Class of 2026 - 2025-26 Portal | Page 12 | Syracusefan.com

Class of 2026 2025-26 Portal

Orangezoo said:
Donnie wants the big pay day but Sadiq has the higher value. Donnie, the way he plays, needs to add 25 lbs and a low post game. His footspeed is below average, he plays a little above the rim but not much and is not quick getting his shot off from outside. Add that to the injury history and his NIL ask is off the reservation unless 60 pct of that is incentive driven.
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Cannot be incentive driven.
 
Orangezoo said:
Donnie wants the big pay day but Sadiq has the higher value. Donnie, the way he plays, needs to add 25 lbs and a low post game. His footspeed is below average, he plays a little above the rim but not much and is not quick getting his shot off from outside. Add that to the injury history and his NIL ask is off the reservation unless 60 pct of that is incentive driven.
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yes
 
OttoinGrotto said:
Cannot be incentive driven.
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Not directly- but the player needs to understand if they want to max out and add other deals that will come with success and other interested business leaders offering deals. The genesis of it is that you cannot pay Donnie anything north of 1.5 given the baggage and what we know out of the gate.

I should have been more specific. An example is a kid that plays at JMU whose father I work and when talking hoops and NIL part of the package was around earning potential and those opportunities opening up if things went well. This versus NIL commitments that never pan out because the money isn’t there.
 
Loyalties: loyalty to a school, loyalty to a coach, loyalty to a team or loyalty to money. What drives a player now days to return for another season?

The loyalty to a coach or to a team does not come into play when a coach is fired and when a team changes its face every portal period. Loyalty to a school is now questionable due to NIL.

That leaves loyalty to money. You pay me what I want and I will stay and play for you.

I believe that is what will be the determining factor for Donnie Freeman and Sadiq White. Pay them what they want and they will stay. There is no longer an interest in a coach’s vision or the academic benefits that a school can offer. Don’t mean to be jaded but it is now about show me the money.
 
50YRsofCuse said:
Loyalties: loyalty to a school, loyalty to a coach, loyalty to a team or loyalty to money. What drives a player now days to return for another season?

The loyalty to a coach or to a team does not come into play when a coach is fired and when a team changes its face every portal period. Loyalty to a school is now questionable due to NIL.

That leaves loyalty to money. You pay me what I want and I will stay and play for you.

I believe that is what will be the determining factor for Donnie Freeman and Sadiq White. Pay them what they want and they will stay. There is no longer an interest in a coach’s vision or the academic benefits that a school can offer. Don’t mean to be jaded but it is now about show me the money.
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100%. It’s pretty black and white, no shades of grey. I may like college x but college y offers me twice as much, what would you do????
 
Orangezoo said:
Not directly- but the player needs to understand if they want to max out and add other deals that will come with success and other interested business leaders offering deals. The genesis of it is that you cannot pay Donnie anything north of 1.5 given the baggage and what we know out of the gate.

I should have been more specific. An example is a kid that plays at JMU whose father I work and when talking hoops and NIL part of the package was around earning potential and those opportunities opening up if things went well. This versus NIL commitments that never pan out because the money isn’t there.
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If it ain't in the contract, on paper, it ain't real.
 
It was reported by a few insiders that White , who is from the south had some challenges acclimating to Syracuse winters. Not sure if that was an ongoing issue or not. It could in this specific situation be a factor.
 
OttoinGrotto said:
Cannot be incentive driven.
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Why? Edit: A company could easily include language around the program and create tiers in the contract tying number of games played to incremental benefits for the company and therefore incremental benefits to the player.
 
Cusefan69 said:
Why? Edit: A company could easily include language around the program and create tiers in the contract tying number of games played to incremental benefits for the company and therefore incremental benefits to the player.
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This is 100% illegal for college sports. The agreement is guaranteed to be rejected by the clearinghouse.
 
OttoinGrotto said:
If it ain't in the contract, on paper, it ain't real.
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Sure - but if you are Donnie and want it in the contract- it ain’t happening. Hence the slimy workarounds that, real or not, are very much part of this game. Only sharing what I’ve been told…
 
Cusefan0307 said:
The thing with Freeman is it was always going to be a he or White would stay. Not both. And I thought we were higher on White than Freeman at this point. I don't care if we have 12-13 million or not, we still need to make intelligent decisions. He's missed a lot of game time with soft tissue injury.
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Two seasons with real injury time. That has to factor in to decisions. White is willing to play a more physical game both ends of the floor. Need shooters around him.
 
Cuse4Life29 said:
Assuming Kingz gets an extra year and comes back, and Doty and Folefac coming over from Siena, in the current portal, who are the most wanted targets?
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Top 4 portal PG, top 4 portal C, top 20 portal scoring wing or guard who is a shooter first and foremost, athletic back up 5 who defends, one more shooter with decent size but can be a smaller school addition for cheaper or a euro. The rest can be bodies who can compete in practice or be emergency depth including say one project that worst case they offer is a body and can learn and portal out to a smaller school with more polish.
 
Orangezoo said:
Top 4 portal PG, top 4 portal C, top 20 portal scoring wing or guard who is a shooter first and foremost, athletic back up 5 who defends, one more shooter with decent size but can be a smaller school addition for cheaper or a euro. The rest can be bodies who can compete in practice or be emergency depth including say one project that worst case they offer is a body and can learn and portal out to a smaller school with more polish.
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Agreed. I personally like the Vaaks kid out of Providence because of his shooting/playmaking capabilities. Will command a lot of NIL though. Another player that's interesting is Frost from ND. Could be a spark off the bench with his 3-point shooting.
 
I stopped watching early in the season, except for occassional spurts of 5 minutes here and there. I just don't get the Sadiq love. He is not a good basketball player. He has little to no basketball skills. To date, he has shown lack of emotional maturity or situational game awareness. Freeman is a far more skilled player, one who could, with additions of strength, weight and focus, carry a team. IMO, Sadiq will NEVER be that guy. I would ride with Freeman, unless there are behind the scenes things of which I am unaware.
 
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Capt. Tuttle said:
I stopped watching early in the season, except for occassional spurts of 5 minutes here and there. I just don't get the Sadiq love. He is not a good basketball player. He has littel to no basketball skills. To date, he has shown lack of emotional maturity or game awareness. Freeman is a far more skilled player, one who could, with stength increases and focus, carry a team. IMO, Sadiq will NEVER be that guy. I would ride with Freeman, unless there are behind the scenes things of which I am unaware.
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If you only watched the occasional 5 minutes then you missed seeing that White did develop and his future is exciting. I want both back. Hopefully Gerry can fix Freeman and develop White.
 
Cusefan69 said:
Not being difficult, why is it illegal? Creating tiers in contracts happen every day.
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Because the NCAA is the governing body over these agreements, and they do not permit performance incentives.
 
Capt. Tuttle said:
I stopped watching early in the season, except for occassional spurts of 5 minutes here and there. I just don't get the Sadiq love. He is not a good basketball player. He has little to no basketball skills. To date, he has shown lack of emotional maturity or situational game awareness. Freeman is a far more skilled player, one who could, with additions of strength, weight and focus, carry a team. IMO, Sadiq will NEVER be that guy. I would ride with Freeman, unless there are behind the scenes things of which I am unaware.
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Sadiq was far from the only one who lost their composure at times. Red just doesn’t have that leadership gene from the sideline nor the ability to develop that trait with his players to be leaders on the court. Sadiq was more a reflection of the team’s leadership as a whole. I don’t want to go beyond that to criticize Red as he is a great assistant he just isn’t HC material right now.

The leadership and intensity with this upcoming staff could really do wonders to harness Sadiqs game and help him quickly develop that potential.

He and Kiyan both really played better and benefited while filling in for Donnie and JJ and never found their groove again once their roles changed back which definitely falls some on the staff.
 

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