April 8, 2024

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Congrats to the South Carolina Gamecocks on their third women’s basketball title. Will it be UConn or Purdue joining them tonight on the men’s side as this year’s champion? While the Boilermakers are looking for their first national championship, the Huskies have a chance to further prove their program’s value. … College hoops heads into another uncertain offseason around the transfer portal. … One of the biggest NIL stars of March Madness chats with Front Office Sports Today [[link removed]]. … And Caitlin Clark’s historic career is finally over.

— Amanda Christovich [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Hurley: UConn Would Be Powerhouse Even Without a Return to the Big East [[link removed]]

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

By the time UConn announced it would rejoin the Big East for the 2020–21 season, the program had fallen into a period of irrelevance. The Huskies, toiling in the American Athletic Conference, hadn’t won a national championship since 2014, and hadn’t even reached the NCAA tournament since 2016.

In many ways, the team’s rebirth aligns with the return to its conference of yore. (After all, programs move away from conferences for two reasons: to get rich and, by proxy, get better.) When the realignment announcement came in the summer of 2019, Dan Hurley (above, right) had just finished his first season as the head coach in Storrs. In 2021, their first year back in the Big East, the Huskies made their first NCAA tournament in half a decade. In 2023, they won the national title, and are going for the repeat in Phoenix on Monday night—a feat accomplished by only seven other men’s teams in history.

But when Front Office Sports asked whether his program would have reached this level of dominance if it hadn’t rejoined the Big East, he leaned forward into the microphone and said, “Absolutely.”

“We would be where we were regardless.”

Hurley acknowledged that the move “certainly helped,” and he’s made plenty of comments suggesting he’s much happier with UConn in its current conference than its former one. The Big East’s intense competition really kept the team sharp—Hurley likened the Huskies’ journey to that of Kelvin Sampson and Houston, who moved from the AAC to the Big 12 just this year and led the Cougars to a conference title and Sweet 16 berth. (Hurley has spent most of the postseason reiterating how he believed the conference deserved at least three more bids than it received.)

But the 2024 Naismith National Coach of the Year said that by the time ’20 rolled around, the program was already recruiting “at a very, very high level.” He also said they had the “best staff in the country” at the time.

From a financial standpoint, UConn isn’t getting rich in the Big East, either. In the AAC, the school could expect somewhere between $8 million and $10 million in annual revenue distributions, according to recent tax filings. In its new conference, the athletic department receives no more than $5 million. (The Big East is in the midst of negotiating a new, and potentially more lucrative, media-rights deal, and talks are going well, commissioner Val Ackerman told reporters during the conference’s tournament.) The school has, however, been able to cut down [[link removed]] a multimillion-dollar budget deficit in its new home.

Ultimately, the conference should be thanking them, he said. “We’ve also had a big impact on the Big East.”

Redefining Rosters: Transfer Portal Surge Is Transforming College Hoops [[link removed]]

Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to the transactional era of college basketball.

Even before the final game of the season is played tonight with the men’s March Madness championship clash in Phoenix, the sport has been turned upside down by an unprecedented expansion of the transfer portal. As of Sunday, 1,450 men’s Division I players had entered the portal, according to Verbal Commits [[link removed]], up by more than 25% from a comparable point last year, and recently boosted with the addition [[link removed]] of Bronny James, son of NBA superstar LeBron James. Ultimately, that number is expected to reach 2,000, amounting to nearly half of all college basketball players.

That surge in the number of players looking to change schools has created two very specific dynamics within the sport, both of which are being widely criticized:

NIL bidding: There’s been a sharp rise in the number of players operating on a year-to-year basis with a given school, and it’s openly pitting programs against one another in search of the best deal financially for their name, image, and likeness rights. Prep Scouting’s Chas Wolfe reported [[link removed]] last week that former Wisconsin guard AJ Storr is seeking $1 million to transfer. Kansas, according to Wolfe’s report, countered with a $750,000 bid that Storr declined. Storr’s next school, if he doesn’t enter the NBA draft, will be his third after starting his collegiate career at St. John’s. Storr’s former coach, Wisconsin’s Greg Gard, told [[link removed]] WNRW-Radio that in this new era, “poaching is real.” Veteran experience: There’s currently a movement within college basketball toward older players, many of whom are exercising their additional year of eligibility granted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in the tournament, Kentucky coach John Calipari lamented [[link removed]], “All of a sudden [the sport has] gotten really old. So we’re playing teams that our average age is 19, [and] their average age is 24 or 25. So do I change because of that?”

Even this year’s Final Four showcased how the sport has quickly changed. NC State’s DJ Burns (above, right), one of the breakout stars of March Madness, is also at his third school and will turn 24 this fall. The Wolfpack, meanwhile, built their entire starting squad out of the portal as opposed to traditional recruiting of high school players.

“I like the portal a lot, [but] I wish we didn’t have to deal with it at this time,” said NC State coach Kevin Keatts, prior to the team’s semifinal loss on Saturday to Purdue. “We’ve done pretty good in the portal, so I’m excited about it. I got [Burns] out of the portal. All five of our starters are from the portal. I got to be a big fan of it. But I do say this: You have to be careful who you get from the portal. You have to get guys who fit into what you believe in and have the same vision that you have.”

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FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Lessons Learned From One of This Year’s March Madness Breakout Stars

Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

One month ago, as the Oakland University men’s basketball team was in the middle of the Horizon League conference tournament, Jack Gohlke was simply a “broke grad student,” he tells the Front Office Sports Today podcast [[link removed]]. Fast-forward two weeks, and the 24-year-old transfer guard became one of the hottest names in March Madness after draining 10 three-pointers in a first-round upset over Kentucky.

Gohlke made headlines for striking his first name, image, and likeness deal with TurboTax hours after the victory. But that was just the beginning. “It’s been interesting to try to navigate the whole space,” he says. “There’s obviously a lot getting thrown at you in a quick amount of time.” Gohlke’s college career ended when Oakland lost to NC State in the second round. So what’s he been up to since?

TurboTax is still on board with Gohlke. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we keep working together,” he says. He has also inked NIL deals with Buffalo Wild Wings, Barstool Sports, the recovery footwear brand Oofos, and the AI spreadsheet tool Formula Bot—plus he’s selling merchandise on the NIL Store, a marketplace backed by Mark Cuban. “It’s definitely been appreciated,” Gohlke says of the new cash intake. “Getting some of these opportunities and just trying to take advantage of them because they obviously don’t come around all the time.”

Last week in Phoenix, ahead of the men’s Final Four, Gohlke competed in the 2024 State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships. Now, he’s signed with JCK Sports Group as he pursues a career in professional basketball. (He may be headed to Europe if things don’t work out with an NBA G League team.)

Parting advice: For whoever ends up being next year’s Jack Gohlke, the best advice the man can give is to find someone trustworthy to help manage the craziness that ensues, and stay educated on the fine print of anything one signs up for. “It’s all great when things are coming in fast at you, but for one, you don’t want to take every deal,” he says. “You don’t want to partner with 30 brands or brands that have bad reputations.” And, of course, don’t forget about taxes, Gohlke says: “Say you get a million-dollar deal—I wish I had gotten a million-dollar deal—but say you did, you’re not actually bringing home a million dollars. We all know that, but it’s kind of hard, once you see that money go into your bank account, to remember that.”

🎧 Listen to the full episode here [[link removed]] and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Google [[link removed]], and Spotify [[link removed]].

AWARDS

Every year, Front Office Sports’ awards program recognizes the best and most accomplished in the business of sports.

The 2024 Best Venues Award celebrates the venues that have met and exceeded the evolving demands of fans and that set the new industry standard for success.

🏆 Today is the last day for nominations. Submit your venue [[link removed]] now.

BY THE NUMBERS Take a Bow, No. 22

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Caitlin Clark’s historic career at Iowa is officially over. Before the superstar heads to the pros, here’s a look back at some of her most notable achievements [[link removed]] in college:

Two-time AP Player of the Year Three-time Big Ten Player of the Year Two-time Naismith Player of the Year More than $100,000 raised for local food pantry Two viewership records in the past week NIL pioneer with Nike, Gatorade, and State Farm Most career points in NCAA tournament history All-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball

Up next: The Indiana Fever will in all likelihood select Clark with the first pick [[link removed]] in the WNBA draft on April 15.

Conversation Starters Zach Edey made history last year, winning National Player of the Year and leading Purdue to its first No. 1 seed in March Madness in 27 years. Despite a shocking loss to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson, Edey opted out of the NBA draft to return. Now, his Boilermakers will compete [[link removed]] for a national championship Monday night. She committed to Syracuse but then transferred to South Carolina and won a title. On Sunday, she set a career high with 17 rebounds and helped the Gamecocks win another [[link removed]] national championship. The Las Vegas Aces are moving [[link removed]] their game against the Indiana Fever on July 2 from the Michelob Ultra Arena (12,000 seats) to T-Mobile Arena (20,000 seats) to accommodate the matchup against Iowa star Caitlin Clark (who has yet to be drafted). SPONSORED BY INVESCO QQQ

The Pac-12 Conference established itself as a powerhouse in women’s basketball before facing challenges due to conference realignment. Schools like Stanford, Oregon, and UCLA had developed strong women’s basketball programs, attracting top talent and achieving success on the national stage. However, with the landscape of college sports changing due to conference realignment, the Pac-12 faces uncertainties regarding its future competitiveness in women’s basketball.

Check out [[link removed]] the Business of College Athletics hub to read the full article and stay up to date on all the action.

How Two College Students Helped DJ Burns Cash In on a Final Four Run [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]Two college seniors are facilitating deals for NC State’s big man. Women’s Basketball Finally Has a TV Deal to Match the Excitement. Now What? [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]A lucrative new media-rights contract could rectify problems of the past, but the future of March Madness media rights is anyone’s guess. NCAA Has No One to Blame for Latest Women’s March Madness Transgressions [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]NCAA is still making avoidable mistakes three years after a complete overhaul. The Pac-12 Built a Women’s Basketball Powerhouse. Then Realignment Hit [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]The breakup is happening at the worst time for the sport. Question Of The Day

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