Transfer Portal

[LUEngineer]

FloridaGuy likes freedom for athletes which he is now happening & will be at expense of Lehigh wrestling program unless he is ready to start financing both high school studs & successful Lehigh undergrad wrestlers.

Believe HFO totally underestimates wrestler grant amounts.

[HFO]

FloridaGuy likes freedom for athletes which he is now happening & will be at expense of Lehigh wrestling program unless he is ready to start financing both high school studs & successful Lehigh undergrad wrestlers.

Believe HFO totally underestimates wrestler grant amounts.

Source and name what wrestlers are getting in NIL deals? Only one I heard was Fix at Oklahoma State who got a vehicle. He was on US National Team also. There are not unlimited opportunities for deals for Wrestling athletes. There are not unlimited funders.

A family or athletes will need to weigh immediate dollars versus in words of Warren Buffett, the Snowball effect of long-term investment into oneself through tertiary education.

I go to Princeton on athletic scholarship and major in dual degree of mathematics/financial engineering, but I get $0 NIL money. Behind Door #2 I go to Iowa, major in Kinesiology and get an NIL deal for $100k per year plus wrestling scholarship.

Classic economic tradeoff of immediate gratification to delayed gratification. I would venture the analysis would show that for a number of elite institutions and particular majors the NPV of the no NIL is better.

The path of career opportunities and network as a real callable option has immense value. That's my point. Parents and athletes need to serious compare schools and deals.

Yes...the easy money will be attractive to many, but there will be wiser parents sticking with sending their student athletes to IVY and other high level private universities like Lehigh, Bucknell, Northwestern, Duke, Stanford.

I'd take pathway of Wall Street, Law, Medicine, Consulting, Tech and selection of particular schools of the 80 or so D1 schools as the most critical.

Explains a lot of success of Koll and now Ayers.

We can't even fund a singlet for LVWC for Taylor. We are definitely not in the game and likely to not be for NIL deals for athletes.

Then once you get them in. They have to 1) Stay academically eligible or fly the coop and 2) Still motivated to accomplish after getting their big payday.

I'd rather see Lehigh University state their policy that they are not going this route. You get your education. A small cash stipend in lieu of work-study or outside employment. Transportation home 2-3 times per year.

Lehigh might never challenge for Top 5 again, but I believe the academic-athlete model at Lehigh will still produce a National Champion.

[Oracle]

HFO: Part of your post assumes a lot. IMO, parents of academically qualified wrestlers are already choosing Ivy, Lehigh and those other schools you mentioned over State school NIL. Why? Because they have options that all don’t have.

The vast majority of wrestlers do NOT possess the grades. That’s a fact. They don’t have the option. The state schools are only too happy to oblige with their offers. These elite wrestlers will not have to be overly concerned with academics as they would at the higher echelon schools. A good formula for winning. national title or becoming an AA.

[FloridaGuy]

>>>>>>>>>Reply to LUEngineer: Yes, I like college athletes to have the same freedom as other college students.

If you were a college wrestler, I think you would appreciate the freedom to transfer and earn add’l money.

You fear that freedom will negatively impact Lehigh wrestling, but recent Lehigh transfers & recruiting are positive.

Beard, Samuelson & Mays transfer in while Delaney transfers out is positive for Lehigh. Good programs will benefit.

As for contributions——I’ve provided plenty over the years as have many Lehigh alums and friends. Millions have been raised to rebuild Grace Hall & the wrestling room, endow scholarships & coaching positions and fund LVWC.

We raise money for Cruz to attend the Pan Am games, so we can certainly raise NIL funds funds to attract the next Darian Cruz.

[drd5748]

Well thought out, as always by the generous supporter, florida guy, and yes, we could raise funds for NIL deals - although I've yet to hear or the first one. Beard & Mays are happy to be short driving distance from home, car loads being a lot cheaper than filling a plane to the BiGs of the world. Several household of Samuelsons successful enough that 1 yr of flights amt to nothing, especially w/mega-FF miles. Delaney understandably took inventory of new & old lwts and sought better openings; really enjoyed his year with so many training partners. Ears wide open

[drd5748]

For the dreamers among you, here's recent real #s of the Top 10 NCAA/HS valuations
-----10. Shedur Sanders, QB, Colorado: $1.6 mil
Just out of high school (just 3-star) prospect, son of Primetime Deion and new QB, Sanders inked 1st major deal as 1 of 10 athletes Tom Brady signed for his brand in 2021; 1st HBCU athlete w Gatorade; smaller deals while at Jackson State. Now, Sanders has a huge deal with Mercedes. Has 1.3 mil total social media followers — with the hype surrounding the Buffs for 2023 with his name and Heisman talks — expect this number to grow.
----9. Will Anderson, LB, Alabama: $1.7 mil
----8. Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas: $1.8 mil
least five known endorsement deals including Lamborghini.
----7. CJ Stroud, QB, Ohio State: $2.4 million
----6. Olivia Dunne, LSU gymnastics: $2.7 million
OutKick fan favorite ; combined 9.3 mil social media followers
----5. Caleb Williams, QB, USC: $3.2 million
----4. Bryce Young, QB, Alabama: $3.5 million
----3. Arch Manning, QB, committed to Texas: $3.5 million
no endorsement deals, but valuation of $1.2 million.
----2. Mikey Williams, Memphis hoops commit, $3.6 million
Mikey Williams is clearly one of the top hoops prospect

----1. Bronny James, Sierra Canyon High School: $7.5 million
He may be the 40th-ranked player of the 2023 class, but the James name clearly carries a ton of weight. Lebron’s son NIL valuation of $7.5 million is nearly double the value of any other athlete in high school or college. Clearly his social media following of 12.4 million isn’t hurting anything. The combo guard — who is heavily favoring Ohio State but has yet to commit

[Oracle]

NIL hasn't hit wresting like is has other major sports but it's a thing nonetheless. My take: grades, admissions, and choice of major are factors too favorable for the high octane, can't miss NCAA AA level recruit to pass on - for the most part. There is a certain percentage that will always value private school education, whether it be Ivy, NW, Stanford, Duke, Lehigh et al. But even a school like Michigan can admit an athlete if they are elite enough. Or are you saying all 95 football scholarships are to normal Michigan admission standards? Not buying that.

[LUEngineer]

I think we are all underestimating the proliferation of NIL in wrestling. Likely all of the local Lehigh Valley Soph studs will see NIL deals of at lest $25k putting us at disadvantage l despite our location close to home. Ivies soon will start doing NIL for the real HS studs.

All Americans will probably be looking at $100,000 soon if not already.

I don’t like it & hope NCAA can put a damper on it even though wrestling is small potatoes vs football/basketball.

Incidently, Lehigh academics not so tough anymore as GPA averages now 3.4 vs 2.2 in our era. This is a different Lehigh with regard to course rigor with partying virtually every night not just Saturday. No Saturday classes & in most cases no friday classes. It is the feel good generation with equity push where a B- grade is a freak out moment.

[lu90]

I think we are all underestimating the proliferation of NIL in wrestling. Likely all of the local Lehigh Valley Soph studs will see NIL deals of at lest $25k putting us at disadvantage l despite our location close to home. Ivies soon will start doing NIL for the real HS studs.

All Americans will probably be looking at $100,000 soon if not already.

I don’t like it & hope NCAA can put a damper on it even though wrestling is small potatoes vs football/basketball.

Incidently, Lehigh academics not so tough anymore as GPA averages now 3.4 vs 2.2 in our era. This is a different Lehigh with regard to course rigor with partying virtually every night not just Saturday. No Saturday classes & in most cases no friday classes. It is the feel good generation with equity push where a B- grade is a freak out moment.

Party's only on Saturday nights? I went to school in the 80's and there were parties every night except Tuesday and Wednesday. And that was usually pledge dinner night.

We also had 40 fraternities versus now when how many are currently left on campus?

I know many of us walked through 2' of snow for 10 miles just to get to elementary school but let's not exaggerate some of the changes that have occurred on campus.

[Toast]

I think we are all underestimating the proliferation of NIL in wrestling. Likely all of the local Lehigh Valley Soph studs will see NIL deals of at lest $25k putting us at disadvantage l despite our location close to home. Ivies soon will start doing NIL for the real HS studs.

All Americans will probably be looking at $100,000 soon if not already.

I gotta call BS on this. No one is paying 25-100k to NCAA wrestlers for NIL deals. Universities and entities acting on behalf of universities cannot pay athletes directly for NIL, so no way is some local car dealership or the like shelling out that kind of money for athletes in a fringe sport. I simply don't believe it.