I’m watching the Washington vs Eastern Washington game tonight on the Big 10 Network. 6’8 250 lb Washington Forward Great Osobor became a point of discussion.
He is from England. Was recruited by new Huskies coach Danny Sprinkle when Sprinkle was at Montana State and played a year for Sprinkle there. Sprinkle moved to Utah State and Osobor followed him to Ogden for two seasons. Sprinkle got the Washington job last off season and Odobor followed him to Seattle for his Senior year.
The broadcast team said Osobor is getting $2 million in NIL $ to play his Senior year for the Huskies.
This is a snapshot of what’s happened to our college sports landscape.
Osobor, whose father is a taxi driver and mother is a caregiver for elderly clients, will have the opportunity to make life-altering money in his final year of college eligibility despite arriving in the United States with little fanfare and spending his first two seasons coming off the bench in the Big Sky Conference.
Danny Sprinkle is making 3.7 million avg per year.
I don’t think NIL and the portal improve my enjoyment of college sports, but it’s hard to argue that the players shouldn’t get theirs too.
They’re not getting paid based on their NBA potential or impact; they’re getting paid based on their impact as college athletes.
Oumar Ballo will be a second-round pick at best. He’s still making 7 figures because his game works well for college ball. Most of these deals for the top-end college basketball players are more than NBA rookie deals anyway.
If he’s picked anywhere other than in the top 4, he’s likely making more at BYU. I’m starting to wonder if NIL will slow down 1 and dones except in the top couple of cases.