Kellso said:

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I'm curious if the the term student athlete will still be used to describe the players or paid mercenaries.

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Probably employees?

He is playing it to some degree, obviously. We just aren't going to compete at an elite level with it like we are in football and baseball so it's hard to guess where exactly we fall.

Does anybody actually know rough ball park what our NIL budget is, or is this just message board speculation what it is?

If guys like Wade, Garcia, Manny, Solo are not hitting the portal, we are obviously paying something to keep them as guys of that quality are going to get offers from other schools.


So are we $3 million and other schools $5 million? are we $4 million? $2 million? If I see somebody publish 'X school raised Y dollars for basketball NIL!!!' Then what number am I supposed to use on A&M's side to monetarily compare against to form an opinion?

Rocinante said:

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Kellso said:

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I'm curious if the the term student athlete will still be used to describe the players or paid mercenaries.

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Is the word "student" or the word "athlete " incompatible with getting paid?

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Touche....and good point.

I don't have a problem with kids getting paid, but what I'm really referring to are players like the blonde chick at LSU that just transferred to TCU after she was at Louisville the past 3 years.
The old days are a player staying at the same school for 3 or 4 years.

I'm not sure if you can call these athletes amateurs anymore.

I don't think it's a requirement to disclose NIL program amounts just yet, but I'm sure that will change.

greg.w.h said:

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Kellso said:

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I'm curious if the the term student athlete will still be used to describe the players or paid mercenaries.

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Aggies.

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Our Olympics team is called U.S.A. and all but wrestling is professionalized…

Yeah do people think Buzz is turning down NIL money.

If you want to knock him on NIL it's not that he doesn't want to use it. Maybe you can knock him on he doesn't ask for the money enough. I don't know if he is doing that to big boosters or not, he just isn't making statements in press conferences we need more money. But I haven't seen Elko openly asking for NIL money either, but it's probably done in rooms in front of the big time money folks.

I think after the IRS clarification warning NIL payments likely were taxable that led to the closing of the 12th Man+ fund ( https://www.alston.com/en/insights/publications/2023/10/the-irss-latest-play-on-nil-collectives ), Texas A&M has exercised an abundance of caution to avoid potential civil, legal, and tax liability.

If that is why the coaches don't mention it at all, I would guess they are avoiding nexus between the collective and university staff. Which means someone else likely does the sales pitch…

MarcAg said:

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Know Your Enemy said:

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Maybe I'm wrong but I get the feeling that if Buzz wanted to play the NIL game like everyone else that we could come up with a good amount for him. Not on the UK level but we would compete with a lot of schools.

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Can we stop with the ridiculousness already. People got to stop with the Buzz doesn't want to use NIL bull***** Wade Taylor also isn't changing tires during practice.

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Agree with this. No information just speculation that gets repeated. We are to believe that someone as invested in the players and their well being as Buzz is doesn't want his guys to get any money?

MarcAg said:

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Know Your Enemy said:

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Maybe I'm wrong but I get the feeling that if Buzz wanted to play the NIL game like everyone else that we could come up with a good amount for him. Not on the UK level but we would compete with a lot of schools.

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Can we stop with the ridiculousness already. People got to stop with the Buzz doesn't want to use NIL bull***** Wade Taylor also isn't changing tires during practice.

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That's not really what I meant, but OK. My point was that I don't believe Buzz is willing to recruiting a kid who asks for money up front. That wouldn't fit his "our kinda guy" mantra. Of course Wade is going to earn NIL money because he's damn good and very marketable.

That's how I run my business too. Only recruit guys who don't want money. I get lots of high performers and we have a great corporate culture.

I took a pay cut every time I ever changed jobs because I was looking for the opportunity for advancement, not just a raise.

Know Your Enemy said:

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MarcAg said:

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Know Your Enemy said:

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Maybe I'm wrong but I get the feeling that if Buzz wanted to play the NIL game like everyone else that we could come up with a good amount for him. Not on the UK level but we would compete with a lot of schools.

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Can we stop with the ridiculousness already. People got to stop with the Buzz doesn't want to use NIL bull***** Wade Taylor also isn't changing tires during practice.

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That's not really what I meant, but OK. My point was that I don't believe Buzz is willing to recruiting a kid who asks for money up front. That wouldn't fit his "our kinda guy" mantra. Of course Wade is going to earn NIL money because he's damn good and very marketable.

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I think Buzz is smart enough to know it's part of the process for every kid now. I think maybe 2 years ago it was hard to understand for most coaches. But I think now they have accepted this is the way it is.

MarcAg said:

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Know Your Enemy said:

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MarcAg said:

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Know Your Enemy said:

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Maybe I'm wrong but I get the feeling that if Buzz wanted to play the NIL game like everyone else that we could come up with a good amount for him. Not on the UK level but we would compete with a lot of schools.

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Can we stop with the ridiculousness already. People got to stop with the Buzz doesn't want to use NIL bull***** Wade Taylor also isn't changing tires during practice.

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That's not really what I meant, but OK. My point was that I don't believe Buzz is willing to recruiting a kid who asks for money up front. That wouldn't fit his "our kinda guy" mantra. Of course Wade is going to earn NIL money because he's damn good and very marketable.

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I think Buzz is smart enough to know it's part of the process for every kid now. I think maybe 2 years ago it was hard to understand for most coaches. But I think now they have accepted this is the way it is.

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If I'm wrong, then I'm glad I'm wrong. But there has to be a reason why we aren't able to attract a higher level of recruits, right? Surely there have to be players that fit his mold while also being able to shoot but we can't ever seem to get any of them.

USA stands for United States of America, what does that have to do with NIL?

rgleml said:

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USA stands for United States of America, what does that have to do with NIL?

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Olympics have allowed NIL-style representation deals for years. And now every sport but wrestling is professionalized meaning amateurs and professionals compete together.

Shamateurism is a populist endeavor that is preferred by elitists and benefits the patrons over the participants.