Time is a flat circle
Between portal moves, an NIL announcement, and news around Payne's death, Tuesday looks a lot like Monday's news
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It’s May 10, but there’s plenty of college basketball news happening. I, for one, welcome our new reality of no quiet periods. Who wants a short newsletter, anyway?
NCAA TRANSFER PORTAL
When no move is good news
If you’re a Detroit Mercy fan, this was a delightful tweet to see on Monday. Antoine Davis will finish out his career as a Titan.
Perhaps the happiest to see the tweet were Davis’ teammates. As part of his return, he also inked an NIL deal with a Chinese company GlowBalls — and he’ll share some of that money with the athletic program, meaning his teammates will see some $$. As his coach (and dad) Mike Davis told Adam Zagoria:
“His NIL is like the real NIL because he has to sell balls. He has to sell that basketballs that he wants to share [the income] with his team and with the other athletes on the campus, too. That’s the biggest part of that deal.”
He added: “His image will be on there [the balls], like maybe all-time 3-point leader for freshmen in the history of college basketball. He basically has to have his likeness on there.”
Assuming Davis plays a full season, he’ll end his career as the second-leading scorer in college basketball history, behind only Pete Maravich.1 Sure, he’ll have an additional two seasons that Maravich didn’t have, but still. If Davis tops 3,300 career points, that’s something only one other player has done.
Now if only Detroit could play more TV games…
In other portal news:
Jamarion Sharp — the nation’s leading shot-blocker — will be back at Western Kentucky. At 7-foot-5, he’ll cast another long shadow over the rest of C-USA.
Two Saint Peter’s transfers, 6-foot-7 twins Hassan and Fousseyni Drame, are headed to La Salle. That’s six Peacocks on new rosters for 2022-23.
New San Diego coach Steve Lavin snagged Stanford transfer Jaiden Delaire, a 6-9 senior who averaged 10 points a game last season
Sophomore Keon Ambrose-Hylton is headed to SMU. The former 4-star prospect didn’t play much at Alabama.
Khalil Shabazz is back at San Francisco for another season. He started 33 games for the Dons, who also landed former Wyoming and Texas A&M guard Marcus Williams (who has to sit a season).
Mikeal Brown-Jones is off to UNC Greensboro after two seasons at VCU.
Appalachian State is getting Western Illinois big man Tamell Pearson.
Sam Houston State will have former D-II All-American Qua Grant next season.
NAME, IMAGE AND LIKENESS
NCAA clarifies NIL rules
As expected, the NCAA announced new NIL guidelines on Monday. As expected, it took aim at boosters.
The fine print from the NCAA:
The gist: Boosters cannot contact recruits or sign athletes to contracts contingent on attending a particular school. Also? NIL collectives are boosters. So, get ready for legal challenges from agents and boosters.
The ongoing question, as Matt Brown notes, is how can the collectives prove that they’re actually functioning as non-profits? To wit, if a student-athlete is granted money from a 501c(3), how are they actually demonstrating value for the charity? It’s not like all charities spend ALL the money on their cause (plenty spend a ton of it on administrative costs), but in the end, this just comes down to compliance and how diligent groups are about navigating rules.
Then again, Mike Brey has a different POV.
ADREIAN PAYNE, 1991-2022
Details emerge from Payne’s death
The surprising news of Adreian Payne’s death on Monday reverberated through the Michigan State community2 and college hoops world. Payne, who played on the Spartans’ 2014 Final Four team, was a popular, nice guy, just as well known for his friendship of a young Spartans fan with a rare disease.
If it’s possible, the news hit a little harder on Tuesday. From the Detroit Free Press:
The former Michigan State basketball star, according to court documents, went with his girlfriend to assist a female acquaintance who was in an allegedly abusive relationship when the suspect, Lawrence Dority, shot and killed Payne. Deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Payne, 31, was unarmed.
A witness reportedly told police that Payne “was not threatening to Dority in any way,” though Dority (5-foot-8, compared to Payne, who was 6-10) told police he viewed Payne’s presence as a threat. They argued, and Dority allegedly later shot Payne. Dority has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder with a firearm.
So. Let’s end this section on a different note.
IT’S AN HONOR, BABY!
Celebrating Dick Vitale
Just this spring, Dick Vitale announced he was cancer free after receiving multiple surgeries to remove melanoma and chemotherapy treatments for lymphoma. He didn’t call games last season to rest his voice, but was a constant college basketball presence through his Twitter account.
Get ready for him to be center stage again. Kinda.
“When I received the call from [ESPN president] Jimmy Pitaro about receiving this award, I was absolutely blown away,” Vitale said in a statement Monday. “I remember that day almost 30 years ago, when I stood on stage at the first ESPYS, introduced Jimmy V and witnessed him give that incredible speech we all remember. I reflected on his speech many times during my seven month battle -- ‘don't give up, don't ever give up Dickie V’ -- and I remembered my mother and father, who taught me never to believe in ‘can't’. Jimmy V was special and his legacy lives on. I am so grateful to receive this tremendous award in his honor.”
The ESPYs are July 13.
The Fast Break
Links as you decide if your real calling is as an artist.
Here’s a full list of G League camp invites for 2022. Notably, Kevin McCullar, Kenneth Lofton, Baylor Scheierman and Jalen Wilson are included, meaning they’re all considered second-round NBA draft picks at best.
Ray Romano is going to play Jim Valvano in an upcoming movie about the former N.C. State coach3. Not sure Romano’s usual dour approach really matches the joie de vivre of Valvano, but I’ll probably watch it.
Tom Brady made $241 million while he was with the Patriots. He’ll make $375 million over 10 years as Fox Sports’ new lead NFL analyst (once he retires).
Happy 80th birthday to Jim Calhoun. Legend.
Jordan Hulls is back in Bloomington as the Indiana team and recruiting coordinator.
Even if you’re not a Kansas City person, this basketball doc has some promise.
Hey, congrats to Carlos Boozer. Never too late to get that degree.
Reminder: Pistol Pete’s college stats are insane: 44 points a game in 83 games and 3 seasons. All without a 3-point line.
Spartans alum Draymond Green is donating $100,000K to a fund named in Payne’s honor. They played together for two years in East Lansing.
The movie is being executive produced by Valvano’s family, so I’m skeptical it’ll include much of the stuff beyond the national title and the ESPYs speech.