’s experience will be essential to any kind of improvement.

In transfer portal news:

3. Recruiting life in 2023

It’s the offseason. Might as well stick with recruiting and NIL topics.

There’s a must-read article from Jamie Shaw over at On3.com that features quotes and insights from anonymous college hoops coaches about how they’ve had to adjust their approach to roster building now that the transfer portal and NIL have become so crucial — in many cases, even more so than adding freshmen.

One coach said he’s less likely to wait for players to develop, while another said he’s hopeful to retain seven or eight players each year. But there are no “sleepers” in the portal, meaning attracting talent is more important than ever. And you do that with NIL.

“I think the obvious change with recruiting in the portal is you must have NIL, even for the marginal players,” a coach in the SEC told On3. “A large percentage of why these kids are transferring is because they want more NIL, whether that is going from zero to something or going to a school that has more resources than their current situation.”

“You know you can’t win with freshmen, but you can’t afford a roster of good transfers,” a coach in the Big 12 said. “So you have to go out and find that sweet spot every year. Each cycle, you can only take two or three high school kids, but because they come cheaper, you have to take two or three. You just can’t take more than three of four transfers without breaking the bank.”

It’s more info to process, and certainly more work (downtime in March, April and May doesn’t exist anymore). How programs continue to adjust with additional staff (like a basketball GM) or with services (like Fast Model) will be the difference between deep runs in March and staying home.

Worthy of the hype

It took a few months, but Rick Pitino’s finally assembled enough talent at St. John’s to warrant inclusion in any preseason Top 25, argues Jeff Goodman. Is he right?

Links as you decide which Memorial Day party to attend:

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