Class of 2022 SF Kamari Lands (IN / HillcrestAZ) Decommitted

[TexanMark]

Time to give Bill Rapp a call.

I heard he gives $50 hand shakes and gives out loaner cars...Top 5 class here we come.

 

[walsh2012]

This decommit is more “he’s blowing up” and less “su staff done messed up”

 

[TexanMark]

What this means is that Cuse needs to focus on the next level or two down. Copeland is a great example as with Taylor. That’s your target if you’re not playing the NIL game.

Yup...if a Top 25 kid falls in our lap, Great! However, we need to find the kids who will stay 3-5 years

 

[walsh2012]

What this means is that Cuse needs to focus on the next level or two down. Copeland is a great example as with Taylor. That’s your target if you’re not playing the NIL game.

Benny Williams is currently on campus

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

I was called crazy when I said this is the same Dior situation. Said I would be surprised if he ever stepped foot on campus. The NIL is going to hurt Syracuse. No one is going to pay money to recruits for sponsorship in CNY. This is just the start unfortunately. SU will get good players but between the g league offers and NIL offers, kids are going to realize there is a lot more out there than playing in front of 25k people.

Call me negative, but I call it reality. This is now strike 4 or 5 for priority recruits. And no Copeland was not a priority recruit. Taylor was and that was great but he had no NIL potential hence his commitment. Recruiting isn’t that hard to figure out, not sure why we all make it so complex on here.

He says Syracuse is one of his top schools, but the staff is not going to wait on him. That’s not how they do things. They will be moving on

Couldnt you funnel the NIL money through Learfield, Clear Channel, IMG, whoever. Set up a damn autograph table after every game. Have each player sit there for an hour after the game. Add a $1 surcharge to each ticket sold for a prepaid autograph session. Dole the money out to the players. Attendance would surely matter to these kids then.

 

[CuseBlock]

This one is frustrating because it falls directly between him being a lock to be on campus and the Dior situation. People saying that they "knew he was never going to play for SU," are delusional. Its not really like he committed too early like Dior/didnt show any prior interest. It pains me because I truly think there was a serious chance he made it on campus.

 

[SUOrangeSU]

If u head back into his original thread, I suggested that the coaches weren’t 100% on him.
His commitment was a shock to Gmac but u take it and hope you can keep it. I fully don’t blame him for exploring options with the NIL in place.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

I feel guilty for how i viscerally reacted to the actions of a 17 year old but to be honest decommitting has always felt slimy to me. What do you think COMMITMENT means?

Did you find it “slimy” when Devendorf & Battle each decommitted from their original school choices?

 

[Orangezoo]

And my point is that it is a given for a lot of other teams.

Darius Bazley ring a bell, before the NIL nonsense? Dior Johnson I’ll give a pass to the staff on, but at what point do you take the orange blinders off and start seeing what the true picture is?

It's not a given for other teams. Lol at the orange blinders comment. If you are going to claim I fall in line with some biased narrative then make sure it actually exists. FYI it doesn't you just assume it because I'm not on team apocalypse.

It gets old when folks assume a narrative before reading.

We have to decide to compete like a professional organization not an amateur one. It's already been stated but that is the reality. It's gonna be pay to play for the big guys from here on out. That doesn't favor us until we play the game. We had our struggles recruiting the past 3-4 years mainly in the top guys underwhelming. The issue here is not the same issue then but to be fair I'm sure there is overlap.

When I talk about the landscape this is part of it. It's a different world and one that while I'm happy kids can get their money, with NIL it's a major bummer how college basketball will start looking here over the next 5 years. Enjoy the golden age of college hoops it's over.

 

[OrangeYaGladi]

Did you find it “slimy” when Devendorf & Battle each decommitted from their original school choices?

Greasy. It’s greasy when the come to SU. Slimey and downright immoral when they decommit

 

[Orangezoo]

Couldnt you funnel the NIL money through Learfield, Clear Channel, IMG, whoever. Set up a damn autograph table after every game. Have each player sit there for an hour after the game. Add a $1 surcharge to each ticket sold for a prepaid autograph session. Dole the money out to the players. Attendance would surely matter to these kids then.

For how long though? There has to be a return on the investment at some point. Unless we have enough folks with endless funds- we can buy our way for a little bit until things saturate or funding that is competitive dries up.

 

[Orangezoo]

I assume we will find out soon just how much SU values the brand of it's athletics to whether they commit to do what it takes to use the NIL aggressively via arranging all the meet n greets or structuring NIL deals to offer recruits vs stepping back with a more passive approach such as just having the specific classes and guiding student athletes through it.

 

[kcsu]

I agree that college sports as we know them are going to be different. What we dont know is how this is all going to shake out over the next few years. The alliance between the big the pac and the acc is a strong indication that college administrators realize that if they do not put some controls in place they risk losing control of sports at a collegiate level. Competition is the only way that any league survives. The NFL is the strongest sports franchise in the United States because of parity. Each team plays by the same rules and for the most part are provide equal financial resources. Colleges will eventually move back towards that and the alliance is a start. As to the NIL its a good thing if and only if the schools are not allowed to use it for recruiting. Again the alliance i believe is going to add some teeth to that.
SU is in the middle ground. We are in a good position because of the ACC and because of our storied history. SU is a brand and will remain one. We are never going to compete with the SEC when it comes to rabid fans or crazy boosters. Never have and never will. However we should be able to go to a bowl each year, upset some big teams each year and once every 5 years years or so catch some magic. In basketball i expect we will always remain an NCAA tourney team. Hopefully when Red or Mac take over the program changes for the better and builds on JBs success in a modern way when it comes to recruiting and NIL. Long story short i expect SU basketball to remain a power and i expect SU football to be a good solid team one that can play with most of the teams on our schedule and give us a special moment or two each season. For now tighten your belt as its going to be a crazy couple of years.

 

[Orangezoo]

I agree that college sports as we know them are going to be different. What we dont know is how this is all going to shake out over the next few years. The alliance between the big the pac and the acc is a strong indication that college administrators realize that if they do not put some controls in place they risk losing control of sports at a collegiate level. Competition is the only way that any league survives. The NFL is the strongest sports franchise in the United States because of parity. Each team plays by the same rules and for the most part are provide equal financial resources. Colleges will eventually move back towards that and the alliance is a start. As to the NIL its a good thing if and only if the schools are not allowed to use it for recruiting. Again the alliance i believe is going to add some teeth to that.
SU is in the middle ground. We are in a good position because of the ACC and because of our storied history. SU is a brand and will remain one. We are never going to compete with the SEC when it comes to rabid fans or crazy boosters. Never have and never will. However we should be able to go to a bowl each year, upset some big teams each year and once every 5 years years or so catch some magic. In basketball i expect we will always remain an NCAA tourney team. Hopefully when Red or Mac take over the program changes for the better and builds on JBs success in a modern way when it comes to recruiting and NIL. Long story short i expect SU basketball to remain a power and i expect SU football to be a good solid team one that can play with most of the teams on our schedule and give us a special moment or two each season. For now tighten your belt as its going to be a crazy couple of years.

I think we need to be prepared we won't be standing as a power in hoops. We will see how the alliances play out and any change in governance as well. I full expect NIL to be a recruiting tool. Our brand will most certainly keep us relevant but if we don't pair it with going all in on NIL, then relevant may be as far as it goes most years. It will be interesting to see how things play out with Lands over the next couple months

 

[alphaorange]

I find it odd that most don't seem to see the similarities between the new NIL era and the pre salary cap and luxury tax days of pro sports. It's about money and schools like SU simply do not have the booster wealth to compete with a lot of others (Duke, Kentucky, etc in BBall, and most SEC schools plus Michigan, Ohio State, and Texas schools in football). Adam W is noted and excepted. It's not so much about the school, its about fan/booster resources. This may be a windfall for a lot of players but I believe the majority will be have nots. Without some sort of regulation, this may very well be the beginning of the end for college athletics as we know it.

 

[alphaorange]

I assume we will find out soon just how much SU values the brand of it's athletics to whether they commit to do what it takes to use the NIL aggressively via arranging all the meet n greets or structuring NIL deals to offer recruits vs stepping back with a more passive approach such as just having the specific classes and guiding student athletes through it.

You still need the financial resources to compete, not just the will.

 

[kcsu]

I find it odd that most don't seem to see the similarities between the new NIL era and the pre salary cap and luxury tax days of pro sports. It's about money and schools like SU simply do not have the booster wealth to compete with a lot of others (Duke, Kentucky, etc in BBall, and most SEC schools plus Michigan, Ohio State, and Texas schools in football). Adam W is noted and excepted. It's not so much about the school, its about fan/booster resources. This may be a windfall for a lot of players but I believe the majority will be have nots. Without some sort of regulation, this may very well be the beginning of the end for college athletics as we know it.

It will be the end of college sports being competative. The cheating that has gone on is now legal. That is going to lead to an Arms race that only a few lets say a dozen or so can really do well at which is a very good thing. Why because the if there are only a limited number of teams that can win a championship the product will eventually fail. Michigan State, BC, ND, SU, Gonzaga, GT, Pitt, Cal, Iowa, and dozens of other solid schools that are in power conf do not want to play the game that Alabama, LSU, Oregon, and the other pro college teams play. Trust me on this the alliance is being formed for one major reason. Governance. I knew this from the start and have had it driven home by many in the know. Schools hate NIL and they realize that if they dont get a grip on things fast its over. The SEC did everyone a huge favor by jumping the gun with Texas and Oklahoma. I cant wait to see the announcement on the Alliance as i expect it to be very much geared towards The Student athelete and the need to create parity. Time will tell but the speed in which this happened is a strong indication that those at the top are worried and realize they need to get a grip and get one soon.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

Did you find it “slimy” when Devendorf & Battle each decommitted from their original school choices?

My memory is a little fuzzy on this but I seem to recall that after committing to MSU, Devo scheduled a visit to SU and Izzo pulled the offer.

 

[Orangezoo]

You still need the financial resources to compete, not just the will.

Correct. I mentioned that already in a previous post as well. That to me is also a big question mark.

 

[Alsacs]

It’s okay Buddy will stay an extra year now and play the SF.
With Girard, Taylor as the guards.

Good luck to Lands. I am sure he will be fine.

 

[SUFan44]

It will be the end of college sports being competative. The cheating that has gone on is now legal. That is going to lead to an Arms race that only a few lets say a dozen or so can really do well at which is a very good thing. Why because the if there are only a limited number of teams that can win a championship the product will eventually fail. Michigan State, BC, ND, SU, Gonzaga, GT, Pitt, Cal, Iowa, and dozens of other solid schools that are in power conf do not want to play the game that Alabama, LSU, Oregon, and the other pro college teams play. Trust me on this the alliance is being formed for one major reason. Governance. I knew this from the start and have had it driven home by many in the know. Schools hate NIL and they realize that if they dont get a grip on things fast its over. The SEC did everyone a huge favor by jumping the gun with Texas and Oklahoma. I cant wait to see the announcement on the Alliance as i expect it to be very much geared towards The Student athelete and the need to create parity. Time will tell but the speed in which this happened is a strong indication that those at the top are worried and realize they need to get a grip and get one soon.

It's not legal though. Coaches cannot promise NIL deals as per NCAA rules. School officials cannot be involved in brokering deals through NIL.

It's back channel dealings just as it was before. Also, market value for services provided should be abided by.

All of this to say - cheating is still going to go on. Compensation will come to some - a number of our current players have NIL deals. It's just another layer.

It's not legal per NCAA policy to "recruit with NIL," like Lands is saying. Meaning if I'm the NCAA, I'm looking at his recruitment very carefully.

 

[Cusefan0307]

It's not legal though. Coaches cannot promise NIL deals as per NCAA rules. School officials cannot be involved in brokering deals through NIL.

It's back channel dealings just as it was before. Also, market value for services provided should be abided by.

All of this to say - cheating is still going to go on. Compensation will come to some - a number of our current players have NIL deals. It's just another layer.

It's not legal per NCAA policy to "recruit with NIL," like Lands is saying. Meaning if I'm the NCAA, I'm looking at his recruitment very carefully.

I don’t think JB will or is willing to go where other coaches will IMO after being on probation twice. Might change with the next staff.

 

[TheCusian]

Shady stuff out in the open with everyone able to play + 17 year old kids = mayhem

 

[Cusefan0307]

It’s okay Buddy will stay an extra year now and play the SF.
With Girard, Taylor as the guards.

Good luck to Lands. I am sure he will be fine.

Buddy is gone. There’s other high level players we are after that can make up for the Lands loss.

 

[SUFan44]

I don’t think JB will or is willing to go where other coaches will IMO after being on probation twice. Might change with the next staff.

I would agree with that. Which hasn't been mentioned here explicitly. A lot of "will SU operate like a pro team" but nothing about JB. That's what it boils down to.

I still don't think that's an excuse for the way we seem to get decommitments from high-profile kids more often than others - and I will continue to beat the Gonzaga drum, because there's no way they should be able to compete if all of the things posters say above were true.