Vandy’s actual approach to NIL

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Vandy’s actual approach to NIL

Post by MemorialMagic »

Does anyone know what the actual vandy stance is on NIL? I hear Clark and Stack and Corbs talk about how it’s going to be different from other teams. (Dare I say the ‘Vanderbilt Way’) And they’re going to do it in such a way that it is not going to let it interfere with the locker room. But I haven’t heard anyone spell out the details.

I don’t understand why Vandy couldn’t put together a multiple 6 figure deal for Lawrence. And I have to guess that there was some amount of negotiation before he entered the portal.


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Re: Vandy’s actual approach to NIL

Post by alathIN »

One of the Dore Report podcasts had an interview with a founder of VUs NIL collective.
They talked about actually helping the players learn about developing their brand and media skills.
Although unsaid, it was pretty evident they don't have anything like the $ that other SEC NIL collectives have at their disposal.
The gist I got is that they are trying to provide value beyond the money, and that this might appeal to the kind of players Vanderbilt has attracted in the past - a narrow slice of the college athlete population.

The impression I get is that big time NIL money comes from a combination of wealth and single-minded obsession with the success of the school's sports programs. Vanderbilt has some wealthy alums but I don't think many of them are the kind of sports fan monomaniacs who have black and gold tour buses to travel to away games and are lining up to pay star athletes hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to come to Vanderbilt.
Unless there is some kind of regulation of NIL I don't think Vanderbilt will be able to compete in the NIL world. When Corbin and Lea say they're going to do it differently, I think this is driven by necessity because we don't have the kind of donor base to generate big school money.
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Re: Vandy’s actual approach to NIL

Post by geeznotagain »

So it's safe to say that we are being left in the proverbial dust when it comes to $ we can offer, with little hope to be a significant player in the Power 5 arena. Is there anything we can do as a fanbase to change that? Realistically? As I said earlier, we have some rich alums scattered throughout the country. I guess it's safe to say that sports is not at the top of the list of the priorities of most of these guys and gals.
Last edited by geeznotagain on Tue May 02, 2023 8:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Vandy’s actual approach to NIL

Post by rEvUrB »

Sounds like you better get used to Vanderbilt being a farm team for the rest of the conference.

I’m sure we’re not alone here. Colllege sports is about to be boiled down to a handful of haves pretty soon, more so than it is already.

Feels like the beginning of the end of major college sports.
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Re: Vandy’s actual approach to NIL

Post by shelbz75 »

I hate saying this but it is getting to the point where Vanderbilt might as well go join the ACC because we cannot compete vs the rest of the SEC outside of maybe Mississippi State & Mizzou NIL wise. Lea and Stack are not playing with the same deck of cards as the rest of the league is & at least the ACC provides similar type teams in Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, and UVA and a lot less of the Super NIL teams like we have in the SEC. Clemson, FSU, Miami, and UNC are probably the only 3 teams in that league really capable of tapping in to the NIL like 80% of the SEC does, you may could throw Duke basketball in there as well due to brand. I have never felt this way but outside of baseball we are about to get left in the dust in the SEC unless some things change and whenever Corbin retires it could happen in baseball as well even though most of us don't want to admit that and despite how dominate of a brand it is.
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Re: Vandy’s actual approach to NIL

Post by AuricGoldfinger »

On the one hand, I'm hesitant to lay the blame for the recent wave of men's basketball roster departures entirely or even in large measure upon NIL, because most of the players we've lost are either headed to schools with fewer NIL opportunities, may have unique circumstances surrounding their departure, or just simply don't have much NIL value to begin with. The exception is Tyrin Lawrence, which has led to much of this handwringing in the first place. And this isn't the first time we've lost a lot of players--most of Stack's signed classes have been wiped out by transfer before they could complete their eligibility at Vanderbilt. (There's also the reality that we as fans just don't know much about what's really going on.)

On the other hand, though, as others have noted above, there's no escaping the fact VU is at a disadvantage in NIL and will have to play the game differently. We just don't have the numbers of alumni and fans of most other Power 5/6 schools to support richly endowed collectives. And the competition for funding and donations from those same alumni and fans within even the university itself is significant. Think about this--the university is currently engaged in the two largest capital campaigns it has ever executed (Vandy United and Dare to Grow) for athletics and the institution as a whole, respectively. That's on top of the usual fundraising for operations, scholarships, endowed chairs, etc.

Finally, there's the strong likelihood that Vandy is going to play by the rules, such as they are right now. No tampering. No cash outlays directly from the university. No questionable booster investments that trade compensation for no actual value returned. It's the wild west out there right now, and Vandy is Marshal Dillon without a gun. (I mean that with no disrespect, either.)

I believe a reckoning will come one day, and that day will be really, really painful.
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Re: Vandy’s actual approach to NIL

Post by geeznotagain »

AuricGoldfinger wrote: Tue May 02, 2023 9:14 am On the one hand, I'm hesitant to lay the blame for the recent wave of men's basketball roster departures entirely or even in large measure upon NIL, because most of the players we've lost are either headed to schools with fewer NIL opportunities, may have unique circumstances surrounding their departure, or just simply don't have much NIL value to begin with. The exception is Tyrin Lawrence, which has led to much of this handwringing in the first place. And this isn't the first time we've lost a lot of players--most of Stack's signed classes have been wiped out by transfer before they could complete their eligibility at Vanderbilt. (There's also the reality that we as fans just don't know much about what's really going on.)

On the other hand, though, as others have noted above, there's no escaping the fact VU is at a disadvantage in NIL and will have to play the game differently. We just don't have the numbers of alumni and fans of most other Power 5/6 schools to support richly endowed collectives. And the competition for funding and donations from those same alumni and fans within even the university itself is significant. Think about this--the university is currently engaged in the two largest capital campaigns it has ever executed (Vandy United and Dare to Grow) for athletics and the institution as a whole, respectively. That's on top of the usual fundraising for operations, scholarships, endowed chairs, etc.

Finally, there's the strong likelihood that Vandy is going to play by the rules, such as they are right now. No tampering. No cash outlays directly from the university. No questionable booster investments that trade compensation for no actual value returned. It's the wild west out there right now, and Vandy is Marshal Dillon without a gun. (I mean that with no disrespect, either.)

I believe a reckoning will come one day, and that day will be really, really painful.
Good write-up summary, but I'm confused about your last line. Does your painful day of reckoning mean that (a) college sports in general will collapse, or (b) those schools who don't play by the rules will eventually have to pay the piper, or (c) unarmed Matt Dillon will be forced into oblivion and leave Dodge City to the bad guys?
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Re: Vandy’s actual approach to NIL

Post by AuricGoldfinger »

geeznotagain wrote: Tue May 02, 2023 11:19 am Good write-up summary, but I'm confused about your last line. Does your painful day of reckoning mean that (a) college sports in general will collapse, or (b) those schools who don't play by the rules will eventually have to pay the piper, or (c) unarmed Matt Dillon will be forced into oblivion and leave Dodge City to the bad guys?
That's a fair question. I'm referring to a day when Vandy (and its brethren colleges and universities facing similar futures) has to decide whether to remain in an increasingly non-competitive landscape or to move to a different conference or level of competition.

Ironically, given our discussion on this forum, I'm actually not as worried about basketball and NIL as I am football.
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Re: Vandy’s actual approach to NIL

Post by MemorialMagic »

AuricGoldfinger wrote: Tue May 02, 2023 9:14 am On the one hand, I'm hesitant to lay the blame for the recent wave of men's basketball roster departures entirely or even in large measure upon NIL, because most of the players we've lost are either headed to schools with fewer NIL opportunities, may have unique circumstances surrounding their departure, or just simply don't have much NIL value to begin with. The exception is Tyrin Lawrence, which has led to much of this handwringing in the first place. And this isn't the first time we've lost a lot of players--most of Stack's signed classes have been wiped out by transfer before they could complete their eligibility at Vanderbilt. (There's also the reality that we as fans just don't know much about what's really going on.)

On the other hand, though, as others have noted above, there's no escaping the fact VU is at a disadvantage in NIL and will have to play the game differently. We just don't have the numbers of alumni and fans of most other Power 5/6 schools to support richly endowed collectives. And the competition for funding and donations from those same alumni and fans within even the university itself is significant. Think about this--the university is currently engaged in the two largest capital campaigns it has ever executed (Vandy United and Dare to Grow) for athletics and the institution as a whole, respectively. That's on top of the usual fundraising for operations, scholarships, endowed chairs, etc.

Finally, there's the strong likelihood that Vandy is going to play by the rules, such as they are right now. No tampering. No cash outlays directly from the university. No questionable booster investments that trade compensation for no actual value returned. It's the wild west out there right now, and Vandy is Marshal Dillon without a gun. (I mean that with no disrespect, either.)

I believe a reckoning will come one day, and that day will be really, really painful.
Other than Tyrin and maybe Shane Dezonie, I would imagine that most of the transfers were all guys we (as a program) wanted to transfer or at least weren't too concerned about their transferring. I could be wrong there, but we really haven't lost any key players to anywhere other than the draft.

Despite the public positioning, I'm pretty sure Jordan Wright's situation was an open secret within the program. And to be honest, I really don't hold anything against a player who has played somewhere for 4 years, is going to graduate and wants to have one last hoorah in a fresh environment. Kind of makes sense.
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