Basketball

The end of amateurism. Ol' Jeff Kessler's finally going to put a stake in the heart of the NCAA, it seems, with his latest lawsuit. This one is seeking vast amounts of damages for players who were denied their NIL opportunities. The prospect of a four billion dollar judgment has finally caused the administrator class to throw in the towel. Details are still scanty, but the general shape of it:

With the settlement expected to cost billions in back pay for former athletes, it would likely also require the NCAA and conferences to agree to a system for sharing more revenue with some of the players moving forward.

Sources indicated the top-end revenue share number per school -- once it's determined -- would be in the neighborhood of $20 million annually, although that's yet to be settled. Whatever number is set by the settlement, individual schools will be able to opt in to share revenue up to that number with their student athletes at their discretion.

This is being portrayed as "revenue sharing," as the NCAA hopes to dodge the fact that their athletes are employees. That might also let them dance around Title IX issues that will arise once football and men's basketball players are raking in money that few female athletes are.

As far as the local angle: the faster athletic departments are directly paying players the better. Michigan obviously has the capability to hit the max here, and I can't imagine that anyone has any illusions about the fact that they'll have to. I have no doubt that schools will continue to bring in outside money in an effort to win, and that Michigan won't be on the Kentucky/Memphis/OSU level there, but choosing between 200k and 250k is a lot different than nothing and 50k; the relative gaps will be smaller.

Speaking of NIL. Champions Circle has various autographed objects up for auction to support their NIL objectives:

Check it out as long as you do not bid on the thing I bid on.

[After THE JUMP: basketball speculation CONTINUES]

Dusty May continued his portal invasion last Monday, when Alabama transfer Sam Walters committed to Michigan.

SCOUTING (Offense)

Sam Walters' primary role on offense is quite simple, make perimeter shots. And that he does. The raw numbers are impressive, as the 6'10 PF knocked down 39.4% of his triples as a freshman. The catch + shoot numbers are terrific given the competition level, as 1.18pps places him in the 82nd percentile nationally per Synergy.  

The raw numbers are great, but a deeper-dive under the hood makes it relatively easy to project Sam as a great (perhaps elite) shooter for Dusty May. At 6'10 with some lift on his shot, Walters is nearly immune to contests at the college level as seen in the film below. And the numbers back it up. Dropping 1.29pps on 57 guarded catch + shoot jumpers doesn't seem possible. For context, that is 94th percentile in the country.

In addition to being contest-immune in college, Sam also has NBA range that comfortably extends to 27 feet.Walters can increase defender closeout distance by setting up a few feet behind the line and has shown that his size makes it functionally impossible to bother him? Sign me up for that. This can be a real defense-bender at the college level. 

And while he's primarily a stationary shooter, Sam flashed some ability to be a movement shooter during his freshman campaign. The first possession in the clip below is a standard Delay set where the big sets a pindown for a curling shooter at the top of the key (Michigan used this often under Juwan Howard). In other words this is a designed action, which means Nate Oats saw some things in practice that warrant this shot type. The remainder of the clip sees Walters relocating before hitting triples. This has a a lot of functional utility. As being able to hit relocation threes translates to maximizing passing windows and not being reliant on perfect passes from teammates. It is an undervalued facet for shooters in your author's opinion. 

[After THE JUMP: just a shooter now, but probably more down the road]

Dusty May was already off to a hot start with respect to portal acquisitions and it has now reached full inferno levels, as former Ohio State guard/wing Roddy Gayle pledged to Michigan on Monday.  

Don't need much of an introduction here, as Wolverine hoop fans are undoubtedly familiar with Roddy's game and the positive impact he's bringing to Ann Arbor.

SCOUTING (Offense)

First and foremost, Gayle is a guy that attacks the rim and finishes well once he gets there. He takes 43% of his shot attempts at the rim and puts up 1.21pps, good for 65th percentile in the nation per Synergy. Only 33.7% of the rim makes are assisted per Torvik. In short, he's creating 2/3 of his rim attempts and converting at a high rate for a perimeter player. 

From an evaluation perspective, Roddy gets good elevation, particularly off two feet, and simply finishes over and through opposing players with some regularity. Gayle also has great body control and contorts his body to avoid shotblocking/contact when there is seemingly nothing there. What makes this really impressive is that he's so adept at finishing with his left hand.  

Continuing with the theme of attacking the paint, Roddy has a superb floater game. His touch is impeccable when going off one or two legs.While floaters are generally inefficient shots for non-NBA guards, Gayle is the exception to the rule. Checking in at 88th percentile in terms of runner attempts per Synergy, Roddy is 80th percentile in converting such attempts (.96pps). With that combination of elite volume + elite conversion, its safe to say he has one of the premier floater games in all of college basketball. 

[After THE JUMP: secondary playmaking, iffy shooting and a solid defender?]