In Reply to: Re: So, tell me . . . posted by ucla'93 on February 16, 2024 at 13:48:54
We're not going to come close to the Texas schools, upper SEC, Ohio St., sc, etc. But they simply can't sign all the good players. And factors like location, playing time, coaching, and even academics will continue to play a role. We need to try to get into that 2nd tier NIL group and keep the talent level within reasonable striking distance. That's the best we can hope for. These last two years, two upstarts in TCU and UW made the championship game, so it's not all about money.
You need some very big donors. UCLA certainly has those but I think many are not interested in athletics (David Geffen, Henry Samueli, truk, etc.) These guys have entire schools named after them; not sure how interested they are in purchasing an offensive tackle. The grass roots stuff like BRO did helps, but you need at least a few very big fish.
I think it remains to be seen what UCLA's true NIL potential really is, for better or worse. Up until this week, it was not a priority at all when it comes to football (I don't know about basketball). There have been efforts made since Foster was hired that at least show they're going to make an effort. Under Chip nothing was going on. His attitude toward the fans was basically "let them eat cake."