Southern Illinois hires Scott Nagy

[BCPanther]

When you look at where MVC talent is going [ signing] and where new players are coming from, there's little doubt the Valley is losing the portal wars. Puts the pressure on coaches to be doing great jobs at identifying and signing diamonds in the rough. Not sure how teams are going to grow attendance ; if the league is losing more talent than they are signing, then the games become less attractive as fewer teams are at a high level, which is already negatively influenced just by the number of new players and unfamiliarity, let alone a talent drop off.

It's the unfamiliarity that's going to kill attendance at our level. People get attached to watching kids grow up and become great players in this league and now we're going to get to watch the struggles and growth and then never get the payoff.

I can easily make the case that we're at the worst level to be at in this whole thing. The high majors are using us as a farm team, the low majors are getting the guys that can't quite cut it at this level and we're stuck pulling up better low major kids that are going to end up leaving at their first opportunity as well.

High major kids aren't transferring down because, if you don't really have pro prospects, you're better off staying or moving laterally, taking your check and living the semi-pro lifestyle for the 4 years you're in school.

It's no-man's land and I hate it.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

When you look at where MVC talent is going [ signing] and where new players are coming from, there's little doubt the Valley is losing the portal wars. Puts the pressure on coaches to be doing great jobs at identifying and signing diamonds in the rough. Not sure how teams are going to grow attendance ; if the league is losing more talent than they are signing, then the games become less attractive as fewer teams are at a high level, which is already negatively influenced just by the number of new players and unfamiliarity, let alone a talent drop off.

Yeah, before I was in the camp of “the MVC was a top-10 league this season and brings in just as much transfer talent as it loses”, but this offseason everything got blown to smithereens and those smithereens got blown up into more smithereens.

NIL has taken a life of its own and now has a stranglehold over the sport. MVC has loyal fan bases but MVC fans are blue-collar money. NIL is all about white-collar money. Short of 8-figure net worth donors falling from the sky, MVC schools are handcuffed. I concur that many casuals will disappear from the games when they see unfamiliar rosters every year.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

When you look at where MVC talent is going [ signing] and where new players are coming from, there's little doubt the Valley is losing the portal wars. Puts the pressure on coaches to be doing great jobs at identifying and signing diamonds in the rough. Not sure how teams are going to grow attendance ; if the league is losing more talent than they are signing, then the games become less attractive as fewer teams are at a high level, which is already negatively influenced just by the number of new players and unfamiliarity, let alone a talent drop off.

It's the unfamiliarity that's going to kill attendance at our level. People get attached to watching kids grow up and become great players in this league and now we're going to get to watch the struggles and growth and then never get the payoff.

I can easily make the case that we're at the worst level to be at in this whole thing. The high majors are using us as a farm team, the low majors are getting the guys that can't quite cut it at this level and we're stuck pulling up better low major kids that are going to end up leaving at their first opportunity as well.

High major kids aren't transferring down because, if you don't really have pro prospects, you're better off staying or moving laterally, taking your check and living the semi-pro lifestyle for the 4 years you're in school.

It's no-man's land and I hate it.

Sat near a nice Drake/UNI hybrid family in STL where the kids wore a Bowen Born jersey when UNI played then changed into a Tucker DeVries jersey when Drake played. It’s families like that where the kids get attached to the players that I wonder “man, are they really going to keep spending the money to go to in-state games, buy jerseys for the kids, and travel to STL every year?”

[So iLL 24]

SIU lost another NIL war to in-conference rival Murray State. AJ Ferguson will be heading to Murray. Probably not the last Saluki to head to Murray....

[SalukiWorld]

SIU lost another NIL war to in-conference rival Murray State. AJ Ferguson will be heading to Murray. Probably not the last Saluki to head to Murray....

Guessing Hensley, I really hope not Kennard.

[bleach]

Be patient, it is bad now but it could get a lot better once the P5s fill up. Once the guys trying to move up figure out they are out of chairs, we are a perfect landing spot. I don't like the "new" system but, we aren't running out of available players. The P5s could buy up 20 players if they want to but do you really want to ride the bench for a few more bucks than we are offering? I can't see the P5s giving 100K for a practice player. Maybe they will though. It is too new of a world to figure out until it happens. There is a reason most of our teams aren't making moves yet. We are the fallback position for those tweeners.

[BEARZ77]

Be patient, it is bad now but it could get a lot better once the P5s fill up. Once the guys trying to move up figure out they are out of chairs, we are a perfect landing spot. I don't like the "new" system but, we aren't running out of available players. The P5s could buy up 20 players if they want to but do you really want to ride the bench for a few more bucks than we are offering? I can't see the P5s giving 100K for a practice player. Maybe they will though. It is too new of a world to figure out until it happens. There is a reason most of our teams aren't making moves yet. We are the fallback position for those tweeners.

Think about that though; so we get a rush of guys who basically the P-5's passed on and who really don't want to be here. That doesn't bode well for their investment level, then add the fact if they play well at all, they will be right back in the portal, cause this isn't where they wanted to be to begin with. A group of disappointed players not where they want to be , looking to pad their resume and get the hell out quickly; that sounds like good basketball.

[mvfcfan]

I'm about to the point where Arch Madness is the only thing I will care about and follow. No need in wasting time, energy, and money on regular season games in a one bid league watching players that will more than likely be gone the following season if they're any good at all. I want to see my school do well in the post season, but the rest of it just doesn't seem to matter much anymore.

[dean_siu]

Schools in this league have chosen to be second class. With all the openings this offseason, someone could have hired Chris Lowey and it would have generated a 100x increase in NIL funds at that school along with some of the top transfers in the country committing. Instead, schools hire bums (like Nagy) and we might as well be D2.

[bleach]

Be patient, it is bad now but it could get a lot better once the P5s fill up. Once the guys trying to move up figure out they are out of chairs, we are a perfect landing spot. I don't like the "new" system but, we aren't running out of available players. The P5s could buy up 20 players if they want to but do you really want to ride the bench for a few more bucks than we are offering? I can't see the P5s giving 100K for a practice player. Maybe they will though. It is too new of a world to figure out until it happens. There is a reason most of our teams aren't making moves yet. We are the fallback position for those tweeners.

Think about that though; so we get a rush of guys who basically the P-5's passed on and who really don't want to be here. That doesn't bode well for their investment level, then add the fact if they play well at all, they will be right back in the portal, cause this isn't where they wanted to be to begin with. A group of disappointed players not where they want to be , looking to pad their resume and get the hell out quickly; that sounds like good basketball.

I'm in no way saying this is good in any way. I'm addressing the concern over not signing guys this late. Anybody you sign now has no chance of getting paid. The rosters will start filling soon.....for one year and then repeat.