Week-End Salvo: Special Early East Coast Edition

[Oracle]

NIL. Not quite a 4-letter word, but it should be. A vile, corrupt, illegitimate vehicle to bring professionalism to college athletics. Profane indeed.

D1 college athletics are in total disarray. Conference realignment that makes no sense and de-emphasizes natural regional rivalries that fans want. Do Big 10 fans want Oregon vs Rutgers, or do ACC fans want Stanford vs Wake Forest? Insane.

However, at this particular moment in time if you are not in the NIL game, you will be bull-dozed by those who are. Boosters who have been put in a box by the NCAA are now free to spend as never before. College championships are for sale. Period. The end.

Where does this leave Wrestling? Great line from the classic film The Guns of Navarone by Gregory Peck to David Niven: "You're in it now mister, right up to your neck!" Don't be fooled by the relative secrecy of NIL payments to wrestlers. It's happening--big time. When asked if would return for another year, RBY responded, in effect, "we'll see how much." None of it stuck to St Cael publicly.

Lehigh will *never* sign a guy like Alirez, or Parco, without massive NIL. It's just not in the cards and not how LU does it. Fans should accept it. Doesn't mean Lehigh can't be really good and "have fun and score points" at the NCAAs. It does mean it won't be by signing elite 1-year NIL rentals.

So...if all this is true, then logic dictates -- yes -- we emphasize what we can offer: alumni pipeline to Wall Street for example, as well as several other lucrative industries one can make a career in. We emphasize an elite wrestling facility, an historic arena, fan support better than most, majors that offer a path to a degree while training for a very difficult sport, and a staff that prepares a person for life after wrestling -- yes, character matters.

For all this, LU needs 20 top 50 recruits at any given time in the room; roughly 2 per weight. Perhaps the total roster numbers come down, I don't know. The staff has been having some recent success in Jersey. However, LU absolutely needs D11 talent to stay with the home town team. This is not negotiable if we want to rise. Not too many elite teams fail to sign their elite local talent. If Lehigh wants to be elite, they have to sign their elite local talent. Arguments?

Have a great weekend everyone. Sunny and warm here in Chapel Hill.

[LUEngineer]

Excellent write up Oracle. I do not think we need 20 top 50 recruits to be a Top 10 program. We need 5 top guys to perform at Nationals with a couple others winning a couple of bouts.

If you recall we were projected #3 last year prior to NCAA’s based upon AA rankings of Crookham/Stanish/Beard/Taylor plus support cast of Hines & Brignola. Clearly no one performed to their expectation but Crookham/Stanish still finished High AA & both frosh creates energy for next year.

I do agree that somehow having locals understand the value of a Lehigh Degree couple with Big Time team potential is very important because of our D11 excellence. Having them understand the value of Big Time college Wrestling in front of their family & friends has a value. At Lehigh-Wrestling matters!!! That is the Marketing theme we should consider locally IMO.

So even if Lehigh doesn’t want to recognize one sport is more important than others, it doesn’t mean that we can’t figure out a way to promote that. That is our challenge. The Hotel Bethlehem does that & will do more. “3 Time National Champion Hotel supporting Lehigh National Champion Legacy”

South Maintain NIL now calling for more businesses & individuals to jump aboard. Together we can make it happen despite the tough odds you outline. We only need 10 top 50 recruits with 1/2 performing at college level in my opinion.

[Oracle]

LUEngineer: 10 is not enough. If the room isn’t ‘quality’ deep then the next elite kid won’t sign. Yes, eventually only 5 are needed for a top 10 finish but the real world math says you need 20 to produce those 5. Look at other elite rosters.

[Justafan]

Excellent synopsis.

I still maintain, and I think the staff agrees that the NIL money will be most beneficial in taking us over the hump in the recruiting process. I have been told many time that we have been so close for elite talent but lost it to NIL. That is certainly not to discount the need for pursuing the right fit in the transfer portal and they have been and will continue to do so but our best opportunity remains with the PA and NJ high schools.

I'm excited to find out what our future holds.

[The Kid]

It would be interesting to hear from Crookham, who must have had a slew of great offers. What factors did he consider and what tipped him to Lehigh? Even if he never considered anywhere else, why not? The same for a few other top recruits. Something seems to work for some cases. Can these factors be emphasized to others or is there a unique demographic that Lehigh is capable of attracting at present?

[Oracle]

No offense, but a lot of things would be interesting. I'd leave current athletes out of this. Your last sentence answered your own question.

[Justafan]

It would be interesting to hear from Crookham, who must have had a slew of great offers. What factors did he consider and what tipped him to Lehigh? Even if he never considered anywhere else, why not? The same for a few other top recruits. Something seems to work for some cases. Can these factors be emphasized to others or is there a unique demographic that Lehigh is capable of attracting at present?

Let me give you a slightly different perspective.

1.)The coaches already know. There is far more communication going on between coach and athlete than we may anticipate including during the recruiting process.

2.)Every student and so every athlete is unique in what impacts their decision and it is not only NIL. Read their bios and they will give some blurb about the combination of academics and athletics.

3.)Lehigh has one distinct advantage over most schools. Lehigh has an academic reputation in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region that far exceeds US News and World Report. Fortunately, in wrestling, as we all know, that region is very, very fertile for developing talent. Ryan grew up in Saucon Valley. He understands all that. My guess is that the WSJ rankings based on output rather than input is forefront in the coaches' recruiting binder.

I'm never opposed to asking questions. That is the way we learn. No, I have never been employed by Lehigh but I have been in many situations that allow me to talk and advise students. I always ask "what attracted you to Lehigh".
We can all learn from the answer.
My latest question though to students and athletes outside those regions is "how did you hear about Lehigh". That will tell you everything you need to know about our rankings.

I hope this helps.

[martinsilvestri]

In one interview Crookham talked about coming to Grace Hall as a fan while growing up, and watching Cruz win the championship. That's how Crookham ended up at Lehigh - very strong early connection. On one hand this underscores the importance of local outreach - it's also the reality check that we're not just pulling guys of Crookham's caliber from the general market. It's why I get hopeful whenever we see the young guys at FCA or wherever with Lehigh shirts on - these are the years where these guys are gonna be "recruited".

[The Kid]

No offense, but a lot of things would be interesting. I'd leave current athletes out of this. Your last sentence answered your own question.

No, I did not answer my own question and neither did you, but other people had intelligent responses so thank you to them.

[The Kid]

In one interview Crookham talked about coming to Grace Hall as a fan while growing up, and watching Cruz win the championship. That's how Crookham ended up at Lehigh - very strong early connection. On one hand this underscores the importance of local outreach - it's also the reality check that we're not just pulling guys of Crookham's caliber from the general market. It's why I get hopeful whenever we see the young guys at FCA or wherever with Lehigh shirts on - these are the years where these guys are gonna be "recruited".

Than part of the long game is this local outreach. They could have a November dual in Stabler for which any local coach can get free tickets for their team if they commit. The electricity of being there and with their friends would certainly infect some of them for the long run. Just watching Lehigh on Service Electric in HS turned me into a fan. I was never in ballpark for a team of this caliber, but if I were, I would have taken them over Iowa with no questions.