Goodbye Baraka Okojie

[GunstonsGhost]

Have to recruit out of the DMV like Coach Skinn said early on. These guys outside the area are just here for whatever they can milk the system for. The local guys are playing for something more. You don't see Maddox or Billups entering the portal.

 

[gmujim92]

Have to recruit out of the DMV like Coach Skinn said early on. These guys outside the area are just here for whatever they can milk the system for. The local guys are playing for something more. You don't see Maddox or Billups entering the portal.

They’re also seniors and probably don’t want to change schools again with just one year left.

The reality for schools like Mason is going forward there will be less recruiting of HS players because there’s really not much upside to it — if a guy blows up right away he’s gonna get in the portal and we probably won’t be able to match the $, and if a guy struggles he’s probably gonna leave to find somewhere he can get playing time.

Plus, why go to the expense of recruiting and developing young players only to serve as a farm system for the P5s?

It sucks from the standpoint of building a sustainable program, but recruiting is now a year to year thing. Any rotation players who decide not to get in the portal every spring will be a bonus.

 

[GMU1983]

I trust Tony...but down on Okojie. I will be rooting against him at his new school. Ronnie and Malik have my respect along with Dinkins!

 

[GSII]

They’re also seniors and probably don’t want to change schools again with just one year left.

The reality for schools like Mason is going forward there will be less recruiting of HS players because there’s really not much upside to it — if a guy blows up right away he’s gonna get in the portal and we probably won’t be able to match the $, and if a guy struggles he’s probably gonna leave to find somewhere he can get playing time.

Plus, why go to the expense of recruiting and developing young players only to serve as a farm system for the P5s?

It sucks from the standpoint of building a sustainable program, but recruiting is now a year to year thing. Any rotation players who decide not to get in the portal every spring will be a bonus.

It also sucks bc we are gonna have a society of spoiled little bitches that once adversity hits, they run. Main reason I hate the portal potty.

 

[gmujim92]

It also sucks bc we are gonna have a society of spoiled little bitches that once adversity hits, they run. Main reason I hate the portal potty.

We already have that lol

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

And if you win the powerball for a bil, you are better off just buying an island and sailing off into the sunset. What Billionaire wants to stick around the DMV?

Billionaire City: The Forbes 400 List Has a Bunch of DC People

The list of the richest Americans includes a number with local ties.

www.washingtonian.com

 

[psyclone]

The portal giveth and the portal taketh away.

 

[gmujim92]

Does Siena have a point guard we can just take?

We got Jared Billups and Giovanni Emejuru from them already

Norfolk State’s Jamarii Thomas is the one I want. The fact that he already has proven he knows how to beat vcu in Richmond is a major bonus.

 

[Jack Strop]

Sec and Big 10 can't leave the NCAA soon enough. The sooner they leave the better off everyone is. Let everyone else go back to playing under the NCAA or whatever they reorganize to. Put in 1 time transfer rules. The NCAA being so corrupt for so many years, of course the Supreme court isn't going to validate their actions. It's time for the 2 power conferences to just break away and let everyone else go back to some sort of normal under a reorg.

It may not be long before the NBA sees college basketball (as well as the NFL when it comes to football) as a threat rather than a development or farm system. Currently, the NCAA gets a big chunk of the overall revenue pie. The NBA may have to alter its business model to compete with colleges who pay players handsomely and reap mega-dollars from broadcast rights.

The current atmosphere is quite litigious and is leaning towards players (or labor, if you will). Some young player may sue the NBA to have age restrictions removed, placing the NBA and the NCAA, (or a future BIG/SEC/BIG12 conglomerate) in direct competition with each other. Some college players may like playing for their "school" and sue to stay and play for as long as they can, thus eliminating the five-year eligibility cap. Seems reasonable to me—it's now a jungle out there.

If I were an NBA or NFL commissioner or owner, I'd be nervously looking over my shoulder right now. The courts are making some radical and deconstructive decisions to free up college players' rights to freedom of movement. Congress has shown little appetite to step in and offer national athletics legislation or anti-trust exemptions. The system is breaking down, but who involved wants to give up their bags of money? There might be a war a'brewing here toward which there may be a point of no return.

What does that mean for us???
S U C K S !

 

[mkaufman1]

I trust Tony...but down on Okojie. I will be rooting against him at his new school. Ronnie and Malik have my respect along with Dinkins!

lol if you knew the story with dinkins he’d definitely not have your respect.

 

[gmujim92]

lol if you knew the story with dinkins he’d definitely not have your respect.

Most definitely not lol

 

[GMU1983]

Oh sorry no clue on Dinkens just thought he wasn’t good enough…

 

[jruby]

It may not be long before the NBA sees college basketball (as well as the NFL when it comes to football) as a threat rather than a development or farm system. Currently, the NCAA gets a big chunk of the overall revenue pie. The NBA may have to alter its business model to compete with colleges who pay players handsomely and reap mega-dollars from broadcast rights.

The current atmosphere is quite litigious and is leaning towards players (or labor, if you will). Some young player may sue the NBA to have age restrictions removed, placing the NBA and the NCAA, (or a future BIG/SEC/BIG12 conglomerate) in direct competition with each other. Some college players may like playing for their "school" and sue to stay and play for as long as they can, thus eliminating the five-year eligibility cap. Seems reasonable to me—it's now a jungle out there.

If I were an NBA or NFL commissioner or owner, I'd be nervously looking over my shoulder right now. The courts are making some radical and deconstructive decisions to free up college players' rights to freedom of movement. Congress has shown little appetite to step in and offer national athletics legislation or anti-trust exemptions. The system is breaking down, but who involved wants to give up their bags of money? There might be a war a'brewing here toward which there may be a point of no return.

What does that mean for us???
S U C K S !

That’s a new one but a very valid point. The ncaa has zero credibility so I don’t really blame any of the decisions being made by courts but it sucks. They are so corrupt it was bound to happen. Maybe instead of big 10 and sec leaving the ncaa everyone else needs to leave…. They have never had anyone but those 2 conferences best interest at heart.

 

[dr. gunnie]

Damnit. Back to square one. I said it once and I'll say it again, in this new era, teams have to find ways to encourage players (or find the ones who want to) to stick around for things other than money (although I strongly suspect that $$$ is not the case for Okie). Good luck Baraka!

Your suspicion would be wrong about Baraka. This was very much about money. He/his family wanted a large pay raise.

 

[Jack Strop]

Your suspicion would be wrong about Baraka. This was very much about money. He/his family wanted a large pay raise.

Welp... can't say I know the story—thanks for setting me straight. Perhaps we should lift the taboo here about exposing players' nefariousness. Not saying Okie is either. Not saying Hall is either. Just saying it would be good to know. NIL is making EVERYONE selfish.

 

[KAOriginal]

I guess I'm at the point where if this is a business then these kids need to learn that businesses treat you differently than institutions of higher learning. There is no coddling in the business world. Sure you can leave whenever you want, but it cuts both ways. You perform or you're gone. Noone cares if you're having a bad day or your girlfriend dumped you. Also, when you leave, there's no ill will, but don't expect flowers and kind wishes on your way out the door.

I'm down with this.."Student athlete" is a thing of the past.

No scholarship. Or maybe...you pay your own dorm and meal plan. Coach doesn't think you fit, you can be told got the portal you aren't saying here. Injury...too bad...we will see if you can still make it or not. Need to make grades? Hit the books...no tutors or advisors.

Want to be paid professionals? Then you have to accept all that comes with it...

 

[illayin]

ugh... after the KH rumors i told people that if Baraka transfers i'm not renewing my season tickets... unless we have some insane class coming in, i'm staying true to that. it feels soulless at this point.

i stopped being a fan of amari kelly after he kicked a guy in the head... i stopped being a fan of keyshawn after the rumors started swirling. that's the reality of the situation. these guys are a name on paper to us. they have to do a ton to ingratiate us and our commitment to them is paper thin for good reason. it's sad both ways.

 

[Where's the party?]

Very sorry to hear about Okojie leaving. Thought he was going to be a big piece of the rebuild. And I agree with the bitter sentiment about the direction that college basketball (well, all college sports), is heading. Can't see how this can work long term and we are probably watching the beginning of the death spiral of college sports. Consider this, one day we could see HS and colleges drop sports and just teach. All sports will be run as professional leagues starting at age 13. Instead of only being able to choose between a classic education, and a trade school as kids do now, there will be a third option - pro sports (assuming you are good enough at 13).

Of course this is tongue in cheek stuff, but what benefit are sports going to be to schools that can't afford NIL in the future?

 

[TweederGMU]

VT has a horrible fan base, and I doubt their NIL fund is very high and it's exactly why they are losing players. They are notorious for not selling out bowl games etc etc. It's as fair weather fan base as it gets but yes they are bottom tier power 5 but yet still higher than Mason. So yes Mason can't compete.

However NIL isn't a thing here, given he's Canadian. He's not good enough to start at top tier ACC, Big 12 or Big 10 teams. Those teams have 5 star pg's or the best of the best transferes. Feels odd, should have waited a year until he gets a 3 point shot. Then he could play wherever he wanted.

Slow your role here, you may not like VT but make sure you do research when trying to bash something you may think you know but really have no clue about.

VT is ranked 30th in the country in the Collective NIL "rankings." https://nil-ncaa.com
and have a very strong NIL base that continues to grow and grow. More info here: https://hokiesports.com/news/2023/6...nil-collective-named-to-prestigious-list.aspx

They pulled in over $25 million in donations in just this past year that concluded in April for certain sports designations. Trust me, I get the VT Athletics thank you letters and progress trackers in the mail once a quarter. Bottom tier of P5... Nope... the stats are there to back it up. Bottom tier Power 5 would be Boston College.

As for the VT fan base... they have one of the most loyal fan bases in the country that travel for all sports very well. They had down years in football recently but they continue to sellout games and fans travel for away games and certainly bowl games...and other sporting events in general. 35K fans attended the Military Bowl this year in a stadium that has capacity of 34,000. 32,000 of those fans were VT. I was there.... in the pouring cold rain. Womens basketball recruits have publicly said in interviews one of the reasons they come to VT is because they want to play in front of sold out home crowds. Same with VT Wrestling.

Fair weather ACC fans... nah man....you may be thinking of GT or Pittsburgh but not VT. Biggest and loyal fan base in VA.

They/VT are losing players because A. They want to win and want to join a team who consistently makes the NCAA tournament B. Want more money and/or playing time, VT has limits on what they spend for basketball. Their PG Pedulla is in the portal and said he would come back if they meet his price. C. Or want more playing time / be focus of the offense - as MJ Collins told reporters/interviewers on why he is transferring out. You can pretty much apply this formula to every P5 men's basketball team. UNC can't even keep guys.... Trimble and Love transferred, or are transferring.

It happens... its the new landscape of college bball.

Okojie can certainly join a ACC or Big 10 team, he has the quickness, work ethic/hustle and abilities to play P5. Coaches can develop a 3 point shot for him... they ain't worried about that.

 

[FlPatriot]

Your suspicion would be wrong about Baraka. This was very much about money. He/his family wanted a large pay raise.

Isn’t this going to be the case for most of these kids…it’s the case for most adults. Don’t like where any of this is headed. Guess I’ll stick to playing golf.