Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
NCAA Recruiting with Brian Smith
5 Plays1 month ago
Don and Russ discuss Recruiting with Locked the Portal Host Brian Smith
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to NCAA Report
00:00:00
Speaker
This is Gateway Sports. Ladies and gentlemen, I've got a couple questions for you. Do you love college sports as much as I do? Are you always wondering where you can find the latest NCAA reports?
00:00:13
Speaker
Will come to the right place? Welcome, sports fans, to Fuel Sports Presents, the NCAA report with Don Enright. Gee, that sounds kind of interesting..
00:00:29
Speaker
ready to win the game.
00:00:33
Speaker
For the win in the air, it is up and it is good!
Excitement in Sports Plays
00:01:02
Speaker
Look at the air, look at the hang time, look at the flying motion. Look at his head above the rim.
00:01:19
Speaker
help me a chance
00:01:44
Speaker
To infinity and beyond.
00:02:19
Speaker
Call on the field stands.
00:02:31
Speaker
You've got to get it done.
00:02:44
Speaker
Pay attention, son. This is for your own good.
Meet the Hosts and Guest
00:02:47
Speaker
The moment you've all been waiting for. Here they are, your favorite hosts, Don Glenn and Russ Robinson.
00:02:58
Speaker
Well, welcome to the NCAA Report with Don and Russ. I am Don Glenn, and as always, my partner with me in my efforts of crime, Russ Robinson, the man from Missouri. How you doing, Russ?
00:03:14
Speaker
I'm doing fine tonight, Brian. Thank i'm sorry Thank you. ah Well, you wouldn't introduce the guest. You can go ahead. ah ah Yeah, her i we were talking earlier. I'm glad you escaped the ah storms in Missouri and that area and today. So.
00:03:34
Speaker
Glad you are able to still be with us tonight. um And I want to remind everybody that the NCAA report is a proud part of the Gateway Sports Network. At Gateway Sports, you can find articles and podcasts on many different subjects from the pros to the college ranks.
00:03:52
Speaker
Check it out at gatewaysports.net.
00:03:56
Speaker
All right, well, with us tonight, we got us another guest. um And we've been something that Russ have been wanting to try do for a while is get somebody on that has a ah good understanding of the of recruiting and on the national scale.
00:04:11
Speaker
And we are pleased to have with us tonight Brian Smith. Brian, don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? Sure. National recruiting analyst for the Locked On Podcast Network. I run Locked On Seminoles and Locked On The Portal, which the obvious there, transfer portal, NIL and recruiting.
00:04:29
Speaker
But I've covered high school football recruiting forever. I've dabbled in a few other things, but 99.9% of what i do is football. Starting to learn a bit little bit about the basketball portal, and that is wild because the money in that stuff is crazy. But football is wild enough on its own, and to be honest with you, it keeps me busy 24-7. I do two, three shows a day.
00:04:50
Speaker
it's It's a lot of stuff.
Recruiting: High School vs Transfer Portal
00:04:52
Speaker
Oh, wow. Okay. ah ah the kind of leads The first question i want to ask you is, and I think you just kind of mentioned it there in your in your opening, um is recruiting now two separate entities – I mean, you have your high school recruiting and then you have your transfer portal recruiting.
00:05:13
Speaker
It depends on the school. But if you're one of the elite programs, high school recruiting is the bulk of what you do. Let me give you an example. The final four is Penn State, Texas, Notre Dame, and Ohio State.
00:05:26
Speaker
Anybody want to take a guess out of the the four combined offensive line stars, which would be 20 players, how many of those four schools recruited out of the high school ranks? Penn State. Well, 19 of the 20 were starters oh from the high school ranks between those four programs. Really? Just from all those four? Oh, wow. Okay.
00:05:45
Speaker
If you're an elite program, you're getting high school kids. There are very few exceptions to that. Now, let me give you the weird one. Like Arizona State, they were picked dead last in the Big 12.
00:05:58
Speaker
dead last, and they won the freaking league. How you explain that, I have no idea. Part of it is Sam Levitt came on, he's going to end up being an NFL player, then obviously Cam Scadaboo, but their defense got better, their line came together.
00:06:11
Speaker
That is the absolute unequivocal anomaly. Will we have an Arizona State this year? Well, the Big 12 is weird every year, so that's possible.
Balancing Recruits and Transfers
00:06:20
Speaker
don't know who it will be. It could be Texas Tech, could be Colorado.
00:06:23
Speaker
I don't know, Kansas State, whatever. But out of the main two leagues, Big 10 and SEC, there are about eight teams that honestly are going to represent those two leagues every year. We know who they are.
00:06:35
Speaker
That ain't going to change because they get, especially in the trenches, they're getting the dudes in the trenches. Mm-hmm. It's just straightforward. If you're not getting the elite lineman, you're getting your butt kicked once you get to the playoff, if you're even lucky enough to get there.
00:06:48
Speaker
That being stated, you can supplement very well from the portal, and it's ironic. Even Kirby Smart, I forget which day it was, Sunday or something this past weekend, got three guys.
00:06:59
Speaker
He's not a big fan of all the new stuff. Him and Nick are pretty much the same person. He's just the younger version. Mm-hmm. That's basically what he is. He's 2.0. But you can supplement because they you know they go get a receiver a tight end or a safety, whatever, but they're still trying to get their linemen at Georgia from the high school ranks. It's a long process to develop them, so I get it.
00:07:22
Speaker
Of course, the exciting news, the stuff that I get the most clicks on, is when a quarterback hits the portal. Obviously, Nico Iamalaba, that's its own entity within a million miles of anything. and like There's nothing close to it.
00:07:35
Speaker
Quarterback stuff still drives the market. But if you're always looking for a portal quarterback, there are, again, a few exceptions. Notre Dame's hit the portal a lot with it until this year. But for the most part, you're probably developing. That's another one of those developmental spots. So it's wild with the portal, but the the bread and butter, if you're a good program, is still your high school.
00:07:53
Speaker
I get it. Okay.
Resource Allocation Strategies
00:07:54
Speaker
um So I guess the next question would be,
00:08:00
Speaker
How much time do you see in what you've been able to gather? How much time is spent um between the two? I mean, if the if the major programs don't have to go out and, you know, their name recognition is going to give them the high schoolers, you know, then where's the break in Well, this is where it's unique. When Saban first got rolling at Bama, he kind of set the precedent, the back office, 5 million people in his back office.
00:08:29
Speaker
Well, now it's split. Portal and high school, and everybody's a little different. Let me use Kiffin as an example. They got like 29 guys right now from the portal. I mean, it's between the winter and spring windows.
00:08:42
Speaker
But at the same time, you're talking about a scenario where they've increased a little bit, especially with quality, what they're getting at Ole Miss. I'm guessing they put more people in the recruiting staff than before. As they've climbed, they've been able to get a few more of those kids if they didn't used to be able to get.
00:08:58
Speaker
They got arguably the best receiver in the country in this past class. He was an in-state kid. But they usually leave and go to Bama. That's where he was committed, and he flipped. Three, four years ago, would that have happened?
00:09:09
Speaker
Probably not. He used the portal to at least elevate his program, and now Kiffin's trying to flip it the other direction. So I'm guessing that he's used little bit more of his staff towards recruiting. I don't know Lane, but that that would be my guess. And he's a pretty good recruiter anyway.
00:09:24
Speaker
ah But again, it's probably depending on the program. Like, no offense, but if you're Michigan State, you're not getting the same kids that Ohio State wants. You're not. No. Kansas State's not getting the same kid that Oklahoma wants.
00:09:36
Speaker
You're not. So you got to make sure that you fit what you can do at your program with your resources. Cause like Kansas state, that's in a state where there a bunch of Jucos. They've always lived off the Jucos.
00:09:47
Speaker
Don't broke what's not broken. You know, don't break it. Just leave it there. And then try to, you know, supplement here or there and any in-state kids you can get, like they got the quarterback. That's pretty talented player. He's going to be a junior this fall at Kansas state.
00:10:01
Speaker
If you get that kind of guy, then you can go on and report for a year. He's going to be an NFL guy. Make sure you supplement it. But again, do do they put as much into the high school ranks as what Bama does? No.
00:10:12
Speaker
They're not going to get those kids. You've got to be realistic with who you are. I got you. I got you.
Challenges in Team Culture
00:10:18
Speaker
um Okay. Rush, you got any questions? I'll stop. I guess, Brian, what you're talking about, like and I think all the head coaches probably in football are this way. They like to build cultures.
00:10:30
Speaker
and you can build a culture by freshmen and developing them instead of trying to bring in portal guys every year in in in and out in and out in and out that's going that's not going to build much of a culture but i know all the hell i you know um don and i don represents the big 10 icon the sec guy and i'm a mizzou guy and i know that uh el Eli Drinkwich is trying to build culture there.
00:10:55
Speaker
And he likes to recruit. He likes freshmen, but he has, like you say, he has to supplement he has to supplement where his we where he's weak at.
00:11:06
Speaker
and But I know he much rather prefer prefer the freshmen, mainly because he could develop a culture there. So it might be harder to do. Brian, you think it's harder to do now to build that culture than it was 10 years ago for for good coaches? I mean, there's so much temptation. Looks like to me there's so much temptation just to hit the transfer portal, you know.
Impact of NIL and Coaching Decisions
00:11:29
Speaker
I would say yes, because Nick Saban retired because of it. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's the simple answer. Nick Saban can do whatever he wants, and he's always been able to fix everything, and he said, to heck with it, I'm done.
00:11:42
Speaker
He hated the NIL stuff because he lost control of the locker room for the power. If Nick Saban loses power, what does that tell you? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. know what mean? Like you can love or hate Bama or whatever, but you can't disrespect the fact the guy understands system and process. He's the best in the business that I've ever seen.
00:12:02
Speaker
So let's look at it this way. You can still do it to a certain degree, but you got to accept at some point you're going to have a couple of guys on your roster that are going to be knuckleheads. Problem is they're two of your better players.
00:12:15
Speaker
You got to make decisions that you don't like. Nick wasn't that guy that could handle that. he He's never denied it. He's a control fan. You can't handle that because those are the guys are going to come back into your office, want more money or have that third uncle, as I like to call him, that comes into your office or calls you the idiot, if you will.
00:12:35
Speaker
You got to deal with some of that if you're going to coach college now. The best programs, though, They'll take less talent up front as a general rule and find guys that are – Iowa is probably the best example of that.
00:12:47
Speaker
They don't have a lot of guys that lead that are good. Obviously, Ferentz is a very good coach and he's got a great D.C., but they also don't bring in morons. Kid doesn't fit their culture. They don't care what their talent is, but they're consistently good. Are they going to win a national title there? Probably not, but they're always going to be good. If you take that attitude and put it at LSU, Notre Dame,
00:13:09
Speaker
and Florida, like ah how Billy Napier continues to screw up Florida is amazing. But that's like that's one of the five easiest jobs in college football. easys hard but And he's it's unbelievable.
00:13:21
Speaker
right But if you can get culture even remotely to what I was is because you've got a lot more talent at those places. Again, no offense to Iowa. But when Notre Dame's defensive front and their depth chart looks like it's different than Iowa's.
00:13:33
Speaker
you know What Florida looks like is different Iowa's. If you can at least come close at those schools, the talent will take over. The question is, can the coach put up with it because their own ego and and what they're used to doing?
00:13:44
Speaker
That's a big if. Some coaches can't do it. That's why a lot of them have gone to the NFL or retired. They don't have anything to do with it. So it's person to person, but it is a fascinating study. Yet billa Bill Belichick has moved from the NFL to to the college ranks. Is he going to learn about this?
00:14:02
Speaker
Well, from what I was told, they've got an n NIL department that pretty much
Standout Recruiting Classes
00:14:06
Speaker
handles it for him. He just does the selling. Hey, this is how we're going to coach you. This is what you're going to play. NIL is separate from him.
00:14:14
Speaker
Can you see Bill trying to negotiate NIL? I mean, that would be a Saturday Night Live skit. I mean, it would be yeah absolutely off the rails. I'd pay to see it because it would go wrong really fast.
00:14:25
Speaker
Oh, yeah. that That would be a viral video for it in itself, wouldn't it? Yeah. Okay, so let's get into recruiting a little bit now. um Overall, this past this past football recruiting, um now that we've got the – are we still in the spring portal?
00:14:44
Speaker
The portal has closed, but you can sign. You just can't get in it again. still Okay. So when they sign is iffy. That's where it's going. We've got a signing day for recruiting but for the portal.
00:14:56
Speaker
Gotcha. It's random. Gotcha. So who who has in in the NCAA football realm, who had the best recruiting class? This past year, Texas, they went out and bought themselves a really good class for the most part towards the end.
00:15:15
Speaker
mean, there were some kids they spent over a million dollars on And something well north of a million. And that that's an interesting study within itself, too, Sarkeesian wants really big D-linemen. There's only very few of them.
00:15:27
Speaker
ah They outbid Georgia and some other schools on some kids. Will those kids stick is the question. Right. I question that. But at the same time, if I'm some kid that's, you know, even if I'm middle class, like if somebody throws 1.5 at me, it's pretty rough. And it's Texas too. It's not like they're going to some nobody institution.
00:15:48
Speaker
It's good school and it's got whole lot of tradition. I get it. So Texas had the best class. Ohio state was up there. i mean, kind of typical Alabama, you know, LSU, Miami, nothing shocking really.
00:16:00
Speaker
oh um So ah of the top, um, Did any one conference come out with all with with the majority of, the say, the top high schoolers or the top transfers?
00:16:13
Speaker
Well, I mean, know far as high school recruiting, it's always the SEC because the most players are down south.
Conference Recruiting Trends
00:16:18
Speaker
Got you. As far as volume, it's not close. ah The middle of the pack in the SEC does so much better than the Big Ten in the middle of the pack.
00:16:25
Speaker
It's just not even – you can compare, like, the first four programs at either conference. You can pick whatever one you want. But five through eight SEC is way deeper. that's That's one way to look at it. Plus, like, Ole Miss almost made the playoff last year.
00:16:39
Speaker
Were they one of the top four teams? Maybe, maybe not. And they almost made the playoff. You know mean? Like, Big Ten doesn't have that same depth. And Ole Miss, again, has started to recruit better. South Carolina has started recruit better. They got big NIL.
00:16:51
Speaker
And you added Texas. And you added Oklahoma. So, as far as the portal, that's a little bit different. This is the new trend. And I'm trying to put together a podcast on this. It's not who you signed.
00:17:03
Speaker
It's who you kept. The Spring Window didn't have near as much talent come into the portal because a lot of kids just got paid. It's really boring. Yeah. But it goes back to your guys talking to me about, hey, we're trying to build culture.
00:17:19
Speaker
Well, it sucks if you put all this money into your strength program, into your academics and everything else to help these kids. They stay for a year or so. Then they get ticked off because they're not starting as a redshirt freshman or whatever.
00:17:30
Speaker
right And then they hit the portal. You're better overall, although it sucks for the short term, to pay the kid an extra 50K or whatever it is. Because you're getting your at least some of your bang for your buck.
00:17:42
Speaker
Otherwise, you're getting nothing. So that's the new trend. um Ryan Day in Ohio State didn't lose a player to the four. That's impressive. I mean, obviously they have the culture, you know, getting to play with Jeremiah Smith, the kid I know, he's great.
00:17:58
Speaker
I get it, but not to lose any? Yeah, right. Your culture has got to be like – Way high. So there's only a few schools in that realm. Like Notre Dame was close. They had Angeli, but he didn't win the quarterback job. He's going to Syracuse.
00:18:11
Speaker
They really didn't lose anybody of note either. The elite programs, again, did you lose anybody that was a starter? That's the question. Like your Missouri Tigers, I did a Mizzou podcast earlier today.
00:18:25
Speaker
It'll be out to tomorrow. They have a few kids they lost, but it's five years ago if the portal would have started, Missouri would have lost 10 because they weren't really Now it's more, hey I can do something here. They're more likely to wait around.
00:18:37
Speaker
Give me a drink with some credit. They're closing that gap. They're only losing a few guys. And they stole Damon Wilson from Kirby, one of the best pass rushers in the country. iss Another kid I know from Venice, Florida. He's a beast. Mm-hmm.
00:18:50
Speaker
yeah There's a few programs on that cusp, but if you really want to see who's going to win, did you get your butt kicked by losing guys that not were on your roster? Starters. start If you can answer none, you're on the right path.
00:19:03
Speaker
Well, yeah, because losing losing a starter with with some teams that are losing guys to the NFL at the same time, you know. Oh, yeah, you can go down. That could be a big double whammy. Oh, yeah. if you had a just unlucky year with, you know, it's great that you developed and they turned pro. But if you have like two receivers turn pro in the same year and that's rough, you know, LSU might be able to do it high state. But there's like four or five schools and get away with it. Most schools are in trouble the next year. That's eight and four, seven five.
00:19:32
Speaker
Ron, let me ask you about a program I find interesting, and Don knows more about this maybe than I do, Indiana. The first-year coach comes in, brings in all these guys, transfers, and wins 10 games, 11 games, something like that.
00:19:49
Speaker
How are they now? now As far as retaining players, how did he do retaining players or bringing in freshmen or things like that? is he is he a Is he kind of beginning to balance it out more? Do do you see that or do you know?
00:20:05
Speaker
Yeah, Indiana, ironically, that's my undergrad degree. I'm from Indiana. They got Casimir Hicks the other day from the spring transfer, spring transfer. right before the visits start, one of the best players in Indianapolis and Indiana, maybe the best player in the state that's going to be a senior this fall.
00:20:23
Speaker
They'd never get that kid Indiana. So that's a good sign for their future. Two things, though, about the portal. Last year, he brought all those kids. Where was he? Liberty or whatever? I can't remember. Not Liberty. James Madison.
00:20:34
Speaker
yeah but Yeah, he brought like 10 kids from one school or something. Right. He's not going to be able to do that again. They knew the system. He knew their backgrounds. He knew they were going to fit their culture. Mm-hmm. That's a one and done situation.
00:20:46
Speaker
Right. Right. So they got some portal guys this year, but they're not going to get the same level of bang for the buck. Like they already stole all the players. Right. So, and now they're the hunted instead of the hunter.
00:21:01
Speaker
You know what i mean? Everybody wants their circle in Indiana. He went 11 and one he got beat by Notre Dame in the playoff. That's greatest season in Indiana football history. That's going to be a different deal. Every single team going to want a piece of the Hoosiers, and I get it.
00:21:14
Speaker
Yeah. So I'd imagine that they'll be good. They got the Fernando Mendoza kid from Cal, very accurate. Saw him play live last year at Auburn. But everybody's going to give them their best shot. It's not going to be the same.
00:21:27
Speaker
I'm guessing they'll be eight and four, something like that. It'll be bowl team. I don't see them going to the playoff, though. I don't think they got the same kind of depth. ah He's not going sneak up on anybody. yeah Oh, yeah, they won't. i don't yeah Like you said, everybody's been looking out for him.
00:21:42
Speaker
You were mentioning the middle of the pack, VIG 10 versus middle of the pack SEC. Now, i'm I'm up here in in Illinois, right about nine miles from Memorial Stadium. so um yeah and I get what you're saying there. You've got the Illinois and the Iowas and all this that are just they're there. But couple...
00:22:02
Speaker
um but ah couple you know like in Indiana made the strides because they've always been actually a bit lower than the, than the middle of the pack. oh Indiana has always been near the, near the lower.
00:22:16
Speaker
and And you see, you see in Indiana now, you know, we're, we get constantly reports of being, bringing in different players in Illinois. You have ah um Michigan States. I know they're, they're getting some players in.
00:22:29
Speaker
Who do you think in the middle of the pack of that big 10 group, can make that next level jump in, say, the next two to three years? Illinois.
00:22:40
Speaker
I think Illinois got an outside shot of making the playoff this year. They've got Altmeier back. Having that transfer court. If you're going to take a spot, an experienced quarterback that's been coached by Kiffin is a pretty good starting point.
00:22:51
Speaker
Like Lane or Hayden, can coach quarterbacks. So that kid just got beat out. He just got beat out. Jackson Dard's better. So that's a possibility. You know they're going to be good in the trenches. Um, Bielema is probably not the friendliest guy to hang out with, but he understands line play.
00:23:07
Speaker
He's about as cuddly as a grizzly bear. Um, he can coach football. They give everybody like they're physical with Michigan. What does that tell you? Right. I'll go with them.
00:23:19
Speaker
The team that will do it, whoever it ends up being, this this is the key. This is where the big 10 usually sucks, especially the old school big 10 West outside the numbers. The big 10 West is garbage. Um,
00:23:30
Speaker
On ah offense, the receivers, they can't get they can't get anybody. So whoever has a receiver will be that team. it i Wisconsin is falling way off.
00:23:41
Speaker
Nebraska, I can't figure that out. They got better, but we'll see that quarterback's got got a chance. ah Minnesota, I'm not buying it. I just don't think you're going get enough players to go all the way north up there.
00:23:53
Speaker
So that brings me back to your point, like Iowa, Illinois. the back I did an Iowa show earlier today too. Like, Kirk understands what he's doing, and he ain't got that quarterback. Gronkowski, whatever his name is, kid from North Dakota State, he throw it.
00:24:08
Speaker
Big kid, if you go get a quarterback, like, oh, my God, Iowa can throw the forward pass.
00:24:14
Speaker
I didn't know that until they got that kid. Yeah, that's not it's not their normal that's not their normal modus operandi. Yeah, when their game came up on my TV, I turned it, unless they were on defense. I couldn't watch it. It was horrible.
00:24:28
Speaker
yeah But now they've got a quarterback. You know they're going to play defense. Oh, yeah. They're defense coordinator. Holy cow, that guy's unbelievable, what he does. So, Illinois or Iowa is my guess.
SEC Recruiting Dynamics
00:24:40
Speaker
If it ends up being somebody else, it would surprise me. sure doesn't go be Purdue. That'd be about it. Oh, my God, that's embarrassing. my That's a train wreck. That's a train wreck. What about Maryland? Maryland.
00:24:51
Speaker
Maryland, I had somebody other day tell me he wouldn't let one of his kids go to Maryland. Really? so Yeah, doesn't trust the coaching staff. I'll be darned. So that's not a good sign for Maryland.
00:25:02
Speaker
No. But they're spending oodles of money on the portal. Oodles of money on top recruits. So, you know, at some point you've got to bring home the bacon.
00:25:14
Speaker
That's true. Four or five win seasons, man. I don't care much spending. That ain't getting it done. Yeah. Well, let's flip it over the SEC now. what what the you know We mentioned that you know so South Carolina, Ole Miss you know had their they' inching toward that playoff picture. Alabama was found themselves on the outside looking in.
00:25:34
Speaker
We know Alabama's got always going to be around. um Missouri had their shot early in the season. They lost a couple games late, I think, that hurt them. um
00:25:47
Speaker
Who makes the next jump the SEC?
00:25:50
Speaker
That is the million-dollar question. This year could be as fraudulent as it gets because it's going to come down to some lucky bounces. I think Texas is clearly the best team. They went got five guys in the portal at defensive tackle.
00:26:03
Speaker
Five. Wow. they got They got oil money and then some. So they got all the D tackles. um They're my preseason pick to win it because of that. Arch is going to score points. We know that. But um after that, man, like I don't think Georgia is still what they used to be. Their depth has been cut.
00:26:22
Speaker
Damon Wilson's going to play. For Russ's Tigers, they they lost a few other kids. They just don't have the same depth. The portal has killed the SEC in a way because some of those kids will go play at Iowa or whatever for an extra $100K instead sitting on the bench for Kirby.
00:26:38
Speaker
And I get it. Kids don't want to sit the bench, man. They don't want to sit the bench. no And on top of that, I think, again, kind of like just using Kirby as an example, that they man, he don't want to deal with this stuff. ah I don't think he'll be at Georgia much longer.
00:26:51
Speaker
couple more seasons, I think he'll hang it up because he just doesn't to deal with this junk. I be wrong. But Alabama, I don't know. It's year two. But the quarterback that they're probably going to start, the white kid from Tennessee, I forget his name, but he's okay.
00:27:06
Speaker
But he's more of a system guy. That young kid they got from Dallas might be the best – Keelan Russell might be the best player in the country. By the end of the year, if he's not the starting quarterback, I'd be somewhat surprised. unbelievable. but that's a rough system to learn.
00:27:17
Speaker
Watch out for Bama. Ole Miss has Austin Simmons. You're going to know his name really quick. Quarterback that is absolutely electric. He throws 95 mile an hour off the rubber too. So he's got a cannon.
00:27:29
Speaker
And he's a lefty. He's a 6'3 lefty. He throws 95. So he's got juice. And then you've got the Lenora Sellers kid. That's the quarterback at South Carolina. He's 240. If he figures how post-snap reads, he could be the first pick in the draft.
00:27:44
Speaker
But if he doesn't, he may not get any better at all because you're not going to just like nobody wants to run into that guy. Like he takes off. I don't want to hit him. But you've got to find a way to make the forward passes from the pocket work if you're going to advance into the playoffs.
00:27:59
Speaker
So the other wild card is you got material that transferred in from Washington State to Oklahoma. That kid is electric. i don't know if you're watching his film. He had 15 rushing touchdowns for Wazoo last year and threw for 29 touchdowns, seven picks.
00:28:13
Speaker
His offensive coordinator comes with him to Oklahoma. He can spin it, and he's an athlete. Oklahoma's schedule, though, might be even worse than what Florida's was last year. It's brutal.
00:28:24
Speaker
So, like, game two, they play Michigan, just as they're out of conference game, on top of the SEC. So, they didn't screw around. I'll give Oklahoma credit. they They certainly took on a healthy schedule, but – yeah ah you know Then you got like LSU, who's completely shot itself in the foot two years in a row.
00:28:41
Speaker
They got a senior quarterback that threw 4,000 yards last year. Can they get enough help on defense? They were absolutely scatterbrained on defense. So the SEC is wild.
00:28:54
Speaker
I got Texas up here. Then there's about six teams all together. <unk> yeah Let me ask you with one thing. This leads up to something that happened in SEC. I don't think the other conferences did this.
00:29:09
Speaker
For the spring portal, Greg Sankey, or at least the SEC, made a rule that you couldn't transfer out of one SEC team into another, or one SEC program into another.
00:29:22
Speaker
ah that seems I think that seems unique. I didn't know i know that the transfer portal was legally protected, but apparently the SEC was able to make this rule and the teams are abiding by it.
00:29:37
Speaker
The fall portal, don't so that wasn't the rule, but in the spring portal, that is a rule. Is that something you're seeing across the other conferences or is it even legally protected i mean that they can do that?
00:29:51
Speaker
I think the SEC is an anomaly. Two things on that. I think it's smart by Sankey. Remember a few years ago when Jimbo was yelling at Nick and vice versa? They're just trying to keep public discourse from going. on Oh, right. Because they all cheat like crazy.
00:30:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:10
Speaker
history Yeah. When you have them tell you they're not cheating, walk away. Yeah. Yeah. oh That's how that goes. They lie in SOBs.
00:30:21
Speaker
So with that being said, you eliminate any problems because in the spring, here's the really big deal. If you're in the spring portal, either you screwed up in recruiting or like what you guys said earlier, sometimes guys just turn pro and you're just in a bad spot. Then if you have an injury at that spot too, you could have a championship or roster otherwise, but if you're missing a corner, well, what's that other team going to do?
00:30:44
Speaker
They're going to go at that spot every single snap. So you're all American middle linebackers worthless. So you're going to go steal somebody. You just don't want it to be in your own conference. So you don't want to cause any more. Hey, because ABC, Fox, ESPN, everybody love to cover it. It's good for clicks, but it ain't good for your conference.
00:31:01
Speaker
So that's why it happened. I also think that it's so ugly because of the cheating that we're probably going to see the spring window come to a close at some point.
00:31:13
Speaker
When, I don't know. But it's either that or it's the other thing. And this would be fine with me. You get one transfer, you can be eligible. Your second transfer, your butt sits out.
00:31:26
Speaker
At some point, there's got to be some because there's no academics in this crap. And there's no concern for any loyalty. So it's rough, but like you can't back, you can't transfer back to back something along those those lines. Right.
00:31:42
Speaker
And I think it would be good if all conferences had no inter-conference transfer. That would really eliminate. Because like, think about the Big Ten, the traditional Big Ten with like Indiana in the middle of it.
00:31:56
Speaker
Even if it was just the old Big Ten, it's a long way to another conference unless you want to go. How many Big Ten kids want to go play at Kentucky? Not many. No. They're going to want to go a lot.
00:32:07
Speaker
And then mom's not happy. You're going to get a lot of kids to think long and hard about decisions if you do that. It would be wonderful if the Big Ten adopted the same rule the Southeastern Conference did. yeah Yeah. Brian, what do you see? I'm down here in the ah southeastern part of the Missouri, and lot of Mizzou fans love Arkansas fans down here.
00:32:27
Speaker
What's your view on the Arkansas situation? It looks like he's hanging on by his his fingernails down there. Do you see that improving? Do you see that as a train wreck? what What's your view on the Arkansas recruiting and transfers and things like that?
00:32:45
Speaker
That program is doomed. It doesn't matter if God took over tomorrow. There's not enough players inside that state. There's just not enough talent. Like the state of Missouri has got St. Louis and Kansas City. That's pretty fertile ground.
00:33:00
Speaker
yeah There's a lot of ballplayers like Luther Burden's from St. Louis. You know what mean? Like the Cantwell kid that lives down by you, he's as good an offensive tackle as I've ever seen. I'm sure you're familiar with him. Right, right. You know, like Missouri's ten times the state Arkansas is for talent.
00:33:18
Speaker
What's Arkansas going to do? Now, they got the Taylor Green kid for one more year, and that coach is old. I bet he steps down. He ain't going be no good after this year. I bet he steps down. But the next guy, I mean, I'm guessing a certain ah offense coordinator will step back into that role. But who's he going to – mean, how much talent are you really going to get at Arkansas year to year?
00:33:39
Speaker
No, you have to nationally recruit. You have to be like, ah have a name like Lou Holtz did, you know, when he was there. Oh, yeah, 70s. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That was way back then. And so it's been tough for him down there. I know i know that. it just You just have to have a national name.
00:33:56
Speaker
ah So to come in there, but that might be tough because there's now a natural recruiting base there, you know. That's right. um I don't know, Don, do you want move to basketball? what you want Well, yeah, ah we'll we'll go into basketball here in little bit right after we hear about art from our our sponsor, Liquid IV.
00:34:16
Speaker
Have you heard about Liquid IV? Well, it's a new way to hydrate, and it's the number one powdered sports drink in America. It delivers two times faster hydration than water alone and three times electrolytes of traditional sports drinks.
00:34:31
Speaker
It uses cellular transport technology, which acts as a hydration multiplier designed to deliver more rapid absorption of water into the body. It also delivers key vitamins like B3, B5, B6, B12, and vitamin C. It's non-GMO, contains no soy or dairy, and it's gluten-free.
00:34:50
Speaker
It comes in a variety of formulas and flavors. They have a regular electrolyte replacement formula, which I have found helpful when I'm out in the yard or working in the garage and get a little thirsty. There's an energy hydration formula, which I've used in my writing. and ah You know, we've got to get a podcast in. Well, take a drink of that every time I need little pick-me-up. There's an immune-boosting formula that helps fight off colds.
00:35:15
Speaker
There's also a kombucha blend for dietary health and even a formula for better sleep through hydration. They have a multitude of flavors. and I'm particularly partial to the Golden Cherry, Azu Pineapple, Strawberry Lemonade, and Lemon Lime.
00:35:29
Speaker
They also have a pina colada, concord grape. You name it, they've got a flavor. There's very light. They're refreshing. I mean, no aftertaste.
00:35:40
Speaker
Now, it also, they've developed a sugar-free line of flavors. Lemon, lime, seaberry, I think is another one. They've set up a line of hydration for kids.
00:35:53
Speaker
And concord grape, crisp apple, tropical punch banana, and cotton candy. Liquid IV is conveniently packaged in individual pouches or sticks so you can take them literally anywhere.
00:36:05
Speaker
The beach, the gym, the office, school, even on an airplane. Did you know that the humidity in an airplane cabin is 5-12% less than the Sahara Desert? So long flights, you can get dehydrated and at least the jet lag.
00:36:20
Speaker
Coffee, tea, alcohol during the flight, that won't help.
Product Promotion: Liquid IV
00:36:24
Speaker
Ask for a bottle of water, drop in the contents of one packet, give it a shake, and you've got instant hydration. Liquid IV also cares about the world we live in, so they resource sustainable materials from family farms.
00:36:36
Speaker
They use 100% recycled materials in their packaging, and they're involved in providing grants totaling up to $1.3 million dollars to expand access to clean and abundant water in other countries.
00:36:51
Speaker
So right now, go to liquidiv.com, use the code GCS at checkout to get 20% off. That's liquidiv.com, code GCS. You can also shop better hydration using my link, Z-E-N.
00:37:06
Speaker
www.LiquidIV.com talking sports on the bleachers and get twenty percent off anything you buy that's twenty percent off anything you buy check out hydration multiplication try a liquid i e go to liquid ive dot com using the promo code gcs at checkout All right, well, we are back, and we've got Brian Smith with us, National Recruiting Analyst. This is the NCAA Report with Don and Russ, my partner, Russ Robinson, as always, on along this along for the ride.
Basketball vs Football Recruiting
00:37:36
Speaker
So we talked a little bit about football, and i'm i'm you know sir some of the same questions or same answers are going to be in basketball, but I think to a little different extent. Russ and I have talked before.
00:37:50
Speaker
that the transfer portal seems to have done two things to the Big Ten and the SEC. It's made the SEC more of a commoner in football, and it's turned the Big Ten into a commoner in basketball.
00:38:05
Speaker
When you look at this past season, you had 14 teams, or I think it was, from the SEC make the NCAA field of 68, and you had eight from the Big Ten.
00:38:18
Speaker
That is a huge discrepancy ah in in in terms of numbers. You wouldn't think that. You would think you would see ah more teams from the Big Ten, you know, go a little bit further. Illinois finished, I think, sixth, and then, you know, they barely got, basically barely got in the tournament itself to a certain extent.
00:38:37
Speaker
um So in the transfer portal, when it relates to basketball, um and ah um I'm going to piggyback on something else you said earlier too in a minute here, but ah who who, which conference is actually you going to be doing the best? I mean, you've got, mean, you've seen a little bit of decline in the Big Ten. You've seen a rise in the SEC.
00:39:03
Speaker
ACC's always got the blue blood programs of North Carolina and Duke and all this. How does all this work out now? I mean, is there going to be a new resetting of the of the blue bloods?
00:39:16
Speaker
I don't know if there's going to be a complete resetting, but I know Indiana finally hired a coach. That'll be good for the Big Ten. As an IU grad, I was happy to see ah change. And he's done pretty well in the portal.
00:39:29
Speaker
But I think the biggest thing, it's kind of like the, think of the traditional Big Ten West, we most would talk about in football. Those schools don't like to spend much on NIF. How well is that done for you in the portal when basketball, like one player changes your roster, kid getting $3 million, dollars nothing uncommon.
00:39:47
Speaker
They don't want to spend.
00:39:50
Speaker
It's not going to work. Big 10's in trouble. All the SEC schools have pretty much committed to spending. Not all the Big 10 schools have. It's just the it is. Like Iowa...
00:40:01
Speaker
You know, Wisconsin, and some of these schools, they're good, but they're missing that one guy to get them over the top. And they don't want spend. So I don't want to hear no complaint. Wisconsin's the worst. they're the yeah Their fan base deserves so much, especially football.
00:40:15
Speaker
They're going to suck again this year, in my opinion. And they got a tough schedule. It's because they don't want to spend. So that that's the biggest problem. And then on top of it, I mean, I live in the South.
00:40:26
Speaker
Basketball's gotten bigger down here in terms of the high school rank. i don't know what started that. But Texas is one of the places it started. Everybody has to recruit there for everything. They're just great at sports. But in Atlanta, in Miami, the private schools and these charter schools in Florida,
00:40:43
Speaker
Florida just won it. Coincidence? No. It's just easier now. And it's probably not real hard to recruit to Gainesville. Okay. I'm guessing. know You know, it's I've been through there about 50 times. It's not real hard to recruit to Gainesville.
00:40:56
Speaker
So if you've got NIL, you're an SEC school and you're state U in the South, if you put NIL into it, you might catch fire, which Florida did. Back half the year, there was no doubt.
00:41:08
Speaker
who the best team was. It was Gators, and they cut down the nets. I think the SEC might be the most dominant in both sports moving forward because of the sports priority in the South and the spending on it.
00:41:21
Speaker
Like comparing the spending in Wisconsin to the spending in like Georgia for high school athletics, it's like the difference between a five-star on Park Avenue and some little hole in the wall in the middle of nowhere in central Arkansas.
00:41:38
Speaker
it's just It's just totally different, antibo yet you're competing for the same spot in the NCAA tournament. right No way. It's going to be the SEC every time. Yeah, I mean, even with the field being 68 teams, I think it's still, in a lot of respects, to making that field is tougher than making the football playoffs because you've got a lot more – um i You see schools that get into it. And Russ and I have talked about you know the lamenting the fact that we're probably not going to see any more Cinderella's in the next few years. so
00:42:11
Speaker
ah But you've always got some of those schools from from the mid-majors that will come along and you i'll surprise somebody here and there. You're just not going to see that in football. That's just not never going to happen. You're not going to see Drake make ah make a run at the NCAA football playoffs. This ain't going to happen.
00:42:30
Speaker
Well, the three-point line gives you a chance in basketball. It's the undefendable circumstance. right um There's been a lot of teams that got hot and made the Final Four. Remember, it was the first or second year Dean Smith retired his replacement.
00:42:44
Speaker
They didn't even do well. They barely got the tournament. They're like an eight or nine team, but they got hot and started hitting threes. They made Final Four. You know, that you can't do that in football. It's lineman driven sport.
00:42:55
Speaker
It's a depth sport. It's about physicality and brutality. There ain't no three point line. so yeah It's funny you mentioned there three point line because I was in a discussion earlier today. I think it was that we were talking about mostly about Illinois and and and now that we've got.
00:43:14
Speaker
basically three seven-footers on the team um with getting ah Tommy's brother. um But they made the point that, because somebody was talking about shooting, and they said, well, shooting is not it because each team, three of the four teams at least, that were in the Final Four had two dominant inside big men.
00:43:37
Speaker
Well, that's the teams that are Cinderella, to beat them, the only chance they have is to hit triples. Right. They're not going to guard the seven-footer. If they're not hitting, they're going to lose. It's pretty simple.
00:43:48
Speaker
You're not guarding an NBA post player with some 6'9 kid that averages nine points and six rebounds. Right. So you better be hitting. yeah So I don't think that really matters because they but Kansas always had big guys. You know, UConn's always had big guys.
00:44:02
Speaker
Duke's always had big guys. Auburn's kind of new to it, but they've got multiple big guys. Florida, they had, of course, that Clayton kid or whatever. He was just, I don't care what his height was. He was just unreal. he was He was money.
00:44:14
Speaker
But every team had a big guy, and they also spent enough money to get somebody to get to the paint. throw alley-oops, they could create. The teams that were a little bit short, they probably didn't have the creator or the seven-footer.
00:44:25
Speaker
Runs and fives in basketball. Point guard in the center or if you play two power forwards, you're big. Those are the money spots. inside game, right, right. Yeah, and the teams that got the cash are going to get those kids.
00:44:38
Speaker
Teams that don't, that's it. So who who in your mind did and did any and any good for themselves in the basketball realm? I know you're kind of light with basketball, but, you know. it's It's been crazy. Like, Kentucky's doing a little bit different now. They've got a new coach.
00:44:55
Speaker
I like some of their pickups. Indiana's got a bunch. They totally changed their roster. Florida State even. Like, they've got six, seven kids. They lost 11. Like, they lost their entire roster.
00:45:06
Speaker
There will be a totally different team. That was Illinois last year. Yeah. but Yeah, Duke even got a kid that's from Washington State or something. Like, you don't think about Duke needing transfers. Right, right. They are the worst of blue bloods now.
00:45:19
Speaker
They even took a transfer. So I had to step back and kind of analyze it after it's all done because basketball chemistry is different in football. Like, oh, linemen don't know where the ball is going, but they just know how they're blocking.
00:45:31
Speaker
In basketball play, you got to know everything. Everything, right. So i'm I'm curious about it. Like, i doubt – I think the best coach in college basketball is Bill Self. I really don't think it's – all that close over time, I highly doubt they're going to be down two years in a row by Kansas standards.
00:45:47
Speaker
I want to look at them first.
Kansas Basketball Expectations
00:45:49
Speaker
They kept by Denga or by Dinka, however you say name, the big guy that was freshman. They got a few other pieces. I bet you his parts will fit better than other teams without looking at everything, without everything being done.
00:46:01
Speaker
I'll bet you Kansas ends up being one of the top five teams next year. I just trust Bill self. But after that, I mean, it, You tell me. Yeah. So many of these kids, I mean, they're they're just looking for the dollars.
00:46:15
Speaker
And Duke lost a generational play. like He's going to He's going to be the first pick. I don't know. Yeah. Because there's just so many guys that we've done. Like, again, Florida State had 11 guys. I know they weren't any good, but it's just an example. They had 11 guys transferred.
00:46:32
Speaker
How could you project what they're going to do next year? Right. you take Two or three more trades. That's great. But none of these guys played together. So schools like Carolina went and got some guys. They're not going to bad two years in row either.
00:46:45
Speaker
That ain't going to happen. Or he's getting fired. It's A or B. yeah They won't put up with that on Tobacco Road. I know that. Yeah. Bottom line, it's wild in basketball because one guy can completely change your rosters.
00:47:01
Speaker
Football, it'll help you. Might be the final piece, but that's why, like you said, Drake ain't ever winning at football. It's about totality. You've got to have so many numbers. Those small schools, Mississippi State ain't ever winning no national title. You know what ah yeah yeah you're Yeah, you're not going to see somebody from the – um mountain west or the in the next couple years the rebuilt pack 12 um i don't think you're gonna see anybody come out of that one you know smelling like a rose as ah and they might get a they'll they'll get a bowl game here and there but you know the to get into that that 12 that 12 team that 12 team group it is they ain't gonna happen i don't think um
00:47:46
Speaker
When you talk about recruiting, and it's yeah I know it's going to be different you know when you're talking the Power 4 versus the mid-majors versus Division 2. you know um
00:48:00
Speaker
what i mean Russ and I have talked about this, too. is
00:48:06
Speaker
With the transfer portal, with NIL, are the mid-majors going to be just an afterthought?
Mid-Major Recruiting Challenges
00:48:15
Speaker
and recruit When it comes to recruiting and and getting the players that you need to be successful? There could be a couple exceptions, but for the most part, I think so. Basketball, it's weird because like Georgetown's got a name.
00:48:27
Speaker
They had Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning and a lot of guys I remember from when I was a kid. But they don't have football, and they're rich schools. Georgetown's got money out the yin-yang. If they wanted to go all in, it's probably not that hard to get kids to Georgetown. Gonzaga would be the other one.
00:48:44
Speaker
It's kind of pick. They're not really –
00:48:47
Speaker
Right. Outside something like that where they really don't have a football program and all the money goes towards hoops. They ain't got the money. Yeah. That's kind of how I see it. I mean, who else would it be?
00:49:01
Speaker
I mean. Yeah. I mean, I mean, I mean, you could still, uh, boy, yeah, you're right. Who does have the money? I mean, who's, you know, if you're talking just a basketball only school, I mean, you know, um,
00:49:15
Speaker
ah Here in Illinois, you got Bradley, you got DePaul, but they haven't been relevant for decades. I mean, you know. so If you have the right booster, though, that steps up, you get two kids in the portal, and you get like one inner-city Chicago kid, you're DePaul.
00:49:34
Speaker
All of a sudden, you're top-ten team. Yeah. Maybe one year, but you're going to the Final Four, and your fan base be happy. Right. Right. yeah so Or at least me earlyies get yourself in the tournament and and then make that fan base happy. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So schools like St. Joe and some of those back east, Iona, stuff like that.
00:49:54
Speaker
They could get six, seven guys in the portal to add the right coach and make a run, but that's just got to be everything lines up perfectly. And, again, three-point line gives them a chance at hoops. That's where the money's different.
00:50:06
Speaker
If you ain't hitting threes, you ain't going to five or four if you're an Iona. Zero chance. Right.
Spring Transfer Portal Debate
00:50:11
Speaker
yeah I guess i want I did want to circle back on ah one of the things you were talking about with the – going back to football just quickly here. on When you're talking about cutting out one of those transfer periods – you know which i've always found it weird that football gets two transfer periods and basketball only gets the one or all other sports only get the one and who came up first of all who came up with that idea they ought to be shot um second of all which one would you think would be more advantageous to eliminate the spring portal the fall portal oh spring by mile um why now why would you say the spring
00:50:50
Speaker
Because after spring practice, when you know your roster, that's when the most cheating happens. Okay. Because if, again, if you have an injury at a spot where you were probably going to be thin anyway, your only recourse is going to get in somebody else's player.
00:51:09
Speaker
Right. It is what it is. So, but if you can't go get one, You just got to work through it just like they used to. We'd have a lot more normalcy in college football.
00:51:22
Speaker
ah Do you see ah maybe shifting a little bit, and as long as they still have the the the spring portal, To me, so i went basketball and football, they'll open up almost at the same time for the spring portal.
00:51:38
Speaker
ah Do you see any way maybe of ah you know splitting those two apart? um Because I know it's got to be hell on it's got to be hell on on certain on on maybe certain certain schools with trying to recruit in both sectors at the same time and have their their compliance department going 5,000 different directions. Yeah.
00:51:56
Speaker
you know Well, that's based on the academic calendar more than anything else. School getting out in May. They want kids to have all their transcripts kind of lined up before they go into finals, get into that, be done with it so they don't interfere in finals. so but Last week of April, it is what it is. There's there's nothing – there's no way to do it that's good.
00:52:18
Speaker
There's just not. But at the same time, Basketball and football are different entities, and I think football has two because of spring practice. right Some kids want to go to spring ball, so they transfer in the winter. and That's the only reason you can have two, but basketball doesn't have something like that.
00:52:35
Speaker
It's different kind of deal. yeah Your summer season, kids go all over to train, but there's no formal type of education to the coaches that I know of.
Title IX and Power Conferences
00:52:44
Speaker
that the NCAA allows. I'm sure they still practice illegally all time, but nothing. I think they have three on three practices now or something like that, three man practices or it's probably good because it keeps kid out of trouble. Yeah. doubt. Not good for 18 and 19 year old kids.
00:52:59
Speaker
doesn't mean not good not good for eighteen and nineteen year old kids no it is not. um one other final thing and with um going along with the transfer portal in the and the NIL, has that fueled more college expansion talk or was the college or did the college college expansion fuel the the transfer portal changes?
00:53:30
Speaker
I don't think they really have much to do with each other. I think the expansion is just about money. The portal is about not getting sued. who okay yeah Money is always the answer to everything and in our
Future of NCAA and Congress Involvement
00:53:46
Speaker
world. Especially when you're in line when you're talking the the the big the big sports, basketball, football, you mean that's your money sports. that's where That's where the universities make their money is on those two sports, for sure.
00:53:57
Speaker
well The NCAA is just trying to stay afloat as long as it can before it gets canned. ro Drop people as pro as long as they can. And they are trying to drop. There ain't no doubt about it.
00:54:08
Speaker
But they aren't even policing the poll. I mean, it's a joke. They just don't want to get sued. Right. I keep saying, and I said this on one of my other podcasts, is that, you know, the NCAA is so, everybody talks about why don't they do something. Well, they don't want to do it. They want Congress to do it so that the blood isn't on their hands.
00:54:34
Speaker
One million percent. but didn We didn't do it. Congress told us to do it. Yeah, Congress told us to do this. so So we now have to make the rules as Congress told us instead of which they would have been the same rules to begin with.
00:54:50
Speaker
You know, they're talking to Congress behind closed doors anyway. Oh, yeah. yeah Yeah, that well, I i saw some um some videos earlier last week or a couple weeks ago. um The commission that Ted Cruz has got going, him and Bloomberg and I think Jeffries and a couple other, or no, Cory Booker, couple others are got their own little group together going through and talking to different coaches and administrators. And you know maybe they'll get something on them, maybe they won't.
00:55:19
Speaker
But... but Is there anything, I mean, let me rephrase that. let me I'm going with different direction. um You're talking about the NCAA may not be around in a few years, which Russ and I have talked about that too.
00:55:36
Speaker
Is it going to be, say, the power forward to say, okay, look, NCAA, you can take everybody else. We're going to have our conferences and maybe this school and this school and this school.
00:55:51
Speaker
And we're going to part ways. Do you see that as the possibility of happening? The only problem with that, you could do it in football or something, but it doesn't work across all sports.
00:56:01
Speaker
That's the problem. because yeah Title IX is the bug there. Yeah. You've got to have something for the girls to to do, or else that is beyond Wall Street City. And you will get dragged through the coals repeatedly for even bringing it up.
00:56:15
Speaker
Yeah. So that's the bugaboo. If it wasn't for that, they'd already done it. i i I mean, i you know, i I would I would thought that most schools are or almost all schools should be already Title IX anyway.
00:56:26
Speaker
Compliant. Well, no, what what I'm saying is they're compliant, but you got to schedule people because if you take off those schools and cut them out from your power for don't play em in football or basketball, do you think they're going to comply with you for a women's softball?
Title IX's Impact on Conference Dynamics
00:56:40
Speaker
I see what you're saying. Okay. I get you. You're going us. We're going to screw you. I get you now. Okay. I get you. Yeah. Then you've got Title IX problems.
00:56:51
Speaker
Yeah, because then your program suffers a little bit. and You get phone calls from lawyers when that happens. Not friendly ones either. I see what you're saying there. Okay. Yeah, that's ah that's a good point.
00:57:03
Speaker
Okay. ah Well, any final thoughts? um I know we kind of jumped around on the basketball segment there, but any final thoughts on maybe who who the had the best recruiting class basketball-wise?
00:57:19
Speaker
I couldn't tell you on the recruiting portal I've been following more, but I need to look at the recruiting to answer that. I haven't even got to it because the football portal killed me. Yeah. Well, there's what, 10,000 kids enter the the portal? Oh, it's a joke.
00:57:34
Speaker
The problem is a lot of the kids are these walk-ons and stuff. So they're listed, but the with the 105 scholarship thing, getting you know some of these kids went ahead and entered and all that. They're not really guys that matter.
00:57:46
Speaker
Probably a third of them have no chance of being contributors at the P411. conservatively. Right. And it is, you know, it is what it is, but some of this is D2. Some of this is FCS. There, there really aren't that many big name transfers in the spring window at the FBS club.
00:58:01
Speaker
There really aren't. So like the Nico thing took a lot of attention because that was weird, but there, you know, how many quarterbacks were there? Four or five? Yeah. That's not it. You know, it's just, you know, it's It is what it is. It's more trying to find a few linemen, some backups, get a DB or something, and that's about it.
00:58:17
Speaker
The winner window is where the action's at. Okay. All right. Well, b Brian, it's been wonderful to have you on. ah We'll get you on ah probably again maybe before the you know before the season starts and see how – once you've had time to look at all the all the data and and look at it and see what we got.
00:58:37
Speaker
And so we do appreciate it. the Where can people find you? Absolutely. Locked on the portal and locked on Seminoles. Both are part of the locked on podcast network, YouTube, Podbean, Spotify, Apple, any place you get your pods, you can download locked on Seminoles or locked on the portal every day.
00:58:56
Speaker
I love doing it. It's a lot lot of fun. All right. Well, fantastic. Hey, well, that's going to do it for us tonight. So, Russ, why don't you espouse on where everybody can find you?
00:59:09
Speaker
Well, on Twitter, I'm Uncle Frank at FrRobinson1957. I'm Blue Sky. I'm Russ at Blue Sky. And I'm also going to have a Substack page, and I'm putting out a few articles here and there on on that. So that's where you can find Russ Robinson at Blue Sky.
00:59:27
Speaker
So anyway, that's where you can find me. All right, well, you can find me right here, or you can find me on X at TSOTBGCS. You can also look up my Facebook page, Talking Sports with Uncle Don.
00:59:40
Speaker
And don't forget to check out Gateway Sports for other podcasts like the Two for Three with Moose Michaels, Team of Rivals with Ron Nuttall, Pete Geddes, Elliot Dewey. Ron also teams up with Chris Hambleton for At the Park, a look at city soccer.
00:59:54
Speaker
Rodney Capel and Tim Van Stratton team up for the stupidest sports show on earth. I have got to look that one up one of these days. um Then ah you can also find me at the Talking Sports with Uncle Don. The first episode of that will come out sometime next week.
01:00:11
Speaker
And then ours there is always the Derrick King Sports Show with the one and only Derrick King. You can find that all at Gatewaysports.net.
01:00:24
Speaker
So for our guest, Brian Smith, and my partner, Russ Robinson, this is Don Glenn wishing you to stay safe, have fun. We'll see you again on the NCAA Report.
01:00:36
Speaker
Good night, everybody.