I'm a long time supporter and fan of anything SIU sports. That said, I could not give a flip about most sports in general anymore. The greedy NCAA has ruined college sports. It's over fellers. The glory days will never come back. Money talks and the kids hear dollar signs. And who can blame them?
While I still love to see SIU do good in every sport, the greed has pushed me away from it. There is no loyalty anymore. The coaching staff can find that diamond in the rough, but keeping that athlete going forward is almost impossible. The NCAA has made it a bidding war. Every player in any sport, is a free agent year in and out. And it is only going to get worse before it gets better.
The NCAA, the Big Conference Schools and the athletes are the winners. The Mid Majors and their fan bases, are the losers.
And the NCAA's previous catch phrase of "student/athletes" has been rendered a complete farce. There is no way these guys are getting the credits to transfer from school to school to school to complete graduation requirements.
Way to go NCAA.
You'd be surprised what the best players at SIU made this year. SIU could probably do very low 6 figures for our best player or two next year and still have enough for the rest of the roster. Best way to be competitive for those who care is to give to the NIL collective and SASF.6 figures would be $100,000 to be fair, not in the million range
Random thoughts:
All this with no idea of team makeup next year, but gross (and naïve) assumptions that most will return.
If the "core" group (however you determine who that is) returns, and is healthy next year, SIU should be in a much better place competitively.
New recruits look serviceable and with red shirt JW and maybe Bey, looks positive for the "bigs." Also agree with the recent Moreno assessments, much improved and with more conditioning and practice, could be a force down low. Too often this year Salukis were manhandled in the paint. Rebounding was respectable, but boxing out was a deficiency.
Hoping Davis looks to distribute more and make fellow players better rather than continued "hero ball." Yes, he can create but needs to pass the ball more. And hopefully we have the point guards to help him.
Overall, team needs to be more disciplined to reduce turnovers, fundamentals and yes, free throws. Certainly, having played together now for a year should also improve leadership roles, floor communication and overall toughness.
Coaching staff needs to be more creative on offense and continue to emphasize defense.
Hoping the AD and campus student groups rally to increase Dawg Pound and overall attendance and student/community support. The region is anxious to support a winning program, and we all know it's past time.
Could be way off here, but somewhat optimistic for the upcoming season. More so than I was in January.
Go Dawgs!
March on triumphantly!
I heard 350000
I'm a long time supporter and fan of anything SIU sports. That said, I could not give a flip about most sports in general anymore. The greedy NCAA has ruined college sports. It's over fellers. The glory days will never come back. Money talks and the kids hear dollar signs. And who can blame them?
While I still love to see SIU do good in every sport, the greed has pushed me away from it. There is no loyalty anymore. The coaching staff can find that diamond in the rough, but keeping that athlete going forward is almost impossible. The NCAA has made it a bidding war. Every player in any sport, is a free agent year in and out. And it is only going to get worse before it gets better.
The NCAA, the Big Conference Schools and the athletes are the winners. The Mid Majors and their fan bases, are the losers.
Eh I'd argue the NCAA fought this as much as they could. There was a compromise on the table a few years ago that would have prevented all of this but it was rejected, and the lawsuits went ahead full force.
What really needs to happen is for small schools to band together with the less well off P5 schools and sue on anti-competitive grounds.
This isn't sustainable. Nor was what is happening now the goal of all prior litigation.
Kids aren't even having to do anything to earn money. Schools are paying them and calling it "NIL".
I actually do think this is a genie that can be put back in the bottle in a way.
