10 million on up if you want to be competitive. Mid majors simply can’t compete with this, other than very rare exceptions, especially if you also fund football and hockey.
Multiple coaches said that the starting rate for a high-major center was roughly $1.5 million, with some of the top earners set to make triple that.
“There’s guys that can barely walk and chew gum at the same time that are making like $2 million,” said the SEC assistant.
As for how much individual players are making, you don’t surpass $30 million as a team without several highly priced talents. One Big 12 head coach said the most expensive player he’s aware of will earn roughly $4.8 million next season. Another Big East assistant said he knows of at least one player who will earn more than that.
“You can tell how much money people have by their bench,” said a second ACC head coach. “If they have a bench with guys that can start other places, they had a lot of money.”
The good news is - this will probably include us (as far as non-powers go). Getting 2 Horizon league starters and a MAC starter to add to our returners feels like a great outcome. I am in the chorus hoping we return woolfolk
1 Like
I thought we did well in the portal. Give it a B+. We didn’t need as much as we retained so many. To me, the star of the portal class is Elam. I haven’t heard a peep on the Woolfolk front since the ruling so I am assuming he isn’t coming back, although I would love if he did!