Ole Miss AD Keith Carter: Going to look back and say this was a 'pivotal moment' in college athletics
Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter views this moment in college sports as a “pivotal” time in regards to its future trajectory when everyone looks back in the next decade.
With NIL and the transfer portal the major player in the college sports arena currently, followed by conference realignment that headlines the back half of the summer this is the year that could define the path for student-athletes in Carter’s eyes.
During the first ‘Reb Talk’ of the Ole Miss football season on Thursday Carter spoke on the current state of NIL and where he sees college athletics heading.
“There’s just a lot of stuff going on kind of nationally in our industry,” Carter said. “Between discussions around NIL and where that goes, some litigation against the NCAA that could, maybe, lead to a (revenue) share or somethings with student-athletes and obviously you have all the conference realignment that’s going on right now and how does tall that shake out?
“I think we’re going to look back on this time five, 10 years from now and say that was a really pivotal moment in college athletics to really see what it’s going to look like in the future.”
Carter does not believe the state of college athletics is set in concrete and that more changes are destined to take place in the near future.
Banging the same drum as Ole Miss football head coach Lane Kiffin, Carter even referenced the shifts could move college athletics closer to looking like professional sports in some ways.
“I think it’s going to look different,” Carter added. “We’re going to get on the other side of this and it’s going to look a lot different. Maybe a little bit more like pro sports in some ways. But I still think we’re going to have the core values and the things that we love about college athletes. Kids that are playing for the name on the front of the jersey and not the back of the like they do in the pros. I think we’re going to end up in a great spot but it could get a little interesting before we get to that finish line.”
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Under Kiffin Ole Miss is one of the programs to try and stay ahead of the curve in college athletics.
Since the dubbed ‘Portal King’ has been in Oxford Kiffin has worked to try and keep up with the shifting tides that is the transfer portal and now NIL that has entered the conversation.
Over the last month Kiffin has had success in recruiting with a string of four-star in-state prospects committing to Ole Miss.
Football has not been the only sport to keep pace in this new era of college sports as men’s basketball is also making waves in recruiting and portal activities.
“To use one of coach Kiffin’s taglines, we’re not really thinking outside the box we’re creating a new box,” Carter said. “Here at Ole Miss we’ve always punched above our weight class. We’ve always competed with programs and institutions that have bigger budgets, bigger enrollment and all those things. We’ve done well and we’ll continue to do well, but in this new world you do have to get creative. You have to be proactive. You’ve got to think of ways to bridge those gaps differently than you have in the past.”
