Today, long-time Pioneer Press writer Charley Walters provided some thought-provoking information about the Gophers’ standing within the Big Ten in terms of their NIL budget, and how it compares to the riches NIL teams in the Big Ten.

Minnesota Gophers are way behind top Big Ten schools in NIL funding

Hint: It’s not good. According to Walters, the Gophers find themselves operating with just a quarter of the NIL resources that the two most well-funded schools, Purdue and Illinois, are operating with, which he is being told is $2.5 million.

Purdue and Illinois are said to have the Big Ten’s largest men’s basketball NIL budgets, about $2.5 million a year. Insiders say the Gophers’ men’s basketball NIL budget is barely one-fourth of that.

Charley Walter – Pioneer Press

In the modern landscape of collegiate sports, it’s increasingly evident that a substantial financial foundation in NIL cash is essential for any team aspiring to maintain competitiveness. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the prestigious Big Ten conference, widely recognized as one of the most prominent and competitive leagues in all the NCAA.

Walters highlights the disparity between the financial resources allocated to Ben Johnson and the Gopher basketball program for NIL deals. If he is right, that means Minnesota’s NIL budge sits at around $625,000 per year, which tells us why they’ve been losing kids to big NIL dollars elsewhere this offseason.

Related: Charlotte PG Lu’Cye Patterson Transferring to Hometown Gophers

Given this information, it shouldn’t be surprising that Purdue and Illinois have both made runs to the Elite 8 in recent seasons. More money = More talent = (usually) More wins

It’s unclear whether the basketball program should seek additional NIL partners, but they definitely need to come up with a solution fast. If not, recruiting might become nearly impossible.

What is “Negative Recruiting”? I like the way reddit user, neovenator250, laid it out with some generic “negative recruiting” phrases.

1) “Don’t you want to play for a coach who will be at your school for your whole career?” That coach is going to the NFL at the first chance he gets”

2) “He’s lying to you. He’s recruiting you to his school, but haven’t you heard that he’s interviewing tomorrow at…”

3) “When was the last time that coach/school put someone in the NFL at your position? it’s been a LONG time. They’re not good enough to get you there”

4) “If you go to South Carolina, you’ll be pumping gas for a living after 4 years” -Lane Kiffin

The most underrated part of Alshon Jeffery is how Lane Kiffin told him he'd wind up "pumping gas" if he went to South Carolina.

— Brian Clark (@BrianClark_) December 10, 2013

Yeah, that last one is a real comment made by Lane Kiffin. He was coaching at Tennessee and recruiting Alshon Jeffrey. It’s probably the highest profile case of “negative recruiting” on record. The practice itself, though, is all too common around college recruiting circles. “Negative Recruiting” is the art of bashing other coaches and teams, to turn a recruiting battle in your favor.

Love Letters From Purdue

So when Purdue University’s Director of Player Personnel, Eron Hodges, posted this to his instagram story on Monday, Gopher fans were expectedly triggered. This letter is written to Minnesota commit (4-star RB), Mar’Keise Irving.

This is the Purdue Minnesota rivalry trophy pic.twitter.com/78JzCzYBtR

— 11win season top10 team (@7NattyChamps) September 22, 2020

I DON’T KNOW WHAT MORE I CAN DO, SAY, OR SHOW YOU TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS THE BEST PLACE FOR YOU. MENTALLY, ACADEMICALLY, SOCIALLY & ATHLETICALLY. THE LOVE I GOT FOR YOU IS UNREAL. YOU ARE LEGIT THE RB THAT I’VE ALWAYS WANTED HERE. I GOT YOUR BACK FOR LIFE NO MATTER IF IT’S BOILER UP OR SKI-WHATEVER THE FUCK!! WE FAM & I JUST WANT WHAT’S BEST FOR YOU. – ERON AKA GODFATHER

Classic Brohm

Let’s just say, this type of thing isn’t considered “rare” around the Jeff Brohm program. The letter itself wouldn’t shock those who follow CFB recruiting closely. There’s a reason he signs it “Godfather” (lol). Sharing it on your instagram story for the whole world to see? Well, that’s something new for any program using negative recruiting tactics. Also… what professional says “fuck” in a letter they are writing to a high school kid?

Anyway, that letter made it’s rounds on Gopher football message boards and social media, Monday. Irving is a top-5 Minnesota 2021 recruit. It’s not just going to slide by unnoticed.

The story doesn’t stop at Irving, though. This goes further back than that. Do you remember Sam Jackson? Some Gopher football fans might. Sam was a part of the 2021 Minnesota Gophers class… twice. He was one of the first to row the 2021 boat, committing to the Gophers back in February of 2019. Jackson would go on to de-commit, re-commit, and then de-commit again. He flipped to Purdue after decommitting the last time, and now they’re trying to do the same with Irving.

Why Did Jackson Flip?

Jackson flipped because he wants to play quarterback. PJ Fleck has already committed to his QB of the future, Athan Kaliakmanis. Fleck promised to give Jackson a chance to compete at QB but most expected him to land at CB or WR. Fleck was honest about his plans for Jackson and that’s why we’ve seen him waffle.

It’s an easier path to QB at Purdue. Jackson is the only QB they have coming in for the 2021 class. Hell, he’s by-far the highest rated commit they have for 2021. But rumors have still been floating recently, that may indicate Purdue’s intentions are to play Jackson at defensive back, not QB. This is from Rivals.com guy, Josh Helmholdt.

There was some legitimate consternation inside of the Sam Jackson camp, after this recruiting update was posted by Rivals.com. That could have been expected. What would have been harder to predict, was Purdue DPP Eron Hodges tweeting this in response. Whoa.

Reporters please don’t speak on situations you know nothing about… ? ya’ll on 〽️ payroll now? We got our QB!!! ?… I know what this is really about too pic.twitter.com/0RZBAvZNQD

— Eron Hodges (@EronHodges) September 21, 2020

WWE College Football

If Eron Hodges wants to turn college football recruiting into outside the ring WWE…. I am 100% here for it. Irving isn’t going anywhere. He was just seen working out with 2021 QB commit, (the aforementioned) Athan Kaliakmanis. Negative recruiting doesn’t work. The real ones want competition. They know that nothing in life worth a damn, comes guaranteed.

Purdue can whisper whatever they want into Sam Jackson’s ear. He isn’t going to play QB for them. They’re in it for the talent and they’re willing to say whatever it takes to get Sam in uniform. That’s what Brohm’s staff does.

Since posting what you see in the photo above, Helmholdt (Rivals.com guy) has changed Jackson’s recruited position for Purdue, from “defensive back” to “quarterback”. It’s almost as if, after Hodges’ tweet, the words were changed in Helmholdt’s blog… But, it would be unprofessional for me to accuse a CFB reporter of being in some University’s pocket.

Eric Strack and Max Carroll | Minnesota Sports Fan

Last week, betMGM (New Jersey) updated their Big Ten West odds for 2020. For whatever reason, the Scott Frost (over)hype train is still going strong, Purdue still paid way too much for Brohm and everyone is still sleeping on Minnesota.

Odds will likely move again, before the season kicks off. Oddsmakers still haven’t learned from last year, when they picked the Gophers to finish 6th in the West. After going 11-2 and coming one win over Iowa OR Wisconsin away from winning the division last year, Vegas shows that the disrespect for Minnesota continues to run deep.

The Big Ten East has absolutely dominated in Indianapolis recently, winning the past seven title games. The West seems to be up for grabs this year, after Wisconsin lost Jonathan Taylor to the draft and many others to graduation. So, which team will bring the title back west? Let’s break down what Vegas thinks.

Best Bet

Minnesota +525

Of course it’s Minnesota. Are you kidding me? A $100 bet pays $550… We’re talking long-shot odds on a team returns weapons Rashad Bateman, Mohamad Ibrahim and Heisman favorite, Tanner Morgan? In the trenches, the Gophers also return five starters on the Offensive line.

The gophers schedule is also extremely favorable because it lacks Ohio State and Penn State. The Iowa and Michigan games are both at home, which could be massive (coronavirus pending). Meanwhile, Wisconsin has a trip to the Big House and Iowa has to play Penn State and Ohio State on the road.

Worst Bet

There is no other choice other than Nebraska +325.

We’re talking about a team that lost to Purdue’s backup QB last year, missed a bowl game (is that possible these days?), AND had an elite offensive weapon enter the transfer portal. Their head coach also despises hooded sweatshirts.

Yet, Vegas says Nebraska still has 3rd-best odds to win the West, at +325. The oddsmakers were clearly impressed with wins over South Alabama, Northern Illinois and that close loss to Purdue. Oh, and don’t forget their brutal schedule in November. The line should be more like +800 at best for the Huskers… but I still wouldn’t take it.

Happy New Year!

The 2020 Nebraska football schedule:

Sept. 5 Purdue
Sept. 12 Central Michigan
Sept. 19 SDSU
Sept. 26 Cincinnati
Oct. 3 at NW
Oct. 10 Illinois
Oct. 24 at Rutgers
Oct. 31 at Ohio St.
Nov. 7 Penn St.
Nov. 14 at Iowa
Nov. 21 at Wisconsin
Nov. 27 Minnesota pic.twitter.com/xkhrdpFOcx

— Sam McKewon (@swmckewonOWH) January 1, 2020

Sleeper

National experts would put Minnesota as their sleeper here, but we didn’t sleep on the Gophers last year and we won’t this year, either. Finding a legit sleeper in this group is tough. Northwestern is rolling in with IU transfer Peyton Ramsey at QB, a new OC and some optimism.

Illinois has momentum, after their first bowl game since 2014… but PJ Fleck keeps swiping all Lovie’s best in-state recruits, and Purdue…. well, never mind. Purdue beat Ohio State at home once in 2018, then they paid Brohm a ton of money… and they haven’t done anything since.

I guess, we’ll take Illinois and the momentum at +3000. Maybe Brandon Peters can finally be the reliable QB Jim Harbaugh thought he could be at Michigan (probably not). Maybe the Illini defense will continue to progress (probably not). Really, it’s a 3-horse race between Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota.

While the oddsmakers are still sleeping, some national outlets that have already grabbed an oar. 247Sports recently put the Minnesota Gophers in their conversation for national title contenders..

Sorting college football’s 2020 national title contenders into tiershttps://t.co/0DsPMNnbM8 pic.twitter.com/TIs3ZD9CE7

— 247Sports (@247Sports) June 18, 2020

GoldyLocks | Minnesota Sports Fan

It’s been an up-and-down season for the Gopher Basketball team in 2018-19 and news today on Eric Curry’s injury wasn’t a very good start to a very important night. Nonetheless, one victory over the next (and last) two regular season games would have the Gophers comfortably in the NCAA Tournament. Hosting the #11 Purdue Boilermakers at The Barn on Tuesday night, the Gophers were seemingly unfazed. 

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If there’s anything that’s been proven over the last two victories for the Minnesota Gophers, it’s that this team goes by how Amir Coffey goes. For the second straight game, we saw an aggressive and confident Amir from the opening tip. When both teams were in single digits, I’m pretty sure I saw him bark and growl at Jordan Murphy, who was going after the same rebound.

If he plays like that for the rest of the season… who knows what could happen to this team.

Matz Stockman played massive minutes in place of Eric Curry. He’s another guy who will have to be good if the Gophers are going to thrive at all this postseason. That will especially hold true if Oturu has more quiet games like he did tonight. Murphy was his usual self and he’ll be in the rafters soon enough.

I don’t think Isaiah Washington played one second… I’d be shocked if he is in maroon and gold next year.

Now, the Gophers will head to Maryland on Friday where they will look to close out the season with a .500 Big Ten record, before they go into the conference tournament. Even if they were to lose their next two (vs MD + B1GT Opener), I’d be surprised to see them miss the dance now.

 They needed it this one… and they got it.

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Oh, what a night. ?@GopherMBB made Senior Night 2019 a memorable one, and you can get full highlights from the win over No. 11 Purdue here: pic.twitter.com/siHwPZ1Gbe

— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) March 6, 2019

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Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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