Wednesday morning buffet

It’s a virtual buffet, peeps, so don’t worry about exposure to the virus.

• The Pirate gets a commitment out of a four-star QB from Texas.
• Here’s the transcript from Smart’s conference call yesterday.
• The SEC cancelled its spring meeting in Destin.
• Athlon’s preseason top 25 list has Florida ahead of Georgia.
• Two Rivals pundits think Jamie Newman will be the real deal this season.
• “Using ESPN’s way-too-early preseason Top 25 as a guide, 247Sports national analysts Bud Elliott and Brad Crawford take a stab at which teams are overrated and underrated ahead of the 2020 season.”  Elliott thinks Georgia’s number four ranking is right; Brad Crawford continues to pump the brakes.
• NCAA President Mark Emmert and members of the association’s senior management are taking pay cuts.  I wonder if that will comfort the athletic directors out there irritated about the significant drop in funds being paid out by the NCAA.
• Spurrier, on Finebaum, about spring practice: “Most all coaches would tell you that the staffs that have been there for 2, 3, 4 years or more that it’s not that big a deal not having spring football,” Spurrier said. “Maybe if you had competition at quarterback or some other positions, it would be important, but preseason, if you can get a month in before you play, I certainly think everyone would be capable of playing — maybe not quite their best, but pretty close to playing the best they can. 

The road to amateurism hell is paved with good intentions.

Between Trevor Lawrence’s GoFundMe page for victims of COVID-19 and Sam Ehlinger’s efforts…

Please share with friends and family and let’s raise $1,000,000 for COVID-19 Relief. Shoutout @Trevorlawrencee and his girlfriend, Marissa, for setting a great example with their fundraising platform. Link to donate and share is in my bio and attached below. pic.twitter.com/lEN3FSkQXi

— Sam Ehlinger (@sehlinger3) March 27, 2020

… I assume we’re now past the stage of denying that at least some college football players have NIL rights of value in the market place. ($$)  If this doesn’t destroy college football as we know it, how would letting these kids find ways to raise money for themselves do so?

Times are tough, NCAA edition

Best get ready to tighten those belts, ADs.

In response to the cancellation of all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships, the Board of Governors voted unanimously to distribute $225 million in June to Division I members to specifically focus on supporting college athletes.

Division I revenue distribution for 2020 previously was budgeted at approximately $600 million, with the first distribution scheduled for April.

Whole lotta stoopid goin’ on

So, this was a thing yesterday.

 

Trevor Lawrence and his girlfriend started a GoFundMe page to try to help coronavirus victims. NCAA rules forced it to be shut down https://t.co/8gBLBO2lzB

— Matt Connolly (@MattatTheState) March 24, 2020

Notice he said “NCAA rules”, not the NCAA.  That’s because…

 

Important context regarding the Trevor Lawrence situation: Clemson did not hear directly from the NCAA. It was the school's compliance department that asked him to take it down in keeping with NCAA rules. @TheAthleticCFB

— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) March 24, 2020

Yep, Clemson compliance took the ball and ran with it, PR consequences be damned.  The NCAA was very quick to distance itself from the decision.

“The NCAA did not ask Trevor Lawrence to take down his fundraiser for COVID-19 patients and their families,” the NCAA said in a statement. “We continue to work with member schools so they have the flexibility to ensure that student-athletes and communities impacted by this illness are supported, and we applaud Trevor for his efforts.”

I guess you know things are serious when the NCAA doesn’t resort to its usual “Stacey Osburn has no comment” take.

There’s a happy ending, though, once everyone stopped with the amateurism knee-jerkery.

 

We are appreciative of the action taken by the NCAA this evening. pic.twitter.com/rq4zI8PpDR

— Clemson Athletics (@ClemsonTigers) March 24, 2020

So, you see, Clemson wasn’t wrong to stop Lawrence’s good work.  It was just wrong to assume the NCAA wouldn’t waive the restrictions.  But, seriously, who could blame them?  I mean, who knew kids would want to monetize their public image for something other than tats and weed?

That’s nice.

The NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee issued a waiver to allow schools to reimburse student-athletes for any expenses incurred related to canceled foreign trips and prospective student-athletes for expenses related to canceled official and unofficial visits.

Hyman Roth always makes money for his partners.

Mark Emmert, not so much ($$).

“I just don’t understand why you would take a $250 million insurance policy for an $800 million event,” said one Group of 5 athletic director who, like others quoted in this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. “Would you put $250,000 worth of insurance on an $800,000 house?”

Most FBS ADs learned of those insurance figures for the first time during a Tuesday conference call that was organized by the Lead1 Association — the FBS athletic directors’ representative body — and featured remarks from NCAA president Mark Emmert.

While understanding that the outbreak of the novel coronavirus has left everyone in the sports world and beyond struggling to navigate uncharted waters, the feeling among many ADs is that NCAA leadership has been lacking in communication on a litany of pressing issues on campuses across the country, after not even consulting with its membership when making the choice to do away with remaining championships for the 2019-20 academic year.

“‘Well, those will be membership questions,’” the same Group of 5 AD said, quoting Emmert. “We’re like: C’mon, man. Everybody’s texting each other like: ‘This is just a joke.’”

It’s always something to watch the light bulb go off in the last person’s eyes.  Of course Emmert’s management is a joke.  It’s been one for a while; it’s just that with the dough rolling in, ADs could ignore it.

All it took for that to change was Emmert not making money for his partners.

An unexpected consequence

It appears the coronavirus is going to force some athletic directors to work for a living.

Major-college athletics directors are planning on the NCAA not being able to cover all of the revenue it will lose because of the cancellation of the Division I men’s basketball tournament due to the coronavirus outbreak, six ADs and college sports administrators have told USA TODAY.

That is likely to result in a reduction of the association’s scheduled distribution of $600 million to Division I schools and conferences this spring, the ADs and administrators said. How much of a reduction is still to be determined, and that will depend on the association’s ability to tap its reserves and borrow money.

The ADs and administrators spoke on the condition of anonymity because the financial details are still being worked out.

“The economics of all this could definitely be extensive,” one AD said.

No shit.

The NCAA has about $275 million in business-interruption insurance connected to the tournament coming.  The men’s tournament rakes in almost $900 million for the organization, so you do the math.

The NCAA’s 2020 Revenue Distribution Plan calls for the association to make payouts to Division I schools from April 15 through June 10. Just over $220 million in payments are scheduled for April 15, but those may be delayed.

One AD said it will take a long time for the finances to be fully determined and sorted out legally.

You can bet athletic directors across the country are already doing just that.