There were reports that Fran struck out this past spring in the transfer portal because other schools were offering more in NIL deals/money.
Also, Class of 2023 high school prospect JP Estrella committed to Tennessee reportedly because they, too, offered more in NIL deals/money.
Some questions:
(1) What are these other coaches doing/saying/promising that Fran isn't?
(2) Are other schools' collectives contacting these prospects directly, where the collectives are offering NIL deals contingent on the prospect committing?
(3) Are you aware of any Iowa collective contacting prospects like JP Estrella, offering a deal contingent on him signing with Iowa?
The NCAA just came out with guidance on what schools can and can't do (what schools WERE doing might be another story). I just hope Iowa can compete for prospects on a level playing field.
Thanks, again.
Fran,
I doubt anyone knows the answers to your questions with 100% certainty, but based on media reports and in talking to friends around the country, here's my best answers.
1) No coach is allowed to say specifically that you will be guaranteed X amount of dollars for coming to school here. I do know for a fact that at another Big 10 school, for basketball, if a player receives a scholarship offer, that school's collective contacts the player and/or his representatives and they talk about what the player can expect (in excess of $100k annually). I would imagine something similar happens at many schools.
2) I would imagine that it is happening similar to what you are describing, with language like "the typical amount that incoming players get is XXX."
3) Don't know. As Tx_Hawk has said, per the coaches' wishes the focus has been on taking care of the players currently on the roster. But can't speak for him or anyone else running a collective.
At some point, especially in basketball and probably in football too, Iowa will have to get comfortable with "quote unquote" paying recruits to come here. It seems unseemly, and it probably is, but with the higher level prospects some sort of NIL payment is the cost of admission for being considered. In the case of Estrella, he probably viewed the basketball situation at Iowa and Tennessee very similarly. But if 2 places are basically equal, and one has a significantly higher NIL payment, which one are you going to choose?