NIL and the Portal will kill wrestling

[oberebo]

A majority of my friends call me old school and an old buddy-duddy or less moderate names that I will not post on this board. The NIL and the. portal will allow Penn State, Iowa, Ohio State and 1 0r 2 others to totally dominate wrestling.I believe many marginal teams will just eliminate wrestling as they will not be able to compete. I actually detest the idea that we will have to pay wrestlers to come to Stillwater. I am rapidly losing my enthusiasm for the sport and I know many will say "well he is old and can not grasp new ideas" and that it is a young man's sport. Our fan base is older than most and time will change that and younger fans will be satisfied and enthused over what will become pro wrestling.
This may be my last post. I have been a fan of OK State wrestling since 1960 when I saw my first wrestling match which was bedlam.I think it is time for me to find other interests. I am not mad or embittered but only feeling a sense of loss. Many class posters on this board that I will miss. The new realities in wrestling I will not.

 

[osudog]

Nil opened the pandora Box only a few will be able to compete for titles and many will just be filler programs. I do think you will see some schools cut programs

 

[100TonsofOrangeFury]

A majority of my friends call me old school and an old buddy-duddy or less moderate names that I will not post on this board. The NIL and the. portal will allow Penn State, Iowa, Ohio State and 1 0r 2 others to totally dominate wrestling.I believe many marginal teams will just eliminate wrestling as they will not be able to compete. I actually detest the idea that we will have to pay wrestlers to come to Stillwater. I am rapidly losing my enthusiasm for the sport and I know many will say "well he is old and can not grasp new ideas" and that it is a young man's sport. Our fan base is older than most and time will change that and younger fans will be satisfied and enthused over what will become pro wrestling.
This may be my last post. I have been a fan of OK State wrestling since 1960 when I saw my first wrestling match which was bedlam.I think it is time for me to find other interests. I am not mad or embittered but only feeling a sense of loss. Many class posters on this board that I will miss. The new realities in wrestling I will not.

Well if this is it and you're not just having a moment, you made this board go for about 15 years and we're all in your debt.

 

[osu2082]

A majority of my friends call me old school and an old buddy-duddy or less moderate names that I will not post on this board. The NIL and the. portal will allow Penn State, Iowa, Ohio State and 1 0r 2 others to totally dominate wrestling.I believe many marginal teams will just eliminate wrestling as they will not be able to compete. I actually detest the idea that we will have to pay wrestlers to come to Stillwater. I am rapidly losing my enthusiasm for the sport and I know many will say "well he is old and can not grasp new ideas" and that it is a young man's sport. Our fan base is older than most and time will change that and younger fans will be satisfied and enthused over what will become pro wrestling.
This may be my last post. I have been a fan of OK State wrestling since 1960 when I saw my first wrestling match which was bedlam.I think it is time for me to find other interests. I am not mad or embittered but only feeling a sense of loss. Many class posters on this board that I will miss. The new realities in wrestling I will not.

I would wait to see how this all shakes out. OSU should be just fine in whatever comes of this mess.

Don’t lose hope just yet.

 

[driad]

I do believe people didn't watch the NCAA's because they knew who would win

 

[Mrgrapple]

I don't like the transfer portal or the NIL, But I love wrestling and neither will change that. I actually love freestyle the most. Former Cowboy and still a big fan always cheering for the Pokes and former Pokes. However if a hawkeye, sooner or lion is representing the USA I'm all for them.

 

[Cowboy Tommy]

Just like how the portal benefits Bama, Georgia, 0u in football it should be a MASSIVE MASSIVE benefit for us in wrestling except Coach Smith has basically refused to use it aside from Sammy Alvarez. We should be pulling in studs like how Iowa got Real Woods, Eierman etc, no reason we shouldn't be able to get a Shane Griffith to come here unless the kids these days just don't view us as a top program anymore

 

[biocowboy]

It will do this for most college sports.You either raise funds and pay up or hope to be mediocre at best.

 

[alex1fly]

eh. A select few teams have been dominating wrestling for decades. NIL and the portal will either reinforce this pattern, or it'll level the playing field by adding donors as a way to achieve success. For example a small program could pull in some hotshots because they have wealthy alumni and/or community support, and make a run at the title. Yes the PSU and Iowa crowd have momentum in this area but if your Northern Colorados or Fresno States offered big bucks to top guys then all of a sudden you have a new title competitor that wouldn't exist pre-NIL & portal. Not to discount anybody but this post probably wouldn't be here if OSU had been in on NIL and the portal several years ago.

 

[Okie_Pat]

We've had some down years starting before the NIL/Portal days. The development of that was just bad timing from where are program was at and is at. That and you have a coach who in a lot of ways is might be like Oberebo, who doesn't like the new changes and for good reasons. Being around a sport for decades the NIL/Portal is a massive change that's been even hard for me to get behind, its something that can be hard to adopt when you don't believe in it. But the truth is, it isn't going anywhere and the program desperately needs a fan base and coach who is willing to donate, rise money and adjust to the changes otherwise there isn't much reason to be hopeful. I do think its a little early to jump ship. We all know how much can change from one season to the next, but I think what we would all love to see is positive movement forward in terms of adapting to the new changes. I think there is a level of pride that has kind of been evaporated from the program the last few years and there is absolutely zero reasons why OSU shouldn't be aggressively making the changes to keep the program alive and thriving. Hopefully, that's something we will see and is right around the corner.

 

[ionel]

A majority of my friends call me old school and an old buddy-duddy or less moderate names that I will not post on this board. The NIL and the. portal will allow Penn State, Iowa, Ohio State and 1 0r 2 others to totally dominate wrestling.I believe many marginal teams will just eliminate wrestling as they will not be able to compete. I actually detest the idea that we will have to pay wrestlers to come to Stillwater. I am rapidly losing my enthusiasm for the sport and I know many will say "well he is old and can not grasp new ideas" and that it is a young man's sport. Our fan base is older than most and time will change that and younger fans will be satisfied and enthused over what will become pro wrestling.
This may be my last post. I have been a fan of OK State wrestling since 1960 when I saw my first wrestling match which was bedlam.I think it is time for me to find other interests. I am not mad or embittered but only feeling a sense of loss. Many class posters on this board that I will miss. The new realities in wrestling I will not.

Just like how the portal benefits Bama, Georgia, 0u in football it should be a MASSIVE MASSIVE benefit for us in wrestling except Coach Smith has basically refused to use it aside from Sammy Alvarez. We should be pulling in studs like how Iowa got Real Woods, Eierman etc, no reason we shouldn't be able to get a Shane Griffith to come here unless the kids these days just don't view us as a top program anymore

It's been reported one of the programs mention above by oberebo landed a top out of state wrestler for $500k over 5 years, the instate program had a chance to match but couldn't/didn't. Of course the $100K/yr is for a top high school wrestler, we know from one of the others mentioned above that a proven guaranteed finalist is much more expensive.

Think about how much harder it will be in Oklahoma to compete with significantly lower population and business numbers. Are there really folks out there ready to step up and fund a $30M facility and put together a $20M endowment to fund the $1M/yr needed for 10 wrestler's NIL and is that second part even legal?

Also, one has to really wonder about football, how is it possible that OU & TX spent ~$2.5M on recruiting and OSU only $0.5M? Is this a football issue or an AD issue?

 

[OSUMatFan]

Part of the problem on paying NIL on super star kids is they believe they are awesome and do not work for it. Texas has proven that in Football. The football recruits are treated like gods and believe it.

 

[JAY45]

That’s a good point and helps explain why nobody does less with more than Texas

 

[Wrassler17]

Anyone see this? Mineo says Iowa offered Truax $250K in NIL for 1 year.

Willie seemed to confirm it.

 

[DPJ]

Anyone see this? Mineo says Iowa offered Truax $250K in NIL for 1 year.

Willie seemed to confirm it.

Crazy times. Wonder how that plays out in the room, there's got to be a lot of animosity when guys who have been there for a few years see a new guy come in and get that much cash.

 

[Wrassler17]

Crazy times. Wonder how that plays out in the room, there's got to be a lot of animosity when guys who have been there for a few years see a new guy come in and get that much cash.

Maybe we'll start seeing camp holdouts, lol. Guys not showing up for August preseason workouts unless their contract demands are met.

 

[Okie_Pat]

It’s probably going to get a lot worse and more ridiculous. Seeing how there are very few regulations being implemented and no repercussions for programs recruiting guys to the portal for money incentives. It’s the Wild West.

 

[DPJ]

Maybe we'll start seeing camp holdouts, lol. Guys not showing up for August preseason workouts unless their contract demands are met.

To be honest that doesn't sound too far fetched anymore. I never thought things would get this crazy, a few more years of this and it could be like the NFL.

 

[Wrassler17]

To be honest that doesn't sound too far fetched anymore. I never thought things would get this crazy, a few more years of this and it could be like the NFL.

If wrestling is headed the way of the NFL, then I'm gonna need some good sound bites...

 

[Okie_Pat]

I love Branch for saying things like this. He's been very vocal about his displeasure with the NIL and Portal and is speaking up about concerning issues with recruiting violations when it comes to programs talking to guys on other teams. I believe in pro sports they call that "Tampering". Maybe its called that in college too idk. But in the NBA if a team is found guilty of Tampering there are big fines with the possibility of having to forfeit draft picks and not singing free agents.

But the big question is truly how much is a NCAA title worth these days? And how much money is a program going to generate from winning a title. If you spend $1,000,000 and get a championship are future ticket sales and donations really going to account for the amount spent to win one?

 

[Wrassler17]

I saw Branch said he told some opposing coaches that he knew they tampered with his guys. Hinted he might give names if they continue.

Will be interesting to see where this goes. If the #s are correct, Truax will make more than most head coaches. And maybe all post grad RTC athletes. So...

- If Truax gets $250K as a 3x 4th place finisher, what is someone like Starocci worth? A 3x champ with 2 years left.
- How would someone like Nolf feel training with Haines, knowing that Haines might make more $?
- What happens to RTC donations? RTCs were always about using freestyle to attract HS recruits, that's why you hardly see any greco & women. Do the contributions get diverted to NIL now?
- Does the $ affect partying? Will some guys be more disciplined now knowing a big payday is possible?

 

[Okie_Pat]

- Does the $ affect partying? Will some guys be more disciplined now knowing a big payday is possible?

What a great question. I think once you have been paid the money can be a big distraction. John Smith has even talked about this in his career. He said it was for him and forced himself to live off peanuts while he was competing. But it can also serve as motivation for some guys to earn it working their butts off. It can obviously work both ways. We have a good example with what happened to AJ. He got a big NIL deal with the WWE which I think happened after his freshman year and after that he started living by his own rules, being reckless and breaking the law.

 

[Wrassler17]

What a great question. I think once you have been paid the money can be a big distraction. John Smith has even talked about this in his career. He said it was for him and forced himself to live off peanuts while he was competing. But it can also serve as motivation for some guys to earn it working their butts off. It can obviously work both ways. We have a good example with what happened to AJ. He got a big NIL deal with the WWE which I think happened after his freshman year and after that he started living by his own rules, being reckless and breaking the law.

Yeah, it would be interesting to know how many of these are multi year deals and what's guaranteed. Guys could slack off, flame out, or even get injured.

The HS guys are an even bigger risk because they might never produce if they were overrated coming out. Maybe we'll see the Oakland A's draft strategy when they prioritized college guys (transfers) over HS guys.

 

[GantryZ]

. He got a big NIL deal with the WWE which I think happened after his freshman year and after that he started living by his own rules, being reckless and breaking the law.

Was it actually a big deal? Seemed like it was given to a bunch of male and female athletes across a variety of sports. The large majority of them won't even try to go into the WWE, so while I have no idea it's hard for me to believe it was for much money at all.

 

[osu2082]

Was it actually a big deal? Seemed like it was given to a bunch of male and female athletes across a variety of sports. The large majority of them won't even try to go into the WWE, so while I have no idea it's hard for me to believe it was for much money at all.

His deal was different. He has actually made several appearances at events.

 

[lawpoke87]

I’m a bit of a contrarian when it comes to collegiate wrestlers and NIL. Do I believe it’s good for the sport or competitive balance…no. Do I see athletes who unlike their counterparts in football and basketball will likely never earn large sums of money through their chosen sport…yes. Thus I have a some sensitivity to their desire to cash in on their years of training. To bank money most will never see again in their lives.

 

[Cordellhall83]

If you want to see dominance, we better hope that the IVY League schools never decide to get serious about sports. At the end of the day it is donors who support sports and I can guarantee you that most IVY school alumni have far superior wealth than most other schools. If they were to put that money to work.......

 

[Cali_Nittany]

eh. A select few teams have been dominating wrestling for decades. NIL and the portal will either reinforce this pattern, or it'll level the playing field by adding donors as a way to achieve success. For example a small program could pull in some hotshots because they have wealthy alumni and/or community support, and make a run at the title. Yes the PSU and Iowa crowd have momentum in this area but if your Northern Colorados or Fresno States offered big bucks to top guys then all of a sudden you have a new title competitor that wouldn't exist pre-NIL & portal. Not to discount anybody but this post probably wouldn't be here if OSU had been in on NIL and the portal several years ago.

Unfortunately, Fresno State's program is dead and will be very difficult to revive. Mixing strippers and recruiting only works for football.

 

[djb914]

If you want to see dominance, we better hope that the IVY League schools never decide to get serious about sports. At the end of the day it is donors who support sports and I can guarantee you that most IVY school alumni have far superior wealth than most other schools. If they were to put that money to work.......

Yeah, but to be considered to get in you need perfect or close to perfect SAT/ACT Scores, Even some with Perfect Scores get rejected, So basically you need off the Charts Brains (Example 160 plus IQ) and be a top notch Athlete, Some can do it, but it is rare, so They can have all the Wealth, but they also have to find the rare person who is pretty much a genius who also can produce at the Division 1 level, not easy to find, I Know Athletes have to be smart especially wrestling where its knowing your and your opponents strengths and weaknesses and knowing what to do in fractions of a second, but very few are Ivy League Smart

 

[pokes_fan00]

Penn State has now added Truax and now Nagao from Minnesota. Absolutely zero chance anyone beats them.

You are correct the portal has killed any competition in ncaa wrestling.

 

[okinburg1]

Penn State has now added Truax and now Nagao from Minnesota. Absolutely zero chance anyone beats them.

You are correct the portal has killed any competition in ncaa wrestling.

Don't forget Mesenbrink

 

[osudog]

They were going to win it without those 3 easily but now add those three and you are looking at the Matrix of wrestling. Unbeatable

 

[biocowboy]

I mean how many millions would OSU need even to get close to Iowa or particularly PSU at this point?

I think a big name young coach may be the quicker way to pull in recruits and transfers if you don’t have the millions to compete with NIL or portal.

 

[leecothran]

We already are pulling in recruits and transfers.

Everybody that isn't Penn State is struggling to develop and retain and all of it. They're operating at a different level.

That said it is absolutely unacceptable that we've finished outside the top 10 in 3 of the last 5 tournaments and things do need to get better at OSU. If you can't beat Penn State, at least come in second and turn these top recruits we've been bringing in to top 5 podium finishers. The talent is in the room to do that. Just need to be brought up to that level and have their potential unlocked wether that be through mindset coaching, better training partners, or a combination of those things.

Easiest thing is better training partners. I know it's being worked on.... Hopefully some news drops soon.

 

[Never Say Die]

We already are pulling in recruits and transfers.

Everybody that isn't Penn State is struggling to develop and retain and all of it. They're operating at a different level.

That said it is absolutely unacceptable that we've finished outside the top 10 in 3 of the last 5 tournaments and things do need to get better at OSU. If you can't beat Penn State, at least come in second and turn these top recruits we've been bringing in to top 5 podium finishers. The talent is in the room to do that. Just need to be brought up to that level and have their potential unlocked wether that be through mindset coaching, better training partners, or a combination of those things.

Easiest thing is better training partners. I know it's being worked on.... Hopefully some news drops

We already are pulling in recruits and transfers.

Everybody that isn't Penn State is struggling to develop and retain and all of it. They're operating at a different level.

That said it is absolutely unacceptable that we've finished outside the top 10 in 3 of the last 5 tournaments and things do need to get better at OSU. If you can't beat Penn State, at least come in second and turn these top recruits we've been bringing in to top 5 podium finishers. The talent is in the room to do that. Just need to be brought up to that level and have their potential unlocked wether that be through mindset coaching, better training partners, or a combination of those things.

Easiest thing is better training partners. I know it's being worked on.... Hopefully some news drops soon.

lots of roster turnover in wrestling right now for all teams. it hurts when starters leave let alone all american ones at that. The portal is killing college athletics.

 

[osu2082]

I mean how many millions would OSU need even to get close to Iowa or particularly PSU at this point?

I think a big name young coach may be the quicker way to pull in recruits and transfers if you don’t have the millions to compete with NIL or portal.

Not as much as you think. We have some money already in hand for RTC and NIL.

If we could get the greatest American wrestler to fully get behind it and put his face on it we would find ourselves in that ballpark quickly.

$500k a year fully supports three senior level wrestlers. An investment of the same into wresting specific NIL would make some noise as well.

 

[Never Say Die]

lots of roster turnover in wrestling right now for all teams. it hurts when starters leave let alone all american ones at that. The portal is killing college athletics.

Seth broke one of the ones this afternoon that i had heard was potentially entering the portal.

 

[chasepollard]

Not as much as you think. We have some money already in hand for RTC and NIL.

If we could get the greatest American wrestler to fully get behind it and put his face on it we would find ourselves in that ballpark quickly.

$500k a year fully supports three senior level wrestlers. An investment of the same into wresting specific NIL would make some noise as well.

It’s pretty much that simple?

 

[osu2082]

It’s pretty much that simple?

Yup.

 

[Cowboy Tommy]

Victor Voinovich entered the transfer portal today.....