A Grip on Sports: As NCAA changes with the times, endorsement deals are on there way for college athletes
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Middle of the week. Again. This Wednesday seems different, though. Like the difference between a bagel and a toasted bagel. Let’s add some cream cheese and lox and call it good.
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• The name, image and likeness changes aren’t actually official just yet. There is a vote today among the NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors to finalize plans. But schools must be confident the board will approve the recommendation from the Division I council.
Why do we say that? We were on Twitter yesterday. And saw all the Washington State athletes who were soliciting offers. (So did Theo Lawson and he has this story.) That tells us the Cougars are sure the legislation is going to pass. Who would want to anger the NCAA investigators if it doesn’t?
A new world for college athletes is dawning Thursday and we’re here for it. It will be interesting to see if Max Borghi gets an endorsement deal from Jess Ford or Chipman & Taylor Chevrolet. Maybe the Old European. Or Cougar Country. And whether any new-found income for WSU athletes come at the expense of the athletic department as a whole. After all, businesses only have so much money earmarked for such things and if they are maxing that out already, do they raise their budget or do they just shift a certain amount of dollars from the school to the athlete?
It has to be a question every athletic director everywhere, including the Inland Northwest, is asking themselves today.
• Summer is the time for international basketball competitions. This summer also includes the top one, the Olympics, due to COVID-19’s worldwide rampage last year.
Which means local schools like Gonzaga and Washington State will be missing a star or two from their summer workouts. It’s not as if they are not playing basketball, they are just not doing it for the school.
Take the Zags for instance. Instead of learning the intricacies of Mark Few’s offense in July, Chet Holmgren will be leading the U.S. squad at the U19 worlds. That’s OK, though. After all, Few will be spending next month recruiting – there are three viewing periods in the month as the NCAA makes up for losing out on April recruiting periods – and also fulfilling some international duties (as Jim Meehan relays in this story).
All of Few’s work, however, will be done in the states. In one state in particular.
Few will help coach the nation’s Select Team, a group of players who work with our Olympic team, preparing them for Toyko. And that work will come in Las Vegas, where many top high school-aged events will be held over the next month.
• We worry about Zach Collins’ future.
The former Gonzaga freshman star has been sidelined often in his short professional career. A series of injuries and surgeries have forced him to sit and watch the Portland Trail Blazers all too often.
Collins suffered another setback recently as he tried to recover from his most recent injury, this one to his left foot. He had to undergo a third surgery on that foot since he originally injured it last August.
His tale of woe seems to parallel another Portland big man from long ago. Bill Walton, who led the Blazers to their lone NBA title in 1977, suffered from foot injuries as well and they robbed him of reaching his professional potential. Let’s hope the same doesn’t happen to Collins.
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WSU: As we mentioned above, Theo has a story on the NIL-related social media posts from a handful of Cougar athletes. … Nick Rolovich picked up another commitment yesterday. This one was from an offensive lineman. Theo has that story as well. … Former WSU coach Mike Leach’s team should be better but it might not matter all that much. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college sports, Jon Wilner delves into the NIL changes with an emphasis on their impact on the conference. … Wilner also has this piece on new commissioner George Kliavkoff. … Oregon State will pay Idaho $675,000 to play at Reser Stadium this September. … In basketball news, one Colorado player has already taken huge off-season strides.
Gonzaga: Besides the stories on Few’s summer plans and Collins’ injury, Jim has another on how an illness has thrown a wrench into Jorge Sanz’ summer. The GU director of basketball operations is not with Spain’s national team right now.
Indians: Spokane belted three home runs into the summer night. Three solo home runs. The Indians lost 7-3 to Tri-City. Dave Nichols has the story.
Shock: Byes always come at the right time, at least according to football coaches. When it comes to the one the Shock is enjoying, the cliché actually is true. Ryan Collingwood has more in this story.
Ironman: The heat took its toll on the competitors last Sunday. The race set a record for the number of athletes who did not finish. Colin Tiernan has more here.
Mariners: The host Blue Jays pounded the M’s pitching en route to a 9-3 win. … The big story, however, was baseball suspended pitcher Hector Santiago 10 games for having a sticky substance on his glove. No, it did not have the substance tested to see if it was one of the banned ones. A sticky glove is apparently enough.
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• There is a list of cities on our computer we’re interested in for a variety of reasons. Their weather forecast for the day pops up when I click on the right spot. That way, I know what is going on there. One of the cities is Las Vegas. Rarely, if ever, do I remember clicking on the link and having that desert city feature a temperature lower than Spokane, especially in the summer. It happened yesterday morning. And again today. It gave me a nearly uncontrollable urge to start depositing quarters into a slot machine somewhere. Until later …