Kevin Stacom: The Price of Players Is Exploding in College Basketball

Kevin Stacom: The Price of Players Is Exploding in College Basketball

In the real world, here are some general numbers that agents and coaches have to deal with depending on which level of demand a player can generate. All these figures should be taken to some degree with a grain of salt since these are, up until now, confidential one-year contracts and can be subjected to some exaggeration, either to the plus or minus depending on whatever agenda is in play.

             

From an experienced NBA agent’s point of view the current college market is broken down into primarily four distinct categories regarding what the range of money a player can expect depending on his market value within a particular conference level. 

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For instance:

In a Power 4/5 Conference: Big 12, SEC, Big 10, ACC, Big East, the range is roughly priced between $300,000 to $3 million 

 

In the A-10, Mountain West, West Coast Conference, Conference USA, American Athletic, players are receiving between  $100,000.00 to &700,000.

 

In some “Mid-Majors,” players are receiving on average between $50,000 to $150,000.

 

In some “Lower Division 1” schools, the range is $20,000 to $60,000. 

             

Listening to him, the amount a player will receive will be determined by which category he is deemed to be rated by the prospective school. Not surprisingly, it resembled very closely how, as an NBA scout, you were required at some point to place a player in one of the following slots:

1- A must-have, franchise-type player 

2- A definite starter, difference maker

3- A solid rotational guy, 4th or 5th starter or key reserve

4- A good roster guy, good enough to push key teammates in practice and contribute on occasion 

             

By the way, it’s hard for these agents to control their glee in having a whole new field of clients unexpectedly open up to them, both male and female!           

From a coach's perspective, it was interesting how they were having to estimate the range of financial commitment necessary to compete at the higher levels, on a per team basis. The general estimate in their opinion to compete at a Top 25 level will soon be anywhere between $8 to $10 million. Let that sink in for a while.

             

The complications come in when considering that if the agreement in some form is approved on Monday, the Big Dogs at the table (The big time football schools) are supposedly going to be capped at around $20-$22 million for all sports, with the football portion estimated to gobble up about $16-17 million of that total amount, leaving $5-$6 million for basketball The coaches I talked to believe that a good number of them are not going to abide by that and will find a way around it.

           

Nonetheless, according to some coaches, within the context of the $8-$10 million per team, is the estimated value of certain players by position:

1- Top-level Point guard, $2 million plus

2- Top-level center, $2 million plus

       

And from there, one coach explained that they’ll budget down similar to an old school NBA model - $2.2 million, $2.0 million, $1.8 million, $1.6 million, etc. 

             

One great quick example of what is going on and where it’s all headed is answering the simple question, “Why did the number one recruit in this year’s class, AJ Dybantsa, who comes from just up the road in Brockton, Massachusetts, end up committing to BYU?”

                 

Well, it probably has something to do with one of the wealthiest NIL programs in the country, spearheaded by two enthusiastic alumni, Paul Liljenquist and Ryan Smith. The former is the CEO of Focus Services, a $500 million company located in Salt Lake, and Smith is the billionaire owner of the Utah Jazz and co-founder of Qualtrics, a hugely successful tech company. They are both drivers of the BYU collective known as “The Royal Blue,” which provided AJ with an estimated $5- $7 million to attend BYU.

             

One coach brought this up as an example of how it’s gone from badgering relatively successful alumni for $10- $20 grand to the more efficient process of those more fortunate programs being able to rely on the backing of a handful of enthusiastic alumni with generational money. 

               

It’s probably not an accident or coincidence that the Final Four this coming weekend consists entirely of number 1 seeds. The matchups should make for great competitive games and some exciting finishes. All the Cinderella carriages, however, have long ago turned into pumpkins, and the survivors are heavily financed and well-constructed teams. 

             

How all of this dramatic change will affect our local Division I schools in Rhode Island remains to be seen, and many things may change as a result of a pending court decision.

       

On Monday April 7th Judge Claudia Wilken is presiding over a final approval hearing of the House vs NCAA lawsuit which will seek to bring some order to the current chaos in big time college athletics in terms of how much and by whom the athletes will be paid.

 

Up until now, when the floodgates opened a few years ago, the money was generated and dispersed not by the colleges but through third-party vehicles labeled “Collectives.” In that way, schools sought to avoid a host of legal issues that would commence if the money came directly from the colleges, not the least of which would be a host of Title 9 considerations concerning equal pay and opportunity for female athletes.

         

The settlement seeks to bring some semblance of order to the Wild West atmosphere.

 

As the great troubadour Bob Dylan made famous, “Money doesn’t talk, it swears.”

Hopefully our local institutions can somehow find their footing in this vortex that the Portal has created and pull a few gems out of the Portal themselves It does remind me of my longtime gig as an NBA scout and personnel guy, in that it’s never been more crucial to avoid as best you can mistakes in player evaluations, especially when your resources aren’t as obscene as some of your competition.