Fodder: Portal, NIL have changed college sports (and Pack) forever

Sports Fodder:

The Nevada Wolf Pack men’s basketball program has always had a difficult challenge competing with big-money universities with big-money budgets on the court. But good coaching and solid recruiting, combined with a few fortunate bounces of the ball at the right time was able to overcome some of those challenges now and then. See the 2004 and 2018 Sweet 16 runs. But those on-the-court challenges are nothing compared to what the Pack is now facing off the court. The combination of the transfer portal and the Name Image Likeness deals have changed college sports forever. The Wolf Pack has lost five starters (Grant Sherfield, Desmond Cambridge, Warren Washington, Darrion Williams and Will Baker) to the transfer portal over the last two off seasons. The transfer portal is simply the getaway car. The robberies are being committed because of the NIL deals the bigger schools with the huge budgets and deep-pocketed fans are waving at these players. In the last couple weeks, Baker went to LSU and Williams went to Texas Tech. LSU has the Bayou Traditions Collective and Texas Tech has the Matador Club, the organizations where fans can donate money to pay players. Texas Tech, for example, announced last year that over 100 football players and every women’s basketball player will each be paid $25,000 a year. LSU women’s basketball player Angel Reese has a NIL deal worth $1.3 million. The 2022 LSU football recruiting class received an average NIL deal of $107,000. The college sports you knew just a couple years ago is gone forever. The athletes are now hired guns, no longer playing for the love of the game and their school. It’s professional sports for teenagers. Can the Wolf Pack and other so-called mid-major universities compete with this? Ask Sherfield, Cambridge, Washington, Baker and Williams.

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Wolf Pack football fans got a sneak peek at one of the team’s more intriguing transfers last Saturday in the annual Battle Born Showdown. Defensive back Tre Weed, who played at Eastern Washington from 2018-22, picked off a Brendon Lewis pass early in the scrimmage. The 6-foot, 190-pound Weed, intercepted six passes in 47 games at Eastern Washington (three last year). The former high school running back (Sumner, Wash.) also returned punts; he has one year of eligibility remaining. Weed was a highly recruited player in high school, turning down a half dozen or so offers to sign with Eastern Washington. Syracuse, Air Force, Hawaii and BYU offered scholarships to Weed, according to 247sports.com. He could make a huge impact for the Pack this fall.

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If the scrimmage last Saturday at Mackay Stadium is any indication, it appears that Lewis has the inside track at the Wolf Pack’s starting quarterback job this fall. Lewis was 13-of-23 for 88 yards through the air and also ran nine times for 47 yards. Shane Illingworth was 4-of-8 for 111 yards and A.J. Bianco was 6-of-11 for 129 yards. Lewis transferred to Nevada from Colorado this off season. He might not have the best arm of any Pack quarterback. Illingworth, for example, tossed a 69-yard touchdown to Jamaal Bell and Bianco found Victor Snow for a touchdown. But the Pack needs to find a leader at the position and someone who can best run the offensive efficiently and the Pack did allow Lewis to throw 23 passes and run nine times.

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The Las Vegas Raiders have 12 picks and the San Francisco 49ers have 11 in this week’s seven-round NFL draft (Thursday-Saturday). The 49ers don’t have a selection until pick No. 99, but the Raiders have the No. 7 pick in the first round. It would make sense for the defensively-challenged Raiders to pick the best defensive player on the board with the No. 7 pick. Defensive backs Devon Witherspoon (Illinois) and Christian Gonzalez (Oregon) could be Raiders by Thursday night. If Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter or Texas Tech defensive lineman Tyree Wilson fall in the Raiders’ lap they, too, would likely become a Raider. Iowa defensive tackle Lukas Van Ness, who had eight tackles and 1.5 sacks against the Pack in September, is also a strong possibility at No. 7, as are offensive linemen Paris Johnson (Ohio State) and Peter Skoronski (Northwestern).

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Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener is widely considered to be one of the top 10 quarterbacks available in this week’s NFL draft. Haener’s best chances of being drafted seem to be on Saturday, when rounds 4-7 are announced. If you ask the Wolf Pack, though, Haener would be worthy of being picked No. 1 overall. In three games against Nevada (2020-22), Haener was brilliant, completing 96-of-145 passes for 1,102 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. The Bulldogs won two of the three games, including a 41-14 blowout last November at Mackay Stadium. What are Haener’s chances of getting picked this weekend? Probably not great. Wolf Pack quarterback Carson Strong, after all, wasn’t picked a year ago and Strong was supposedly ranked higher by NFL scouts than Haener. Strong was 6-foot-3 while Haener is listed generously at 6-1. But Haener is far more mobile than Strong, so it is anybody’s guess whether or not the Bulldogs’ quarterback will hear his name called.

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The Wolf Pack, of course, might not be the best judge of quarterback talent. Incarnate Word’s Lindsey Scott, after all, torched the Pack for 435 yards and four touchdowns last season and likely won’t be drafted this weekend. Scott is just 5-foot-11 and he played at five different schools in college, including two (LSU, Missouri) in the SEC. He handed the Pack its first loss (55-41) last season and led Incarnate Word to a 12-2 record, a Southland Conference championship and a spot in the FCS playoffs. Incarnate Word had one of the best offensives in college football last year, averaging 49 points a game. Scott looked like a first-round pick last year at Mackay Stadium, but most draft experts have him signing as a free agent next week.

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The Wolf Pack had two players (wide receiver Romeo Doubs and tight end Cole Turner) picked in last year’s draft. They were the first Pack players drafted since offensive lineman Austin Corbett in 2018 (Cleveland Browns). The Wolf Pack finished 2-10 last year and likely won’t have a player picked this weekend, though defensive back Bentlee Sanders and defensive lineman Dom Peterson are possibilities. Running backs Toa Taua and Devonte Lee will likely have to go the free agent route to the NFL. The Wolf Pack had 14 players picked from 1986-98 and another 16 were selected from 2003-14, so it seems the Big Sky Conference, Big West Conference and Western Athletic Conference were better at getting Pack players to the pros than the Mountain West.