Elijah Malone announcing today

ND keeps getting campus visits and losing out

I hope ND is putting together competitive NIL package to these recruits.

It will be interesting to see how he does at a D1/P4 school. *

According to Twitter, he committed to Colorado *

Irish are likely betwixt and between with most transfers. CU

was solid last year and did well in the NCAA Tournament. Malone, with one year of eligibility, likely saw himself as a plug and play difference maker for a Buffalo team that could go places in 24-25. At Notre Dame, he might have helped the Irish make it as far as CU was last year. Add in that Colorado is joining the Big 12 this year and will have a high profile schedule loaded with showcase opportunities and you can see CU's appeal. Malone can make the most of his one year at CU.

Yes, Notre Dame basketball can again be a consistent Top 25 program, but true "one and done" high school or transfer portal recruits are looking for immediate success for themselves on a team that is a contender. The Irish are at least another year away from being a destination opportunity for big time transfer portal players.

Or, and more likely, they offered the highest NIL package *

Malone's coach

Inferred in the press conference that visiting Boulder left a big impression on Malone. His coach also said that he could have transferred to D1 schools (and NIL money) the past two years but chose to stay at Grace and play with his teammates.

It sounds like he felt Colorado gave him the best chance to develop into a pro player but that he also wanted to get away and experience another part of the country. I'm sure if all things were equal, NIL could play a part in his decision, but it doesn't seem like in his case that's what motivated his decision.

that's definitely up on the list

There was an interesting twitter post quoting a D-1 coach on how different recruiting visits are these days, especially for transfers. Meet with the coach (role, style, playing time), and meet with NIL collective ($). That's it. No dog and pony show about the campus, history, academics, etc.

I'm sure contender status comes into play in differentiating Duke or Kansas or teams in that tier. But I agree with you, for this type of situation it seems less likely to be a driving factor than some combination of style/role fit and NIL support.

i doubt NIL is a reason when COlorado has been the picl

Deion is taking deferred income as Colorado has no money, several ND reporters have also said ND NIL is actually rather competitive. Hidalgo stuck around as has Burton and there were reports ND had a better NIL package than IU for Malone.

lack of transparency into NIL makes all of this guesswork

Moreso than recruiting used to be.

That's encouraging to hear that ND was better positioned than IU. Mike Frank also recently said that men's basketball was the program at ND he was most concerned about with re: NIL, implying donor support could be better. Who knows.

Re: Malone, I'm less concerned about 1-year rentals this year because this roster needs a lot more talent infusion. So hopefully 2 of our 3 incoming freshman flash potential to be above-average ACC starters in their career, and then back up that class with a comparable one for '25. Plus identify and fix any structural impediments to landing those classes along the way (if NIL truly is one).

Your subject absolutely is correct

And as much as I respect Mike's opinions and positions on ND football, I think he's as much a victim of that lack as we are.

How much to be an insider donor?? *

I hope that he likes pot.

Because that seems like a terrible miss by Shrews otherwise. Hopefully he has something else up his sleeve.

I presume you mean Elijah Malone of Grace College... *