Verbal commit from a JC kid; offensive lineman..
https://247sports.com/college/oregon/Article/Oregon-Ducks-Football-Recruiting-Ajani-Cornelius-200219383/

Ari Wasserman has a good article in The Athletic(not worth $7.99 a month but they have subscription promos all the time and I got in on one for 99 cents a month for 12 months!)

Headline:

Oregon is recruiting like an SEC school and people don't like it

Note: by "people" he is talking about comments from fans.

Selected from the article:

"Think about the programs Oregon pillaged Wednesday: Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC, LSU, the list goes on. These are the new Ducks..."

"Here’s the reality: Nobody is naive enough to think NIL has nothing to do with this. Some Phil Knight Nike money was probably being sprinkled all over the country. That makes people upset because not every school has the means to play ball at that level. Even a big-time program such as Ohio State seems to be struggling with how to deploy NIL money, and it’s costing the Buckeyes recruits. But this is the new world we’re living in. Either figure it out and win or complain about it and lose."

"Yes, NIL was intended to reward current players for their performance. It was never intended to be a pay-for-play scenario. But the financial door was cracked open, and the large money monster broke through it. And honestly, is there that much of a difference between being rewarded for playing well once you are in college and being compensated upfront? Who are we to decide when others get paid? Who are we to decide how a rich person who wants to throw bands at teenagers spends his money?"

"The players earned that money as long as someone wants to pay them. They performed in high school and are likely to perform in college. Here’s another sobering thought: Everyone is doing it. Some might be better at it than others, but quit with the pearl-clutching and play ball.

Adapt or die.

That’s what the SEC has done. And that’s why the SEC is better. It just means more? Open your checkbook and prove it."

As for me?

If you are celebrating Oregon's recruiting successes but whining about NIL...as the saying goes, you are biting the hand that feeds you.

Also having lived through the legendary recruiting classes of Mario Cristobal who is doing his recruiting magic act again at Miami...this means nothing IF you don't have the coaches to develop players and a head coach who knows how to manage games and rosters.

@org Thanks for keeping us up to date!

I'm in a work crunch before the holiday and am looking forward to having more time in a few day to catch up with all the activity. At first glance thinks look really good for the Ducks. 

Blake Purchase is in..
https://247sports.com/college/oregon/LongFormArticle/Blake-Purchase-Oregon-Ducks-Football-Recruiting-Signing-Day-Dan-Lanning-200898760/

https://y.yarn.co/131ac550-c249-4557-8af8-e8e7b42e6fa1.mp4

Translation: He got a better NIL offer.
Rumor has it he made the flip to Oregon on his own, but his mom is a Karen and said "no way" you are going there, too far away.  Obviously he had an issue develop with ND and Oklahoma was the closest, next best thing.  So, flip #2.

Anyone who believes all these sudden flips for any school are because a recruit has a last minute new found like for a head coach...is living in a fantasy world. Oregon fans should never again criticize the NIL.
I agree this likely wasn't based on some new found joy, but I remain steadfast in criticizing the whole concept of NIL, whether it helps the Ducks or not.  It monetizes a sport played by a bunch of immature kids at a stage they should be figuring out how to balance life, said sport and a base education, not contract deals on getting their number on a jersey.  They will get used by adults with ulterior motives.


 

DurangoDuck wrote:

Anyone who believes all these sudden flips for any school are because a recruit has a last minute new found like for a head coach...is living in a fantasy world. Oregon fans should never again criticize the NIL.
I agree this likely wasn't based on some new found joy, but I remain steadfast in criticizing the whole concept of NIL, whether it helps the Ducks or not.  It monetizes a sport played by a bunch of immature kids at a stage they should be figuring out how to balance life, said sport and a base education, not contract deals on getting their number on a jersey.  They will get used by adults with ulterior motives. 

I think just the opposite...after decades of fake summer jobs, secret cash payments, new cars, basket weaving classes and a wide range of illegal "benefits" to entice athletes to come to a school AND stay...NIL offers real life education / income.

Given less than 2% of college football players even get drafted each year let alone actually make an NFL team, NIL gives players a chance to learn about contracts, business protocol and the like.

I chuckle when I read all the complaints about the "monetizing" of the sport...look I am old enough to remember when all the traditional powehouses monetized college football(see benefits above) virtually unchecked for decades and squashed any team which got in their way i.e. no scholarship limitations so USC could "afford" to have 120 football players on scholarship. Notre Dame has had its own TV Network (NBC) long before conference networks and "media rights deals."

Players are not responsible for monetizing the sport...universities coaches and alumni have monetized it for years(adults using kids for ulterior motives) and years to say nothing of the media.

Yet now that players are getting some benefits of the monetizing, people are horrified 😂 Please.

I am all in favor of NIL because perhaps the whole facade of pretending it is anything other than a monetized sport will cease to exist.