It’s Sunday morning, so it’s time to open up the mailbag and answer your questions from the week.
Thanks to those who submitted questions this week.
If you have a question you would like answered in next week’s edition, look for a thread named “Calling for Questions” with an off-topic tag. I will hopefully remember to post that Monday and leave it open through the week.
MIZ25! asks: “Top priorities left for Dennis (Gates) in the portal? I assume they have 2 left in they want to use them.”
Kyle: Yes, there are two spots left and with how much Gates likes to use the depth on the team and talk about how last year’s roster was “18 strong,” I can’t imagine a scenario where he doesn’t fill up his 15 spots.
Right now, the focus in the portal is on a wing, but the price tags have apparently gotten insane for just about everybody, so I think that’s playing a role in the team’s slowdown the past week.
Also, losing two-of-five assistants in a pretty short time period just leaves less people to make the calls.
I expect the second addition to be a depth guard.
There’s time left to continue adding, but the pool is growing smaller now, rather than getting bigger every day like it was early on in the portal.
MyDogPete asks: “What would you think is a realistic drop-dead date for signing a portal addition for b-ball? I know the portal stays open, but team activities seem to start months earlier than official practices.”
Kyle: Figured we’d lead right into this question after the end of my first answer.
I do like to make this part clear whenever I talk about portal timelines, the basketball portal closes Tuesday. But that’s just the deadline for players to enter their names.
Players who have entered their names can remain in the portal as long as they need to find a new home. So, as MyDogPete mentioned, there’s not really a set deadline for when a new player can join the roster.
Team activities do start earlier than practices, but I think the bigger worry now than not having a guy start as early as possible is that the possible targets are starting to dwindle. The Tigers are looking to replace a lot of production and if you wait too long, there’s just not as much SEC-quality talent available.
The first couple of weeks of the portal, more guys were entering each day than committing, now it’s the reverse, at least at the top level.
So I don’t know if there’s really a drop-dead point concerning team activities, especially with Gates still needing two more assistants on staff and actively working to find that pair, but if the Tigers want someone who’s worth their time, those additions should probably come in the next week, two at the longest.
tgrrider asks: “In your opinion, are most players jumping in the portal for playing time or NIL money?”
Kyle: It feels like a bit of a cop out to say it’s a little of Column A, a little of Column B, but that’s true.
There’s a ton of money flying around and it seems like right now there’s always a bigger payday to be had.
For a guy like Drew Pyne, it’s all about playing time. He left to find somewhere he could be the guy for his final two years instead of sitting behind two more-talented options. Same with pretty much all the exits from the Tiger football team in the spring portal.
For a guy like Nico Iamaleava, it seems like the decision was just about the money, but the fact that he’s reportedly going to have to take a pay cut to go to UCLA even puts that into question.
If I had to guess, I would say the larger percentage of guys are going into the portal for playing time and opportunity, then using the NIL money as the deciding factor for where they end up.
But the top-end guys are certainly chasing paydays.
MIZ…SEC asks: “Does Sam Horn or Beau Pribula make more from their Mizzou NIL deal?”
Kyle: I don’t have exact numbers for either.
NIL deals are often kept pretty well hidden, which is part of why I’m looking forward to a more direct revenue sharing model.
But we do have the reports that Pribula got a $1.5-million deal to pull him out of the portal.
There were also some reports that Brady Cook was making about $1.2 million yearly according to multiple databases.
I haven’t seen a number on Horn, I expect it took a bit to get him to commit initially, but the numbers have been growing exponentially each year, so a deal signed in 2022 isn’t going to match up to a high school deal now.
Add in that the Tigers already paying more to Pribula than they did to Cook, it’s safe to say he’s making more than Horn.
Thanks again to MIZ25!, MyDogPete, tgrrider and MIZ..SEC for your questions.
If you have a question for next week’s edition, look for a thread named “Calling for questions” with a blue off-topic tag. I will leave it open all week after I post it.
Stay up to date on all the Mizzou news with your premium subscription.
Talk about this story in the story thread and discuss so much more in The TigerWalk.
Make sure you’re caught up on all the Tiger news and headlines.
Ask the Editor: April 20
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It’s Sunday morning, so it’s time to open up the mailbag and answer your questions from the week.
Thanks to those who submitted questions this week.
If you have a question you would like answered in next week’s edition, look for a thread named “Calling for Questions” with an off-topic tag. I will hopefully remember to post that Monday and leave it open through the week.
Kyle: Yes, there are two spots left and with how much Gates likes to use the depth on the team and talk about how last year’s roster was “18 strong,” I can’t imagine a scenario where he doesn’t fill up his 15 spots.
Right now, the focus in the portal is on a wing, but the price tags have apparently gotten insane for just about everybody, so I think that’s playing a role in the team’s slowdown the past week.
Also, losing two-of-five assistants in a pretty short time period just leaves less people to make the calls.
I expect the second addition to be a depth guard.
There’s time left to continue adding, but the pool is growing smaller now, rather than getting bigger every day like it was early on in the portal.
Kyle: Figured we’d lead right into this question after the end of my first answer.
I do like to make this part clear whenever I talk about portal timelines, the basketball portal closes Tuesday. But that’s just the deadline for players to enter their names.
Players who have entered their names can remain in the portal as long as they need to find a new home. So, as MyDogPete mentioned, there’s not really a set deadline for when a new player can join the roster.
Team activities do start earlier than practices, but I think the bigger worry now than not having a guy start as early as possible is that the possible targets are starting to dwindle. The Tigers are looking to replace a lot of production and if you wait too long, there’s just not as much SEC-quality talent available.
The first couple of weeks of the portal, more guys were entering each day than committing, now it’s the reverse, at least at the top level.
So I don’t know if there’s really a drop-dead point concerning team activities, especially with Gates still needing two more assistants on staff and actively working to find that pair, but if the Tigers want someone who’s worth their time, those additions should probably come in the next week, two at the longest.
Kyle: It feels like a bit of a cop out to say it’s a little of Column A, a little of Column B, but that’s true.
There’s a ton of money flying around and it seems like right now there’s always a bigger payday to be had.
For a guy like Drew Pyne, it’s all about playing time. He left to find somewhere he could be the guy for his final two years instead of sitting behind two more-talented options. Same with pretty much all the exits from the Tiger football team in the spring portal.
For a guy like Nico Iamaleava, it seems like the decision was just about the money, but the fact that he’s reportedly going to have to take a pay cut to go to UCLA even puts that into question.
If I had to guess, I would say the larger percentage of guys are going into the portal for playing time and opportunity, then using the NIL money as the deciding factor for where they end up.
But the top-end guys are certainly chasing paydays.
Kyle: I don’t have exact numbers for either.
NIL deals are often kept pretty well hidden, which is part of why I’m looking forward to a more direct revenue sharing model.
But we do have the reports that Pribula got a $1.5-million deal to pull him out of the portal.
There were also some reports that Brady Cook was making about $1.2 million yearly according to multiple databases.
I haven’t seen a number on Horn, I expect it took a bit to get him to commit initially, but the numbers have been growing exponentially each year, so a deal signed in 2022 isn’t going to match up to a high school deal now.
Add in that the Tigers already paying more to Pribula than they did to Cook, it’s safe to say he’s making more than Horn.
Thanks again to MIZ25!, MyDogPete, tgrrider and MIZ..SEC for your questions.
If you have a question for next week’s edition, look for a thread named “Calling for questions” with a blue off-topic tag. I will leave it open all week after I post it.
Stay up to date on all the Mizzou news with your premium subscription.
Talk about this story in the story thread and discuss so much more in The Tiger Walk.
Make sure you’re caught up on all the Tiger news and headlines.
