I don't really follow college basketball ...

[Sweetwatergolf]

Can't argue too much with that. It's hard to know anything specifically with how vague NIL information is. No one produces accurate databases with players and their "income".

If I was so inclined to argue though, I would say even a dime going to a wbb player is a dime we could be spending on another sport. But you could translate that to mbb vs football too.

And youre right that the sucking predates the NIL mess. It is possible that we suck at that too though.

Concur with both of your post. Unfortunately IMO, NIL and transfer stupidity has made it almost impossible for everyone to compete year in and year out. Whether we like it or not, coaches need players to produce what they teach. $ is not the only answer to getting a good team, I get that. But teams with good coaches AND $ to get what they want is what we need. I mentioned in another post, MBB is in bottom half of league in NIL. Football is probably in middle? Baseball, my favorite game, not sure.

 

[Piscis]

And? Does us supporting women's basketball make our big 3 men's teams suck?

No, I doubt enough money goes to WBB to affect the big 3. My point was, in response to your post about UConn, was that UConn and SC really aren't any sort of comparison. UConn could not care less about football, basketball, both men's and women's, is their primary sports focus.

I do shake my head at the people who are HUGE WBB fans. I don't get the appeal at all. It is like watching Boys HS JV basketball as far as the quality of play. I remember back in the '80s when Clemson was a national power in men's soccer. Clemson fans loved to talk about their soccer team and no one else cared at all. That is how I see WBB.

 

[Skuddy]

No, I doubt enough money goes to WBB to affect the big 3. My point was, in response to your post about UConn, was that UConn and SC really aren't any sort of comparison. UConn could not care less about football, basketball, both men's and women's, is their primary sports focus.

I do shake my head at the people who are HUGE WBB fans. I don't get the appeal at all. It is like watching Boys HS JV basketball as far as the quality of play. I remember back in the '80s when Clemson was a national power in men's soccer. Clemson fans loved to talk about their soccer team and no one else cared at all. That is how I see WBB.

The orginal poster that I responded to said that our athletic department couldn't be taken seriously if we prioritize women's basketball and implied that is why our big 3 aren't any good. I brought up Uconn as they prioritize women's basketball and yet one of their big 3 is doing quite well. So, yes they are ABSOLUTELY comparable. One has zero bearing on the other as evidenced by Uconn.

What exactly is our focus? I don't think we have ever beaten Uconn in football (0-1) which is pretty pathetic since they could care less about football.

 

[Skuddy]

Can't argue too much with that. It's hard to know anything specifically with how vague NIL information is. No one produces accurate databases with players and their "income".

If I was so inclined to argue though, I would say even a dime going to a wbb player is a dime we could be spending on another sport. But you could translate that to mbb vs football too.

And youre right that the sucking predates the NIL mess. It is possible that we suck at that too though.

We need to stop sucking and replicate the formula Indiana used. We can't compete with the teams who have billionaire backing but we aren't so far behind that we should go 4-8. Better decisions and better use of our money.

 

[Lurker123]

We need to stop sucking and replicate the formula Indiana used. We can't compete with the teams who have billionaire backing but we aren't so far behind that we should go 4-8. Better decisions and better use of our money.

I said in another thread, the key to our success is going to be something like Indiana. We aren't outbidding a lot of people for players, so we need to be smart.

Do you pay 5 million to a qb, and skimp on OL, or vice versa? Is a bargain qb behind a good line better than a premier qb behind a bad OL?

Next up, where we cant duplicate IU, is once we identify those guys, we dont have the pockets to retain them.

So we're rebuilding just about every year.

 

[Lurker123]

The orginal poster that I responded to said that our athletic department couldn't be taken seriously if we prioritize women's basketball and implied that is why our big 3 aren't any good. I brought up Uconn as they prioritize women's basketball and yet one of their big 3 is doing quite well. So, yes they are ABSOLUTELY comparable. One has zero bearing on the other as evidenced by Uconn.

What exactly is our focus? I don't think we have ever beaten Uconn in football (0-1) which is pretty pathetic since they could care less about football.

Just being picky, but I cant agree it has ZERO bearing. If we're spending even a million on wbb, that is a million that can go towards a men's team center.

But thats just me balking at the absolute of "zero".

 

[Skuddy]

I said in another thread, the key to our success is going to be something like Indiana. We aren't outbidding a lot of people for players, so we need to be smart.

Do you pay 5 million to a qb, and skimp on OL, or vice versa? Is a bargain qb behind a good line better than a premier qb behind a bad OL?

Next up, where we cant duplicate IU, is once we identify those guys, we dont have the pockets to retain them.

So we're rebuilding just about every year.

I posted about this on the insiders forum a couple years ago. If games are won and lost on the LOS in the SEC then that is where the money should go. Defense wins champinships so you start with the DL, then OL then QB. Fill in the rest on guys who want to work and prove themselves because they see the foundation is in place.

But guess what......no one listened to me

 

[Skuddy]

Just being picky, but I cant agree it has ZERO bearing. If we're spending even a million on wbb, that is a million that can go towards a men's team center.

But thats just me balking at the absolute of "zero".

I personally think we should go all in on basketball because 2 or 3 superstars and we are at least top 15. I would like to see us good at least one of the big 3. Basketball is my least favorite, but it is the one that seems obtainable. My sport is baseball but probably the least favorite among other gamecock fans.

I notice I used the word "least" a lot. I guess that is from 50 years of gamecock fandom.

 

[Lurker123]

I posted about this on the insiders forum a couple years ago. If games are won and lost on the LOS in the SEC then that is where the money should go. Defense wins champinships so you start with the DL, then OL then QB. Fill in the rest on guys who want to work and prove themselves because they see the foundation is in place.

But guess what......no one listened to me

I agree with this more than 100%.

 

[Piscis]

The orginal poster that I responded to said that our athletic department couldn't be taken seriously if we prioritize women's basketball and implied that is why our big 3 aren't any good. I brought up Uconn as they prioritize women's basketball and yet one of their big 3 is doing quite well. So, yes they are ABSOLUTELY comparable. One has zero bearing on the other as evidenced by Uconn.

What exactly is our focus? I don't think we have ever beaten Uconn in football (0-1) which is pretty pathetic since they could care less about football.

Sadly, our main focus is football, and we aren't very good at that.

I agree with your post that South Carolina should focus on being a men's basketball power. Buying three or four top talent basketball players is an affordable way to project your program onto the national stage. $10 million would likely buy a championship caliber men's basketball team, but it won't by an SEC cellar dweller football team.

I think baseball is about to change in a big way at a lot of schools. The new scholarship limit (34 scholarships, compared to 11 under the old rules) means the entire roster can be on full scholarship. Now, that HS star can go to whatever school he really wants to play for and not have to weigh which one is offering the biggest partial scholarship. Vandy became a national baseball power because they could, and did, use endowment money to fund scholarships for baseball players, effectively getting around the NCAA limits. That advantage has been taken away.

 

[Lurker123]

You do know that if you were truly that interested you could go ahead and do the research yourself, instead of relying on others to do it for you.

And crickets....

 

[RL09]

on a national scale. Who's our next coach?

Thanks to the insane buyout given by the infamous Ray Tanner, we likely won't know for 2-3 more years, thanks to Ray, we are stuck with his terrible hire!

 

[bayrooster]

Thanks to the insane buyout given by the infamous Ray Tanner, we likely won't know for 2-3 more years, thanks to Ray, we are stuck with his terrible hire!

You know Ray was just trying to prevent another school from stealing him away.

 

[DayDay]

Women’s basketball should be among the last priorities of a serious athletic department.

That would be a big mistake with the recent popularity of the sport.

 

[bayrooster]

That would be a big mistake with the recent popularity of the sport.

I thought popularity was measured by butts in seats.

 

[DayDay]

I thought popularity was measured by butts in seats.

I was talking about the Women's Team Smart guy. Smh!

 

[bayrooster]

I was talking about the Women's Team Smart guy. Smh!

Women's teams famously have much lower attendence than the men's teams. This is still the case for about everyone except us (men's BB is crap).

 

[DayDay]

Women's teams famously have much lower attendence than the men's teams. This is still the case for about everyone except us (men's BB is crap).

No many people know a thing about USC athletics other than Dawn Staley and the women's basketball team. So taking away funding from women's team wouldn't go over too well.

 

[ScWildthing61]

it SHOULD be Gregg Marshall.

That ship sailed long ago!

 

[atl-cock]

on a national scale. Who's our next coach?

I assume you mean our next men's coach.

 

[atl-cock]

Women’s basketball should be among the last priorities of a serious athletic department.

A serious athletic department provides resources for all sponsored sports to compete well at the highest level.

 

[atl-cock]

Why should it be on the donors? NIL is a freaking joke. The teams that have the money all have a major uber-rich alum or some connection to the university. Who is that for Carolina? Until there is reform by the NCAA that sets players as employees, create a salary cap, and the school will pay the athletes, we will be uncompetitive in major sports. The "Indiana did it, why can't we?" narrative is bull crap. They got a huge injection of cash from Mark Cuban (the uber rich billionaire with a huge sport background) and we just don't have that person. This talking point is becoming obnoxious.

Another example of that true intercollegiate sports today resides in NCAA D-III, the NAIA, and club-level teams.

 

[atl-cock]

Yes, they won a national championship, but what did that huge injection of cash actually do for Indiana? Specifically.

Publicity?

 

[bayrooster]

Publicity?

I bet they'll be upgrading facilities.

 

[atl-cock]

Who said shut it down? Merely 90% of ALL athletic department $ should go to 3 sports with football getting the majority. Bama, Uga, Ohio st, Michigan, etc…even Klempson could implode their women’s basketball program and the alumni/fanbase wouldn’t notice. Sorry, that’s reality. We don’t live in reality. Tanner and the bot ran the 3 programs that matter into the ground.

The programs that matter to you.

 

[atl-cock]

Umm, that is not correct.

Mark Cuban is the primary donor for IU football's NIL efforts, his money helped in securing players for 2025 and 2026
The man just donated 6 million for the Rugby Team. THE RUGBY TEAM.

IU is awash in money and spending it big time.
.

Does the NCAA conduct rugby championships, or is it still on the club level only?

 

[atl-cock]

If decisions were made on financial viability, only football would survive across the board. MBB at many others. All other sports would go away.

I agree with this. But as we know, there's much more to it than football and men's basketball. A school which sponsored only these two sports in varsity competition would have a terrible image/reputation across the country for starters.

 

[atl-cock]

True and if the money we spend on women's basketball is keeping our big 3 from being successful then Uconn didn't get the memo. I don't follow basketball but last I checked the Uconn men's team is pretty good.

WBB is one of the big 3 at USC. And I am perfectly fine with that.

 

[bayrooster]

Does the NCAA conduct rugby championships, or is it still on the club level only?

It looks like there is a NCAA league, but the rest of the clubs are part of USA Rugby. https://www.collegepipe.com/divisions/ncaa-d1/men/rugby
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_1-A_Rugby

 

[atl-cock]

His time has come and gone. I read earlier today that he has told friends that he is happy from the sidelines now. (and rich too)

Good for Gregg.

 

[atl-cock]

The only tangible argument I can think of is any diverting of NIL money away from the men's team. One could argue if we do that, our men's team is disadvantaged.

Hard to prove though.

You could also state that supporting men's teams diverts NIL money away from WBB and softball.......

 

[atl-cock]

I think that's the issue. We can't prove anything because no one knows anything......it's all hush hush. Everyone is just lashing out because our men's teams have sucked for so long.

I have been watching this **** show since 1975. For the most part, we have sucked at football long before women's basketball became good. The only sport we were consistently a national power was baseball......but Ray Tanner ruined that by leaving the dug out and pretending to be AD.

My opinion is we suck due to poor decisions, not women's basketball or lack of NIL funds. Without women's basketball, we would suck at everything.

Ray was leaving the dugout period.

 

[atl-cock]

No, I doubt enough money goes to WBB to affect the big 3. My point was, in response to your post about UConn, was that UConn and SC really aren't any sort of comparison. UConn could not care less about football, basketball, both men's and women's, is their primary sports focus.

I do shake my head at the people who are HUGE WBB fans. I don't get the appeal at all. It is like watching Boys HS JV basketball as far as the quality of play. I remember back in the '80s when Clemson was a national power in men's soccer. Clemson fans loved to talk about their soccer team and no one else cared at all. That is how I see WBB.

If you enjoy watching a sport, ultimately, who cares what anybody else thinks?

 

[atl-cock]

The orginal poster that I responded to said that our athletic department couldn't be taken seriously if we prioritize women's basketball and implied that is why our big 3 aren't any good. I brought up Uconn as they prioritize women's basketball and yet one of their big 3 is doing quite well. So, yes they are ABSOLUTELY comparable. One has zero bearing on the other as evidenced by Uconn.

What exactly is our focus? I don't think we have ever beaten Uconn in football (0-1) which is pretty pathetic since they could care less about football.

Our focus should be to field the best possible teams we can in all varsity sports.

 

[atl-cock]

I personally think we should go all in on basketball because 2 or 3 superstars and we are at least top 15. I would like to see us good at least one of the big 3. Basketball is my least favorite, but it is the one that seems obtainable. My sport is baseball but probably the least favorite among other gamecock fans.

I notice I used the word "least" a lot. I guess that is from 50 years of gamecock fandom.

Baseball is my favourite. But regarding spending NIL funds, No sport or gender should have priority over another. Football obviously gets the most because there are more players on their roster than any other single sport.

 

[atl-cock]

Sadly, our main focus is football, and we aren't very good at that.

I agree with your post that South Carolina should focus on being a men's basketball power. Buying three or four top talent basketball players is an affordable way to project your program onto the national stage. $10 million would likely buy a championship caliber men's basketball team, but it won't by an SEC cellar dweller football team.

I think baseball is about to change in a big way at a lot of schools. The new scholarship limit (34 scholarships, compared to 11 under the old rules) means the entire roster can be on full scholarship. Now, that HS star can go to whatever school he really wants to play for and not have to weigh which one is offering the biggest partial scholarship. Vandy became a national baseball power because they could, and did, use endowment money to fund scholarships for baseball players, effectively getting around the NCAA limits. That advantage has been taken away.

Good post, and it will be interesting to see how that manifests itself on the diamond in the coming years

 

[Lurker123]

You could also state that supporting men's teams diverts NIL money away from WBB and softball.......

Agreed. Then, if true, it brings us to how to split up the NIL pie to support the sports.

We could dump it all into equestrian and be a powerhouse there, or argue over the split amongst other sports.

 

[atl-cock]

I thought popularity was measured by butts in seats.

And there are LOTS of occupied seats at CLA for WBB.

 

[atl-cock]

Agreed. Then, if true, it brings us to how to split up the NIL pie to support the sports.

We could dump it all into equestrian and be a powerhouse there, or argue over the split amongst other sports.

I'm glad you brought up equestrian. The sport does not personally interest me, but I read good things about the team from time to time regarding recuitment and competition. Like football players, these student athletes work hard at their craft, they compete well, and they represent USC well. And I am glad for that.

 

[Skuddy]

Our focus should be to field the best possible teams we can in all varsity sports.

That's what it should be but the majority of fans only care about football. Some would probably give up a national championship in WBB for a Liberty Bowl invite.