Initial79

Said last night it was imminent and people needed to get on board with it.

This was one of a few they have waited on to enter. Noice how fast they reached out. portal is different. Just because it is quiet doesn’t mean there isn’t work being done and a plan. I know you know that just saying.

It is. This is adidas saying choose one. edit and add. See zero chance of St. John’s and think that was before this.

Certain very specific connections they are making and are being welcomed. You don’t go that deep with just any transfer.

Yes, he did and grad transfer so easy process

Thought it was talked about on here but maybe somewhere else. Tried to find the post to bring it back through. anyway, even though Illinois fans seem to think Rayj Dennis is a lock for them (which seems to only be based on him growing up In Illinois), very confident the staff is going to put a full effort into him. Would imagine he has a visit soon.

Social media is not a lag indicator. It is leading indicator for fans. What this forum is for. It is also more than what you state with coaches and players. I keep seeing people post things and laugh, make statements that are just not true about how it works. You tried to dig at me again here as example. Yes, maybe you get looped into more than one point and I apologize but have been defending this to 90% of people on here. for FKM01 I don’t know how to quote from another thread. Copy and paste. On 4/25/2023 at 1:31 PM, Initial79 said: Honestly, I don’t want to debate or beat this dead horse anymore than others do. I would just like to be able to post - “hey, Jacob Groves from OU might be someone fans should look at. Hulls is following him, few more staff did recently and he does kind of fit as a backup wing/3p guy.” Without - “you know that doesn’t mean anything, our insiders already said XYZ.” Fyi… that wasn’t a made up thing. Have also seen some activity on Mgbako- minor but is there and very recent. Now… not for credibility or anything but to maybe be allowed to more openly share info I really wish I would not have deleted my draft last night. I didn’t want the comments honestly. I had typed out that the next visit would anger some fans. That it looked like there was interest in Walker and other bigs and that some people would take this as we are reciting the wrong guys. We need shooters etc. my “opinion” based on my info, they can’t have visits with guys that they want yet. In draft or still not in portal for wing/guard. I repeat again, don’t want clout. Called “insider”, etc. I just want to share info and it not be quickly discounted with fans as we are all hungry for info.

He actually does and we followed him. I said that few days ago when you and everyone was going off about how I had no clue. Happy to look it up and quote it here if you want. I don’t want credit but would like people to acknowledge it and maybe realize there is more to this than so many want to laugh at me about.

To be fair, not trying to start a debate and especially with you Scott but I said he was a possibility based on social media connections and few days ago. Stuff does matter even if we all differ on it. There are more like this. The staff is far from done and it is easy to see with who they are connecting with and timing of connections.

I think his argument falls apart even easier when you actually look at what he is saying. He is saying the guard, specifically scoring/wing type player has been a position of need and the staff has done nothing to address it -that summarizes his argument ok- first off, stop bringing up Archie and that mess. 100% irrelevant to this staff moving on- so, they didn’t immediately go get JHS and Tamar? JHS is totally different player without X injury in his role. Staff cannot control that. He would have been that scoring wing. Tamar, yeah, rough year. Personal, didn’t develop etc. They also have guys that 100% should develop into quality. So that had an injury and a top 50 not pan out in the whopping 2 years they have been here. He keeps saying they have done nothing to address it. That is factually incorrect. He could have said, they need this or that and everyone to some level agrees. He could have said some guys haven’t worked out. But… he has made it clear his issue is the staff has not addressed this and that is his issue. Uh… they have and will continue to do so. now, my turn to call out how this thread is way off topic and not anything about what we are selling players 😉

I never stated half of what you said but sure

competitive for sure. I think my frustration is we have a wide swath of fans feelings on all this. Then we find random “lists” to help prove the narrative. I can find other “lists” too. The NIL March madness list there was already talked about as being from one specific online store and not the greater market. I don’t doubt that other list that says IU makes the most amount BB (some nice links to sources would be nice though for their data) but… this is not about the school. The school is not paying the players. It also doesn’t mean they have to spend it on facilities etc and haven’t traditionally. my point continues to be - this outside money coming in is way different. There is NIL from your true name and social media presence. Again, the top athlete for that is a LSU gymnast among all sports. She gets like $50k per social post from brands who sponsor. She can wake up and say high and get $50k. IU does well there. There is NIL from collectives - IU does well and competitive but there is big money flowing in to those funds and that gap will grow wider. Alabama has more money than they know what to do with for football, so… maybe just let the BB team have few million to play with. Then there is NIL from direct deals. Adidas has helped us and I hope we push them again on making a splash beyond Ware. But there is nothing keeping a big money booster (see Miami) from throwing stupid money at a player and they still make on top of that. We only know about Ruiz because he bragged. I did find it funny that some odd looking rich guy decked out in Tenn. gear with his wife and dog followed Ledlum right after his visit and he followed him back. let’s try a new approach haha - so if it is not money, facilities etc - why is Alabama, Tenn. Arkansas even Georgia starting to land an embarrassment of talent from the portal (no Indy resident guy it is not the coaches). If it was just SEC or results - why not Kentucky, UNC, etc.? Those 2 schools are struggling with portal too and more like them. Does it matter - I continue to believe we will be fine. But, this is about the reason why and what those schools are selling. It is money in a lot of forms.

My understanding from reading a little is his handles are a little better and little taller. He is listed as a guard in many places but 6’7” to 6’9” who also shows some post moves. wouldn’t be a terrible off bench guy. Feel like they have a few like him but they want that other “scorer” the most.

And a better link to see value of players than on3 or 24/7 - in my opinion https://theresourcenexus.com/transfer-portal-basketball/ interesting to see our guys like Tamar and Geronimo (doesn’t even show up)

This is a great way to put it. Irrational fans will say it is the staff. rational fans seem at a loss. At some point, you have to realize maybe, just maybe we don’t understand this NIL and money coming in that well yet. Once that faucet was turned on, it allows for some schools to buy their way in.

on3 ranking is about as good as their prediction score haha they are attempting to state their marketing value based on social media. This is totally separate from collectives and things like car dealer side deals. It is relevant but minor if that makes any sense

See, now this goes back to your argument on the facilities. You said I was taking too hard of a stance. Now you say “has nothing to do with we get a recruit or not” again, this all changed during covid when coaches could not travel and has stayed. Also, with more and more recruiting rules changing, social media is the number one way coaches and recruits silently communicate. They don’t just follow random people and they don’t just add guys because they visit. They are being taught how to use this. This applies differently to different sports, for example, if I am not allowed to contact a recruit during a certain time but I can follow and like their posts. This is a silent nod that I am interested. Then recruit shows their level of interest by how deeply they engage in return. If recruit goes to a camp now days, the coaches will spend a good amount of time taking about social media during their q&a. Honestly, I don’t want to debate or beat this dead horse anymore than others do. I would just like to be able to post - “hey, Jacob Groves from OU might be someone fans should look at. Hulls is following him, few more staff did recently and he does kind of fit as a backup wing/3p guy.” Without - “you know that doesn’t mean anything, our insiders already said XYZ.” Fyi… that wasn’t a made up thing. Have also seen some activity on Mgbako- minor but is there and very recent. I also agree fully with 5fouls - this doesn’t mean he is a lock, etc. but they are on the radar and probably talking. no different than Rabby’s hot boards that end up striking out.

I would agree but he is also no dummy. He knows it is important and I am sure he continues to evolve there. I mean, plenty have said this was one of the main issues with Fife. He didn’t want to really get behind this.

I only put that in there as it is reality that football would carry more percentage of the $25 million. Doesn’t mean they don’t have more than enough for other areas. That wasn’t a statement of fact. I even said “for example.” I would not be so quick to give away your money. These are not all charities. Some are for profit business like a 401k that has various investment. Tenn. laws give it the most flexibility there is. IU NiL program is fine but is not what fans think it is. Keep in mind that NIL from collectives is only part of the picture. The highest NIL earners are actually some female athletes. LSU gymnastics makes huge bank. Be careful of the one liners like Tenn QB making $8 mil and Hunter D. Going to be offered $4 mil. Lot of people in that business were quick to squash those but it is easy to find those headlines still posted. The internet where everything said is true

Ledlum was 100% IUs. Rabby and others were making comments like “as of now, Tenn is still on. There was general consensus he was 100%. That is why he followed everyone. Then Tenn. stole him. No different than even if Woody himself said “this guy is ours” - nothing is 100% until they sign. Same with social media. But when you say it doesn’t matter, that is a step too far. I can promise you, zero recruits commit or will come on a visit until you see they followed current players or staff. Doesn’t have to be all but with nothing, zero interest, not happening. Works other way too. On the J Newton - could just be a prior relationship form aau there. There would be more follows than him. There are some players to discuss but not going to throw them out there just to have people re-debate social media. Can already tell that is coming with the comments by a few. I will say to those that quickly liked “I won’t be doing this, I will reassess life.” - you are on a message board for a long time every day about this very thing. You get the shakes if certian people haven’t given you inside info in awhile (that stuff is gold and always accurate) I think some of you just have a hard time admitting it is the exact same thing. FYI.. takes less than 1 Minute to figure out if they follow players or staff. Takes less than 5 seconds to see staff and players following them. Less than it took me type this post. Everything doenst have to be a debate and argument. Just move on without all the one liners. This is what people are avoiding when they don’t post.

I will add to this for the guys who have followed reciting for years etc. and might dismiss it. While social has existed in recruiting for a bit, it all changed with COVID. It become the number 1 recruiting tool there is for all sports. So even 4 years ago, this wasn’t a thing but is now.

I will try one last time to get my point across in the hope that many will understand. I am all for discourse but my difference of opinion (not fact) has been met with a ton of back lash. I am sure that was not intended by many while I do feel some directly did attack. “Who are you, why does your opinion matter, you don’t know anything, etc”. It is not always easy to see when you are not the one getting reply after reply directly. I believe many opinions have been formed based on “sound bites” of a post or 2 and not the whole picture. I know that as well with the amount of times I had to re-explain things like -“yes, I know UNC, Duke etc do well, this wasn’t about them and fyi.. IU is not Duke.” - I never said or feel my opinion is the only one nor that this was 100% the reason for losing a recruit. - I never said every recruit cares about this (actually said the opposite) but there are ones who make decisions based on that. Especially if things are a tie etc. - I did state things like our NIL is not that close to Tenn. and provided a link to back that up. Yes, they will use a lot for football but their target is $25 million a year in funding. They could give every BB guy $500k and still have $20 mil for football. - I did state that our facilities are nowhere close to what some of these big money schools have and provided a great example video with Texas Tech (I do wonder how many took the time to watch it). That is a football school and it would be fact that their facility in that video well outdoes IU. This all started on here (to be fair, Twitter as well) when Ledlum committed and really hit level 11 when Knecht did as well. I saw many, many people saying things like - “how are we losing to football schools. IU has the best facilities, top NIL, one of the best campuses in the country. This should be an easy sell and the staff is striking out. Woody really messed up with this knee surgery” some version of this was stated by a huge majority of fans. I would go as far as saying when you take social media into account, the majority of fans believe this. All I wanted to do was provide some counter point to those beliefs. I think many fans have rose colored glasses and see IU for something it isnt. The facilities are fine while not world class and this might not matter to some. Our NIL is very good but not quite elite there either. Our campus is great but not everyone wants a college town. The results have been just ok while improving. You add all that up and I don’t think it is crazy at all that we lost out on 2 guys to Tenn. who is one of those schools who kind of have an edge right now on IU. But does it even matter? Do we really need every guy to say yes? It was my belief that if more people understood some of this and were open to new knowledge that maybe they could take off the rose colored glasses and stop blaming Woody. I truly believe he is the best thing we have to sell right now. The “selling the history of IU” bit is a tough thing to sell. As stated before, I am not worried even a little. I see them still involved in many options. They will land a great squad but fans need to be patient and let it play out.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but you or whoever said this misread or doesn’t understand social media. Those people followed him, not him following them. Huge difference. My guess for him is he had this locked up before he entered and will be Georgia with Deloach. social media does matter a ton but you have to read nuance with it. Maybe things like this are why so many feel burned by it and seemed to “clearly” oppose my thoughts on it before.

Honestly, I would have but not now. It isn’t worth my time with the responses. fyi, I will say I have seen IU recently and all the areas. As someone from the outside, this board has certain names that just carry weight and they are easy to learn and see who they are fast. One of them just laughed at a post I spent a good bit to think through and try not to offend. Talk about condescending and rich from a guy who made big predictions a few weeks back only to fall flat. We have another name who makes bold claims and condescending as well and not just to me. again, my life is getting back to normal soon and my leave to take care of my wife is ending. I’m good. Hope fans start to see some reality and stop believing certain things. It would help their stress level and allow them to be more patient with the staff.

Yeah, it does vary and it also depends. If they are a track athlete they usually take them through their section of the facilities. Not the BB or Football area. Depending on that, it would skew opinions greatly. for example, I have a kid committed to play D1 soccer. Memphis was one of the visits. If you look at their soccer section it is a dump. Big time. But their Football and BB which we asked to see at the end of the visit was way different. That experience is just a very small part of the insight I have into this.