Time to enter the portal

[mr.spider]

Not for another school, that's for sure.

But perhaps it's time to replace the biggest passion of my life. College basketball has been completely ruined. There's no pride in the schools any longer. It's all about money. I love my Spiders, and I was hoping beyond hope that our players loved our school too. It's clear now that even our above average coaching staff in terms of player loyalty is not enough. There's no loyalty or pride any longer. And with that college sports is dead.

 

[spiderman]

seems a little melodramatic. can't paint every player with the same brush.

 

[plydogg]

And with that college sports is dead.

Does Richmond have a drama program I was previously unaware of?

 

[UR80sfan]

I think mr.spider is actually Angel Reese in real life.

 

[GKiller]

I think mr.spider is actually Angel Reese in real life.

is that your 1st joke on here? I thought u were the straight man. Surprisingly impressive.

 

[GKiller]

I agree mr.spider the fake NIL stuff and wild wild west of anything goes is frustrating and not as enjoyable as a fan. There desperately need to be guardrails & that is coming from coaches, admins & fans, problem is nobody seems to know how to do it nor stick to their beliefs.

But where r you going to go? I was at U of TN recently for a campus tour w son. I kid you not, they brought up their ranked quidditch team in presentation b4 tour. I thought of U of R and the quidditch comments here and almost lost it out loud b4 my wife elbowed me in the ribs. A power school team with their athletics and they bring up quidditch. I think their point was we have something here for everyone but idk.

Then this dad was telling me how her daughter - the only senior there - had gotten into Michigan, UVA, W&M and more. Nice enough guy I enjoyed the convo but I held off on the 1 thing I wanted to ask him. WTF are you doing here? lol. Maybe good scholarship/grant $.

Anyway there is always quidditch.

 

[brooklyn brownstone]

I don’t necessarily agree.

UR was able to turn a losing team into the A10 regular season champions overnight with a new backcourt. Did you really want to watch Nelson and Randolph struggle this year and next while waiting for a (hypothetical) group of new recruits to come in and develop? I’m much happier how it turned out.

I want to compete every year. Jordan King was as enjoyable to watch as any Spider in recent memory. The fact he came here as a grad transfer did nothing to dampen my enjoyment and support of the team.

To me the prospect of renewed possibility every year is refreshing.

 

[spider23]

is that your 1st joke on here? I thought u were the straight man. Surprisingly impressive.

I'm going to have to agree with Gkiller here, that one caught me off guard 80's and gave me a good laugh. Well played.

 

[brooklyn brownstone]

But I guess there is always quidditch if you disagree. Loyola already has the lockdown on scarves, bet their team is tops.

 

[spider23]

And I fall more in line with Brooklyn on this topic. Those years past when we we had gaping holes on the roster, and had to rely on freshman and a transfer from Chicago State as our saviour - no thanks! At least in this climate, Mooney is adapting and jumping in with both feet - and results were better this past regular season than most. And the offseasons critiquing which freshman could contribute and whether XYZ player could improve his shooting as our only chance were long and boring. The portal era is much more fun.

Now if we can just get Bronny to Duquesne, that would be wild hahaha.

MSN

 

[mr.spider]

Guys, this message is not as much about success. I take pride in being a Spider. I want our players to be proud too. But if they constantly have a foot out the door looking for a better different opportunity, they aren't true Spiders and don't have the love, passion, pride that makes being a Spider special.

 

[UR80sfan]

Guys, this message is not as much about success. I take pride in being a Spider. I want our players to be proud too. But if they constantly have a foot out the door looking for a better different opportunity, they aren't true Spiders and don't have the love, passion, pride that makes being a Spider special.

Only some of them have one foot out the door. Others are loyal to the program and I believes will be much more successful long term than those looking to make a quick buck. also, sorry I kidded you early in the post.

 

[8legs1dream]

geez you gave me a scare, at first glance I read "Tyne to enter the portal"

 

[97spiderfan]

geez you gave me a scare, at first glance I read "Tyne to enter the portal"

Right, that is what I thought too. The April Fools post was equally not funny.

 

[SFspidur]

It's not official unless it says "Tynne to enter the portal."

 

[plydogg]

But if they constantly have a foot out the door

Who has constantly had a foot out the door though? Tyler and Dji both graduated with degrees from UR. I think most college graduates are expected to have both feet out the door once you graduate (unless you’re Buster Bluth).

Tyler, Dji, Khwan didn’t enter the portal every year. They worked hard and graduated. And then, like most graduates, made the best decision for them in their future careers.

What makes UR special is what our graduates do in their careers. Holding them back and stunting their future to squeeze a little more out of them is what I would expect from VCU. That’s not what being a Spider is about.

 

[CarolinaSpider]

I agree mr.spider the fake NIL stuff and wild wild west of anything goes is frustrating and not as enjoyable as a fan. There desperately need to be guardrails & that is coming from coaches, admins & fans, problem is nobody seems to know how to do it nor stick to their beliefs.

But where r you going to go? I was at U of TN recently for a campus tour w son. I kid you not, they brought up their ranked quidditch team in presentation b4 tour. I thought of U of R and the quidditch comments here and almost lost it out loud b4 my wife elbowed me in the ribs. A power school team with their athletics and they bring up quidditch. I think their point was we have something here for everyone but idk.

Then this dad was telling me how her daughter - the only senior there - had gotten into Michigan, UVA, W&M and more. Nice enough guy I enjoyed the convo but I held off on the 1 thing I wanted to ask him. WTF are you doing here? lol. Maybe good scholarship/grant $.

Anyway there is always quidditch.

Enjoyed working in East TN and Knoxville is a great town. Just a little too much orange for my liking.

 

[GKiller]

I want to compete every year. Jordan King was as enjoyable to watch as any Spider in recent memory. The fact he came here as a grad transfer did nothing to dampen my enjoyment and support of the team.

To me the prospect of renewed possibility every year is refreshing.

I like that too I didn’t mean that part myself. Rooted for King just the same.

But u can have balance. The pay for play disguised as NIL is rotten imo. It is supposed to be amateur college athletics. As 23 likes to say when is last time u had someone academically ineligible. There used to be some semblance of classes. & yeah there can be big $ but put it back into the schools. As player u if you can get endorsements u should & u should get a cut of your jersey sales etc. I’m for that - true NIL not payroll. That’s a small %. But we have the pro model already. Some people say fans come for the players in college. I don’t. That’s more of a pro thing. In college they root for the laundry like Seinfeld likes to say.

U can have the renewed possibility each year with just the free transfers. The 1 free transfer without sitting out was overdue. The unlimited transfers idk but I can see argument for it. So I think there could be balance without having schools pay u to leave.

 

[GKiller]

Enjoyed working in East TN and Knoxville is a great town. Just a little too much orange for my liking.

Yeah spent some decent time there, not permanently, but visiting have some connections to Knox & UT. Agree about the orange. Loud. It’s tough to wear that except game days.

 

[CarolinaSpider]

For me NIL has basically ruined the term amateur and replaced with gun for hire.
Yea I know this is how it is going to be moving forward, but does not mean I have to
like it.😖

 

[spiderman]

the current NIL doesn't cost schools anything. it's just weathly boosters who want their sports programs to win, which is the whole reason scholarships started in the 1st place. I think if you have a problem with NIL then you should have a problem with scholarships. scholarships are actually worse. those forgiven tuitions are actually subsidized by the non-athlete students (really their parents).

I guess you could argue NIL money would otherwise be given by booters to the school instead of the players, but I never feel bad for schools sitting on billion dollar endowments.

nobody has a problem with adults leaving a job for better pay. you just congratulate them. they're doing what's best for them and/or their families. not sure why it's so different for college athletes. some vilify a guy for leaving but welcome an incoming transfer with open arms. can't have it both ways.

 

[GKiller]

the current NIL doesn't cost schools anything. it's just weathly boosters who want their sports programs to win, which is the whole reason scholarships started in the 1st place. I think if you have a problem with NIL then you should have a problem with scholarships. scholarships are actually worse. those forgiven tuitions are actually subsidized by the non-athlete students (really their parents).

I guess you could argue NIL money would otherwise be given by booters to the school instead of the players, but I never feel bad for schools sitting on billion dollar endowments.

nobody has a problem with adults leaving a job for better pay. you just congratulate them. they're doing what's best for them and/or their families. not sure why it's so different for college athletes. some vilify a guy for leaving but welcome an incoming transfer with open arms. can't have it both ways.

there are tons of scholarships athletic & otherwise not subsidized by non student athletes. subsidized by endowments & charitable giving.

nobody villifying players leaving. except for mr. spider. esp with $ on table these days. But a scholarship is worth a hell of a lot. it's like we ignore that completely now.

but u actually may have sparked a great idea. No scholarships. You get paid to play. If u decide u want to get an education, live at and get fed by the university, & more then u have to pay the tuition room & board. school pays u for your services, u pay university for theirs. With all the eligibility & rules going away u don't even have to be enrolled.

 

[brooklyn brownstone]

sounds like the UR band

 

[mr.spider]

I am very surprised that no one else on the Spiders messageboard, no less, feels this degree of pride for their school.

I am equally surprised that no one realizes or cares how much NIL cripples our chances of high level success.

I guess it's probably time to hang it up once and for all. I'm in a boat all alone, but without any pride and loyalty left, there is really nothing left in which to cheer. The passion I feel is so intense. Giving it up will be one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in life, but it may be my only option. I'm surprised no one even on here truly understands.

 

[Spiders4ever]

I am very surprised that no one else on the Spiders messageboard, no less, feels this degree of pride for their school.

I am equally surprised that no one realizes or cares how much NIL cripples our chances of high level success.

I guess it's probably time to hang it up once and for all. I'm in a boat all alone, but without any pride and loyalty left, there is really nothing left in which to cheer. The passion I feel is so intense. Giving it up will be one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in life, but it may be my only option. I'm surprised no one even on here truly understands.

At the end of the day, it's just basketball.

 

[gospidersgo]

I am very surprised that no one else on the Spiders messageboard, no less, feels this degree of pride for their school.

I am equally surprised that no one realizes or cares how much NIL cripples our chances of high level success.

I guess it's probably time to hang it up once and for all. I'm in a boat all alone, but without any pride and loyalty left, there is really nothing left in which to cheer. The passion I feel is so intense. Giving it up will be one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in life, but it may be my only option. I'm surprised no one even on here truly understands.

I hate the way it's gone too and have said so on here many times. But me getting upset about it isn't going to change anything and I realize that. So the options are walk away from my fandom, or continue to support even though it's not quite what I want it to be.

 

[mr.spider]

At the end of the day, it's just basketball.

This is exactly my point. And you were one of the ones I thought were closest to understanding. It is not JUST basketball. It is WAY more than that. It's about pride in your school!! In fact, it has very little to do with basketball.

 

[mr.spider]

I hate the way it's gone too and have said so on here many times. But me getting upset about it isn't going to change anything and I realize that. So the options are walk away from my fandom, or continue to support even though it's not quite what I want it to be.

I never thought I could even consider walking away, but without loyalty and pride, there isn't much or anything left.

 

[MrTbone]

I have tremendous pride in UR, someone on the basketball team departing isn’t going to change that.

 

[mr.spider]

The playerS show no loyalty anymore. The pride comes with knowing they want to be here because they love being a Spider. Almost completely lost.

 

[Spiders4ever]

You give all the players $250k to $500K a year and they will be pretty loyal.

Not a fan of it either, but it is not going to change anything.

A different era. The only thing constant is change.

 

[urfan1]

The playerS show no loyalty anymore. The pride comes with knowing they want to be here because they love being a Spider. Almost completely lost.

You are drawing to hard a line for your loyalty test. If a player has no loyalty because he leaves, why don't they all leave after their first year.

 

[KE Spider]

the current NIL doesn't cost schools anything. it's just weathly boosters who want their sports programs to win, which is the whole reason scholarships started in the 1st place. I think if you have a problem with NIL then you should have a problem with scholarships. scholarships are actually worse. those forgiven tuitions are actually subsidized by the non-athlete students (really their parents).

I guess you could argue NIL money would otherwise be given by booters to the school instead of the players, but I never feel bad for schools sitting on billion dollar endowments.

nobody has a problem with adults leaving a job for better pay. you just congratulate them. they're doing what's best for them and/or their families. not sure why it's so different for college athletes. some vilify a guy for leaving but welcome an incoming transfer with open arms. can't have it both ways.

Great respect for you Spiderman, but couldn't disagree more on this.

Do you want amateur sports where you are rewarded with a free education or an auction for 18-22 year old athletes?

Old restrictions sucked. New rules suck equally. There is a middle ground, restore STUDENT-athletes,

 

[mr.spider]

You are drawing to hard a line for your loyalty test. If a player has no loyalty because he leaves, why don't they all leave after their first year.

It means they aren't in it to be Spiders, which doesn't work for me.

 

[Spiders4ever]

It means they aren't in it to be Spiders, which doesn't work for me.

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of offers are you getting since you entered the portal?

 

[urfan1]

It means they aren't in it to be Spiders, which doesn't work for me.

I would agree if they all left after first year. Besides if they don't want to be a Spider, I would prefer they leave.

 

[mr.spider]

This era is just plain stupid. No one really cares about their school any longer. Money persuades everyone. No fun any longer.

 

[fan2011]

I think mr.spider is actually Angel Reese in real life.

Angel Reese transferred after her sophomore year. mr spider would never

 

[mr.spider]

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of offers are you getting since you entered the portal?

There is nothing else out there of any value. This is my greatest passion by a long shot. Many people have told me over the years that I'm the greatest Spider fan in existence. Apparently they were right. I didn't believe them; I thought everyone had this level of passion, but I was wrong. No where close. I didn't expect everyone else to hold season tickets and travel to nearly every game while living in NC, MD, and PA, but I did think they loved their team at a deep level and would make it to any game within reach. I didn't think others would make it to nearly every conference tourny, but I thought they might travel for a few. I didn't expect everyone would cheer until they are hoarse and turn their hands bloody clapping at every game, but I did they think might clap consistently. I didn't expect everyone to feel like they were on the court with the guys busting their asses, but I did expect they would experience joy and hurt with the guys. I didn't expect others to drive 1700 miles each way for the men's NCAA tourny, and 1300 miles each way for the women's NCAA tourny, but I did think they would passionately watch on TV and care about the outcome or maybe even consider traveling. And I certainly expected the players to passionately want to be Spiders no matter what.

 

[RichmondNative]

I know that timeouts aren’t part of the current Spider basketball culture, but good grief.

The situation with both Burton and Bailey are artificial and the product of a bone headed decision by the NCAA to grant all athletes that were active during the Covid shutdown an extra year of eligibility. It has nothing to do with love of the school or any such thing. They both will have earned degrees from UR and played on the team for 4 years. Most of their friends are probably left/are leaving for new challenges/jobs so why wouldn’t they? This isn’t like the first time around when all the “super seniors” stayed to try to do what they hadn’t been able to do before. Dji and Tyler were both “classes of one”. In Dji’s case, 60% of the starters are gone and probably close to 90% of the scoring (I am not taking the time to get the actual number). Sure it would be helpful to the team if he stayed, but it is easy to see that there are other attractive options.

I would be singing a different tune if they weren’t graduates. Leaving a school without a degree could be called chasing money. However for the UR underclassmen that have left to date, it has been chasing playing time.