Interesting insight into how NIL and free transfers have combined (and only the combination could have done it) to wreak havoc on the G5, and to some extent up and down the chain. Seems the biggest schools are even cobbling together NIL packages for “walk-ons” that mysteriously cover the cost of attendance.
“They’ve got to make up what a scholarship covers. I get it. It’s smart,” Chadwell said. “But the NCAA needs to create a rule requiring players to sit out a year if they are not on full academic scholarship.”
But as always, this is where they lose me. Limiting player movement without compensation is never the answer. Either you’re a student and this an extracurricular and anything you do or anywhere you go between seasons is your own goddamn business (even you Trevor fucking Etienne, even you, traitor), or you deserve material consideration for limiting your own mobility during your prime developmental years and/or your last chance to play a game you love competitively.
But I think this inherently must be true. Talent is gradually sifted through the system. It has too start with a wide net and then get filtered down. From thousands of high schools to hundreds of colleges to tens of pro teams. Plus with both the NFL and whatever the spring league is, I don’t think 130ish D1 teams is that ridiculously oversized. And with 130ish D1 teams, you need a ton of juco/dii+iii/hs options to fill the rosters.