It should have been obvious from the first, but the usually high run of OU players jumping into the portal has opened my eyes to the immediate impact of NIL: with Riley leaving there is zero stigma to jump into the portal ("I came to OU to play for Lincoln" or some such BS excuse), but the reality is everyone is belatedly looking for a pay day. If you have any starting experience at all when you enter the portal you are now expecting a NIL package when you exit the portal.
We're in a unique period right now where these kids that were already in school never had a shot at NIL - the portal allows one to cash in before one's career is over. However, going forward the Portal will allow double-dipping; e.g., a kid excels at say, Cincinnati, and got modest NIL during his recruitment; once he gets noticed in the media he could then enter the portal and double down on the "earnings" and get picked up by a Notre Dame or whomever. The brave new world of NIL and the Portal working in tandem....
There are no more tea leaves to be read beyond NIL - nothing especially unusual is afoot at OU. There is just a double-whammy due to horrendous timing - Riley bailing right before the signing period (did he really want to win Bedlam and go to USC after the signing period when it was too late to affect recruiting?) and then the players in the unique position of the first time ever of having an excuse to see what $$$ are out there for them via the portal. We can certainly buy these players back, but good gawd the football landscape has gone berserk....
We're in a unique period right now where these kids that were already in school never had a shot at NIL - the portal allows one to cash in before one's career is over. However, going forward the Portal will allow double-dipping; e.g., a kid excels at say, Cincinnati, and got modest NIL during his recruitment; once he gets noticed in the media he could then enter the portal and double down on the "earnings" and get picked up by a Notre Dame or whomever. The brave new world of NIL and the Portal working in tandem....
There are no more tea leaves to be read beyond NIL - nothing especially unusual is afoot at OU. There is just a double-whammy due to horrendous timing - Riley bailing right before the signing period (did he really want to win Bedlam and go to USC after the signing period when it was too late to affect recruiting?) and then the players in the unique position of the first time ever of having an excuse to see what $$$ are out there for them via the portal. We can certainly buy these players back, but good gawd the football landscape has gone berserk....
