Players Tobi Lawal transferring to Virginia Tech

LazyStegosaurus said:
I doubt he picks up the phone for 100-150k if we are being honest with ourselves
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Really. You ever got 100 k dropped in your account in one day? How about a kid whose parents could probably use that kind of cash? I cant say what anyone will get but I’d bet that Tobi doesnt rate 700k.

For reference he is about at the Ward level he supposedly got 250k. I have a friend who’s has a nephew who plays in the ACC the kid was a 4 star (I think) he got 250k for two years but his dad says the plan is to do well this year and renegotiate.
 
lamplighter said:
My Dad was a proud MCV grad. He laughingly told me that all those old MDs didn’t want to have anything to do with VCU - that is until the final 4 run. Then all of a sudden they were “VCU alumni.”
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You are correct. Those MCV grads are still pissed that we took away their identity and merged them in with the rest of us commoners.
 
LazyStegosaurus said:
Devils advocate on the scholarship piece : why not pocket one or two a year to have more NIL to spend on each used slot? I get all the on court benefits of using them all, but if you tighten the belt on the roster and up the pay or each player it might work out in your benefit. Just spit ballin here 🤷‍♂️
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I see where you are going with that... however here's the issue with that strategy.....

You never know when an injury will happen.... you never know when a player's eligibility might change (academics or something criminal happens)..... you never know when a player might change his mind & de-commit / walk out on the team.

Look at this year.....

That Jacob Patrick (I think that was the players name?) committed came over.... and in short order quickly got "homesick" and jumped ship & left.... so there's 1 scholly gone unused & one less player on the bench.

You had Okafor get hurt/have surgery in the offseason again.... there's another player not available on the bench.

Sean Bairstow.... gets hurt or had surgery (i dont remember exactly) that kept him out of practice & the first 9 (?) games.... so that's another player not available on the bench.

Then you had Joe B..... ruled ineligible because of multiple transfers early on, had several appeals denied that kept him out the first 10(?) games.... so again.... that's another player not available on the bench.

And while not a scholarship player.... then you had Connor Odom a walk on, who was "on & off" the bench this year at games at different times, dealing with his own life issues (no clue as to what).


Thats 4 scholarship guys, 5 in total that weren't available for at least part, if not a majority of the season.

And how many times during & after the season did someone on these boards say "If only we had Bam and/or Bairstow for a whole season... how things might've been different"



So when you only get 13 scholarship players, and most walk ons never play except in blowouts (I forgot the one A10 team that a walk on was actually playing a pivotal roll.... Duquesne maybe?) ......

If you hold scholarships from being used to give more NIL to other pieces..... What happens when your key pieces get hurt?


You wanna know what happens? You'll end up like Davidson's WBB team did this year..... and you'll end up having to do one of 2 things....
1. hold midseason walk on tryouts.... and picking up most likely practice squad players from the MBB or WBB teams or kids from Cary St. Gym
OR.... worse
2. You'll have to start forfeiting games because you won't have enough players to safely field a team for a game.

Davidson WBB had to do both this year.... after like 5 or 6 of their players went down with ACL / Knee injuries.

And they started the year 12-1... finished it 18-8 with 3 forfeits (Woulda technically been 4, if the A10 didn't change the tournament bracket back to the old one to avoid giving a team a "free pass" to the next round.)

So as for your idea..... I don't think that's a smart idea.
 
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Dr Joe said:
I suppose that is possible but doubt it. Lawal is like a number of players who have left our program prematurely. He is loaded with potential BUT is not (in my opinion) an actual basketball player. He is a tremendous athlete with a very high ceiling (excuse the pun). Does he know how to block out without fouling, does he know how to cover a forward or center with a good drop step, does he know how to fake both ways and use both hands. I could go on. Admittedly he knows how to block shots and dunk ally opps. Yet if he follows the pattern of other really good athletes like himself he may be sitting somewhere and playing under ten minutes while making some nice NIL money. Did Hassan learn how to be an NBA player by transferring? Did JJ? With some exceptions moving from VCU has not really panned out for most of our bigs. I loved watching Lawal develop as the year moved on. I hope he gets what he wants (which I really believe was more playing time and not coming off the bench). But I will be surprised if that is what happens. Sad day for the fans of RAM basketball.
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Lawal has a higher vertical than anyone in NBA history. Michael Jordan is the historical leader at 48”. He is also raw, having only balled for a few years prior to D1. He’s also demonstrated the ability to develop. NBA wants potential and Lawal should be cheap. The math isn’t too complicated.

He’s also competitive and driven which is often lacking in elite athletes. I struggle to imagine an NBA team not giving him a chance.
 
LazyStegosaurus said:
To me it isn’t all that different. Make a move to get paid more to play basketball. Doesn’t matter if it’s Kentucky or the Knicks to me, get your money young man.
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It is very different though.

It's one thing to be used as a stepping stone to go from the college to the pros.... it's a whole other thing to be used as a stepping stone to go from one school to another school.

Case and point.... look at all the guys who have used us as "stepping stones" to get to the NBA over the years..... Bones Hyland, Vince Williams, Treveon Graham, Troy Daniels, Briante Weber, Larry Sanders, Eric Maynor..... Gerald Henderson (not sure if I missed one in there).

He11, we even sent Mo to the NFL..... DESPITE NOT EVEN HAVING A F***ING FOOTBALL TEAM.

Whenever those guys are on the court/field in the NBA/NFL & someone brings up where they went to college.... VCU is/was getting recognized.... Because WE (VCU) sent these guys to the NBA/NFL. We were showing that players could come to us and still get to the NBA/NFL. You didn't have to go way of Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, UNC... etc. And chances were at VCU, you were gonna get A LOT more playing time instead of one of those blue blood schools where only the most elite players out of HS usually play.

So even when a guy like Bones who went pro after 2 years, Larry who went pro after 3 years.... Not sure bout Gerald (he was before my time)..... when those guys left early to go pro.... they were still representing us in the pros.... and its something to be proud of that VCU was "good enough"


Now, all of that is gone. Because if a player like Tobi (assuming he does 100% transfer out), Hason Ward, Ace Baldwin, Nick Kern, Jayden Nunn, Jamir Watkins, Mikeal Brown Jones, etc.... if they go pro, no one outside of RamNation is going to be saying "So & So out of VCU".... they're gonna be saying "So and So out of Penn State / Baylor / Iowa State / FSU / Ole Miss" etc.

So now it won't just be because we couldn't afford them, but also its gonna give us the feeling of "we're not good enough".
 
Sucks we lost Tobi, but as many have said before me, it’s not surprising. We’ve been losing lots of these battles to the P5 schools for our entire history. Another one bites the dust. Next man up.

Even with the new landscape, VCU’s place in the NCAA pecking order is pretty much the same as before the transfer portal and NIL. We can say “Tobi can’t get NIL money because he’s an international player” all we want, and it’s probably true. That said, the P5 schools surely haven’t forgotten how to backchannel tamper and drop bags of cash.

Except for a handful of schools, nobody is moving up or down the ladder from where they were before all of this mess went down. VCU will be just fine!
 
rammad90 said:
VCU has well to do alums as well. We just have to get them to pay up. Remember those MD’s, and DDS are doing just fine.
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But, why would they? Honestly? This is Armageddon and we are not on the winning side. We will never out spend teams that want our players. As my analogy from a few days still rings true.... at some point the light bulb will go off and the NIL money (at least the portion coming from the fans via donations will dry up, at least for the mid majors). If you keep giving in hopes of landing studs only to see them depart for the next highest bidder next year, how long will you continue to give?
 
RowdyPkunk said:
I see where you are going with that... however here's the issue with that strategy.....

You never know when an injury will happen.... you never know when a player's eligibility might change (academics or something criminal happens)..... you never know when a player might change his mind & de-commit / walk out on the team.

Look at this year.....

That Jacob Patrick (I think that was the players name?) committed came over.... and in short order quickly got "homesick" and jumped ship & left.... so there's 1 scholly gone unused & one less player on the bench.

You had Okafor get hurt/have surgery in the offseason again.... there's another player not available on the bench.

Sean Bairstow.... gets hurt or had surgery (i dont remember exactly) that kept him out of practice & the first 9 (?) games.... so that's another player not available on the bench.

Then you had Joe B..... ruled ineligible because of multiple transfers early on, had several appeals denied that kept him out the first 10(?) games.... so again.... that's another player not available on the bench.

And while not a scholarship player.... then you had Connor Odom a walk on, who was "on & off" the bench this year at games at different times, dealing with his own life issues (no clue as to what).


Thats 4 scholarship guys, 5 in total that weren't available for at least part, if not a majority of the season.

And how many times during & after the season did someone on these boards say "If only we had Bam and/or Bairstow for a whole season... how things might've been different"



So when you only get 13 scholarship players, and most walk ons never play except in blowouts (I forgot the one A10 team that a walk on was actually playing a pivotal roll.... Duquesne maybe?) ......

If you hold scholarships from being used to give more NIL to other pieces..... What happens when your key pieces get hurt?


You wanna know what happens? You'll end up like Davidson's WBB team did this year..... and you'll end up having to do one of 2 things....
1. hold midseason walk on tryouts.... and picking up most likely practice squad players from the MBB or WBB teams or kids from Cary St. Gym
OR.... worse
2. You'll have to start forfeiting games because you won't have enough players to safely field a team for a game.

Davidson WBB had to do both this year.... after like 5 or 6 of their players went down with.

And they started the year 12-1... finished it 18-8 with 3 forfeits (Woulda technically been 4, if the A10 didn't change the tournament bracket back to the old one to avoid giving a team a "free pass" to the next round.)

So as for your idea..... I don't think that's a smart idea.
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I think the idea of being very deliberate in awarding scholarships (even if it means holding 1 or 2) is a good one. Maybe not the perfect idea, but its definitely the right direction of travel. We (as a department) are going to have to make cuts across all sports, trim down staff, maybe even lose a sport or 2 and re-purpose that money to supporting the NIL. We are fortunate enough to have good ticket revenue, well above average annual donations, and a large student body (student fees). I do not think we are expanding the revenue side by any meaningful amount. So this extra line item cost of NIL will have to come from trimming the expense side of the balance sheet. But our revenue and lack of football means we can succeed in this new world.
The sad thing is that Ed has done a really good job getting all our sports teams better funded and on a path to success. I see he can sustain that.
 
Dr Joe said:
I suppose that is possible but doubt it. Lawal is like a number of players who have left our program prematurely. He is loaded with potential BUT is not (in my opinion) an actual basketball player. He is a tremendous athlete with a very high ceiling (excuse the pun). Does he know how to block out without fouling, does he know how to cover a forward or center with a good drop step, does he know how to fake both ways and use both hands. I could go on. Admittedly he knows how to block shots and dunk ally opps. Yet if he follows the pattern of other really good athletes like himself he may be sitting somewhere and playing under ten minutes while making some nice NIL money. Did Hassan learn how to be an NBA player by transferring? Did JJ? With some exceptions moving from VCU has not really panned out for most of our bigs. I loved watching Lawal develop as the year moved on. I hope he gets what he wants (which I really believe was more playing time and not coming off the bench). But I will be surprised if that is what happens. Sad day for the fans of RAM basketball.
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And how are we not so sure this was a mutual decision?
 
Ramaholic said:
I think the idea of being very deliberate in awarding scholarships (even if it means holding 1 or 2) is a good one. Maybe not the perfect idea, but its definitely the right direction of travel. We (as a department) are going to have to make cuts across all sports, trim down staff, maybe even lose a sport or 2 and re-purpose that money to supporting the NIL. We are fortunate enough to have good ticket revenue, well above average annual donations, and a large student body (student fees). I do not think we are expanding the revenue side by any meaningful amount. So this extra line item cost of NIL will have to come from trimming the expense side of the balance sheet. But our revenue and lack of football means we can succeed in this new world.
The sad thing is that Ed has done a really good job getting all our sports teams better funded and on a path to success. I see he can sustain that.
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Yeah, and which sports do we decide to cut?

Also, have fun telling that to the athletes & coaches of those sports..... some of whom have probably won as many, if not more conference championships or NCAA games in the last 3-4 seasons..... as our MBB team has the last decade.

I can see it now "Sorry we are cutting (insert sport here) because you all don't bring in enough revenue to the school"
 
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