The Morning Commute for Friday, February 14th, 2025
Welcome to the Morning Commute
Today I’m getting a little political, but stick with it because I’m going to keep it as apolitical as possible. It may seem like a hot taek but in reality it’s not… at least I don’t think. So I want to talk about the recent US Department of Education’s decision to rescind previous guidance on NIL compensation that came from the Biden Administration.
I likely won’t surprise anyone here by saying I’m no fan of the current Administration and will probably disagree with approximately a billion things they both do and try to do over the next few years. I think this specific decision is the correct one because I think the guidance provided by the Biden Administration was a bit foolish.
NIL compensation should not be classified under Title IX because it has nothing to do with academic or athletic opportunity or discrimination, and I don’t believe it has anything to do with sexual discrimination or civil rights.
NIL, at its core, is about allowing college athletes the financial opportunity based upon the Name, Image, and Likeness of any individual athlete. And NIL is simply NOT an equal thing.
A Heisman award candidate or All-American men’s basketball player is not the same as a bench player for women’s soccer or a men’s cross country runner; none of them should be denied access to the same academic opportunities provided by a scholarship. Housing, books, food, travel, and all that stuff. But Jeremiah Smith’s ability to play football, by far the most value creating of all the sports across college athletics, simply can’t be equal within his own sport much less across all athletics.
I don’t know if you watch women’s basketball outside of Missouri but USC has a young woman by the name of JuJu Watkins and she’s awesome. Her NIL value is astronomical even compared to many men’s players, and she was just in a Super Bowl commercial for Nike! Women’s basketball is more popular than ever and women like Watkins and her predecessors like A’ja Wilson, Arike Ogunbowale, and yes, Caitlin Clark, are a big driver of revenue. They should benefit. But it won’t be equal.
Sports have never been equal. Kobe Bryant and I were both born the same year and we’re the same height, but I couldn’t do the things he could do despite also being a basketball player. What’s popular is popular and what makes money makes money and the athletes who are responsible for the revenue generation should benefit from the revenue. That is what NIL is, and the Biden Administration trying to shove NIL guidance under Title IX feels like it’s just missed the boat.
I’ve talked before about my belief in a Labor Union for college athletes, one that could negotiate and build out templates for potential labor contracts with athletes. It would help a lot of things, limit the high turnover of transfers, and set an expectation for how the athlete will be used within the program and at the University and more. I don’t think NIL should be used as a cop out way for schools to pay their players, that’s not what NIL is about. NIL is Josh Gray telling you to change your air filters for a Spire ad.
I think Title IX is important. It’s opened doors for women’s sports and for years we’ve seen just how popular these sports can be. I think an argument could be made that Clark is in the top 5 most popular basketball players. So I hope Title IX remains firmly in place and protects opportunities for all in the collegiate space.
There’s a chance for the NCAA and for the Federal Government to get this right and make sure things are fair… I can’t wait to see how they screw it up!
Yesterday at Rock M and Rock M+
- Nate posted the Defensive Profile of the 2024 Tigers:
A not-very-nice 69th in rushing success rate paired with a 52nd-ranked opportunity rate isn’t as sterling a finish as you’d like, but ranking in the Top 15 in explosive runs allowed was a nice change of pace. Missouri faced a run on 61.8% of standard downs (30th) and 35.5% of passing downs (53rd) so it seems fairly clear that opponents liked running on Mizzou rather than passing the ball.
- And Nathan has the scorecards for the Offensive Staff:
Brandon Jones entered his second season on Eli Drinkwitz’s staff coming off an incredible high in 2023. Fielding perhaps the best Mizzou offensive line in a decade, Jones quickly showed why Eli Drinkwitz brought him in from Houston the prior spring. In 2023, Jones enjoyed an experienced unit which returned four starters in Javon Foster, Xavier Delgado, Connor Tollison and Armand Membou. The lone new guy was someone Jones brought with him from Houston in all-AAC guard Cam’Ron Johnson.
A pretty light day yesterday. Softball split two games beating Clemson and dropping one to Florida State in Clearwater, FL.
- Over at Rock M+, we’re talking about Paint Touches!:
On the season, Mizzou’s paint touch possession rate hovers around 66%. That is, on nearly 2/3s of possession they achieve this feat. Their efficiency on those touches ranges around 1.224 points per possession. On the flip side, their points per possession on non-paint touch trips sits at 0.880 PPP. That’s a substantial difference.
There’s more, including how they do in losses versus wins.
Rock M Radio: Majority Rules is back! People watch women’s sports!
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