Wow!

[Agbracing]

I see what you are saying, thank you for explaining.

I guess the part about all of this (transfer portal, leaving for NIL money, etc) that just seems wrong in a sense is that these athletes potentially take a “spot” at a highly desired school such as Stanford, get a lot of their tuition/room/board covered and then just leave for a better “softball” opportunity. That “spot” could have gone to a kid who truly wanted to go to Stanford for the four years for the academics while also being a full-pay or needs-based student. Are well-deserving (meaning academic-wise) non-athletes who would LOVE to be at a school such as Stanford missing out on being admitted because of the athletes (who will jump ship after a year or two for NIL money)? I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what to think here.

This situation with a player leaving Stanford without a degree is the exception and not the rule. Most others that have hit the portal only do so after obtaining their degree. Athletes that can maintain their grades while at that high academic school are in higher demand than just normal students. It shows time management and more skills to do both. So it would be interesting to see how many non athletes drop out/ leave vs athletes.
One thing in my opinion that makes this situation worse is Stanford can not just hit the portal and bring in new players every year. They did have one this year in TK but that was the first in 20 years. So the coaches have to do a great job on finding the right players that want that degree that can also play to their standard. While also able to pass the admission process to be accepted as a student.

 

[Vertigo]

This situation with a player leaving Stanford without a degree is the exception and not the rule. Most others that have hit the portal only do so after obtaining their degree. Athletes that can maintain their grades while at that high academic school are in higher demand than just normal students. It shows time management and more skills to do both. So it would be interesting to see how many non athletes drop out/ leave vs athletes.
One thing in my opinion that makes this situation worse is Stanford can not just hit the portal and bring in new players every year. They did have one this year in TK but that was the first in 20 years. So the coaches have to do a great job on finding the right players that want that degree that can also play to their standard. While also able to pass the admission process to be accepted as a student.

I totally am aware that Stanford admissions for athletes is just as tough as the non-athletes. Wasn’t saying otherwise. I was using Stanford as the example in my post because it is where Canady attends (topic of the OP). Stanford is also in the top 5% for retention rate, so most kids who get in stay there. That’s why it kind of stinks for non-athletes at these schools where admissions is almost like “a luck of the draw” when the rate to get in is in the single digits (and they don’t have a strong hook such as being an elite athlete). I just wonder if there will be more transfers from there after Canady leaves?

I would say that recently we have seen way more players entering the portal who still have 2-3 years of eligibility left vs the 5th years who already earned a degree. That extra year should have ended this year with the 2024 class.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

I totally am aware that Stanford admissions for athletes is just as tough as the non-athletes. Wasn’t saying otherwise. I was using Stanford as the example in my post because it is where Canady attends (topic of the OP). Stanford is also in the top 5% for retention rate, so most kids who get in stay there. That’s why it kind of stinks for non-athletes at these schools where admissions is almost like “a luck of the draw” when the rate to get in is in the single digits (and they don’t have a strong hook such as being an elite athlete). I just wonder if there will be more transfers from there after Canady leaves?

I would say that recently we have seen way more players entering the portal who still have 2-3 years of eligibility left vs the 5th years who already earned a degree. That extra year should have ended this year with the 2024 class.

That's not entirely true. Coaches have a degree of flexibility with athletes that is not afforded to regular students.

I have a client whose son was a top football recruit back around 14 years ago. He was a QB/DB and had multiple D1 schools chasing him, including Yale and Princeton. He was not a Yale caliber student, but the coach wanted him badly. He told the family that if he could get his grades from an 85 to an 88, he could make the case to the admissions committee that he was needed by the team. He didn't get his grades up, and he wound up at Maryland instead, where he had a good career and got his degree. To this day, his dad says not going Ivy was a great thing for him as he could not have handled the academics.

I also have a former teammate of my daughter who's going to an Ivy this year. While she's a very good student, think 97 average, she's not up to the norm at Cornell. Softball definitely got her in.

 

[Tazman]

To add some data from what I know are good sources. An ACC team right now pays 5-10 million in NIL. Nearly all of that goes to football and basketball players. The new NCAA settlement will add up to 20m to that in revenue sharing and it remains to be seen how that is divvied up and how title IX and division amongst sports and genders happens. Good hitters in the portal in softball are getting around 5k/mo and a truly elite player can be worth 10k-15k per month. I wouldn't be surprised if Nija could command 200k-500k per year if a donor was out there that wanted to make it happen. A degree from an elite school is worth something but let's also remember that elite schools get elite applications so don't confuse correlation of high pay and elite degrees with the degree's value. I don't know her family situation but I can't blame a kid one bit for taking a bird in the hand like that vs two in the bush. Rather than blaming the kid I have to ask how an institution with the deep pockets of Stanford would allow a generational talent like Nija to depart rather than finding a way to pay her what she is worth.

 

[Vertigo]

That's not entirely true. Coaches have a degree of flexibility with athletes that is not afforded to regular students.

I have a client whose son was a top football recruit back around 14 years ago. He was a QB/DB and had multiple D1 schools chasing him, including Yale and Princeton. He was not a Yale caliber student, but the coach wanted him badly. He told the family that if he could get his grades from an 85 to an 88, he could make the case to the admissions committee that he was needed by the team. He didn't get his grades up, and he wound up at Maryland instead, where he had a good career and got his degree. To this day, his dad says not going Ivy was a great thing for him as he could not have handled the academics.

I also have a former teammate of my daughter who's going to an Ivy this year. While she's a very good student, think 97 average, she's not up to the norm at Cornell. Softball definitely got her in.

I’m aware of the admissions process at the Ivies and the fact that they will take a top athlete with grades below the norm for compared to typical admission - still must be within a certain SD of the norm, though.

I must have been mistaken about Stanford - I thought they were more similar to MIT where coaches have very little input?

 

[Vertigo]

To add some data from what I know are good sources. An ACC team right now pays 5-10 million in NIL. Nearly all of that goes to football and basketball players. The new NCAA settlement will add up to 20m to that in revenue sharing and it remains to be seen how that is divvied up and how title IX and division amongst sports and genders happens. Good hitters in the portal in softball are getting around 5k/mo and a truly elite player can be worth 10k-15k per month. I wouldn't be surprised if Nija could command 200k-500k per year if a donor was out there that wanted to make it happen. A degree from an elite school is worth something but let's also remember that elite schools get elite applications so don't confuse correlation of high pay and elite degrees with the degree's value. I don't know her family situation but I can't blame a kid one bit for taking a bird in the hand like that vs two in the bush. Rather than blaming the kid I have to ask how an institution with the deep pockets of Stanford would allow a generational talent like Nija to depart rather than finding a way to pay her what she is worth.

I don’t think anyone on here was blaming Canady for leaving - I believe most of us were saying good for her to be able to take advantage of NIL if that is the case.

I just think ethically, if what you’re saying is true about the amount of money the top athletes can command, it seems icky to me for institutions to be able to do that. I don’t know why, it just does. College is/was supposed to be about academics and obtaining a degree - but obviously sports holds a higher value to many.

I absolutely cannot blame an athlete though for leaving for another school if they can command that kind of money. Good for them. I just feel the system is messed up.

 

[Westwind]

I don’t know about the other players mentioned but Alex Storako left Michigan after four years. She was a fifth year at Oklahoma, seems like she met her commitment to Michigan.

 

[Vertigo]

It just seems crazy to me that a college softball athlete can potentially make more money than the professional players in their sport.

 

[bsbs]

I just hope college football doesn't become it's own thing and all the Olympic / non revenue sports go away in college.

 

[Orange Socks]

So how much?

I'm hearing $300K