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In the Portal Era, we are still witnessing Kentucky and Duke averaging 4 to 5 Five Star recruits per season (currently). It is abundantly clear that an assembly of elite high school talent has virtually no chance at having success in College right away, but I think the food for thought here is more so in the fact that these Universities still prioritize collecting the best talent.

This is no longer the One and Done Era. NIL has made it such that there is far more money to be made in College unless you are confirmed to be a Lottery Pick.

The fact of the matter is NIL is evolving at a rapid rate. The money these kids earn before going pro is unfathomable to most people. Social Media is also the biggest revenue stream at the end of the day. Some kids are earning upward $75,000 per post/tweet. I am posting the pay table in the link below. Student athletes only need to come close to these numbers over a 5 or potentially 6 year "College" career to have earned that level of money and the way NIL is trending, they will eclipse these numbers because Universities are becoming desperate to generate more income than the insane tuitions they already charge. Greed is at an all time high and the Economy may be a factor, but the term "recession or depression" doesn't apply to these situations. There is always money for what is prioritized.

There is no stopping this, but I think there should be an alternate solution because College is no longer the proper place for these young people. There is absolutely no point in having a "student" pull up to the parking garage in a Lambo just to walk over to English 101. It's a bad look for the school. It's a bad look for the students that are largely stuck on student loans. I think it is only a matter of time before there are incidents that occur on campus out of pure jealousy/rage or even worse - for social media clout. Talking smack to a 5* can make you go viral. 1 viral post on social media can earn a content creator well over $100,000.

We have already seen problems with Emoni Bates, Mikey Williams, and Brandon Miller. I'm not really talking about Elliott Pitts or Kim Aiken type of stuff. I'm more so talking about direct and blatant danger. Especially in the era of legalized gambling and Prop Betting for College games. Reminds me of the ASU scandal of the 90s with Stephen Headake Smith getting caught shaving points. People got hurt and worse, there were deaths associated with that case. I would not be shocked if some idiot kid took a crowbar to the knee of a high profile athlete on campus. Open college campuses are just not the right environment for what is going on in the financial landscape.

I personally think there should be another G League. Something that is for Highschool players only (9th Grade through 12th). Overtime Elite? I think that is one of the "junior professional" teams that basically plays vs the G League teams to get experience, but I think there is enough of a reason and use-case to create a league of maybe around 16 teams.

It should be run by Sports Agents and coaches should be like the XFL where they have "Wade Phillips/Bob Stoops" type guys of the Basketball world who are there to develop the talent and coach them in a Professional manner. There are many of the "Steve Lavin" "Jay Wright" type ex-coaches that are doing commentary/analysis in the studio just hanging around that might be interested.

Just a thought that came to mind as I was thinking about the type of money being thrown around lately and the schools that are going to benefit from it the most now that One and Done is not a high priority. Super teams are forming quietly. Trading talent around year to year in the portal for cash considerations isn't really good for the game.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2022/07/rookie-scale-salaries-for-2022-nba-first-round-picks.html

I don't think everyone will have the patience to read it, but you make a lot of good points. I do think there are potential dangers in all this that will be downplayed as "unforeseen" later on.