Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC Portal Buzz On Running Backs, Best ACC Football Team? NCAA Transfer & NIL Rules CHANGING... Why?

Starting point is 00:00:00 is the real best team heading into the next ACC football season, a team we might be overlooking. You are Locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Shout out to the everydayers for making Locked on ACC your first listen and your first watch each and every day. I am Alex Dono from Locked on Caines. He's Kenton Gibbs from Locked on Wolfpack.

Starting point is 00:00:34 We are locked on ACC. Today's episode is brought to you by Monopoly Go. I admit, I have a competitive side, and it's a big fan of Monopoly Go. The mobile hit twist on classic Monopoly. So join your friends and download Monopoly Go now free on the App Store or Google Play. So, Kenton, before we get into the real best team in the ACC, a couple of transfer portal notes on running backs, a potential outgoing from the ACC and a potential incoming. We talked a lot on yesterday's episode, Kenton, about Penny Boone,

Starting point is 00:01:08 who was in Louisville for little under four months, three and a half months. He's already taken himself back into the transfer portal, had transferred from Toledo to Louisville. He's back in the portal. It looks like the Tennessee volunteers are a team that's going to go all in for Penny Boone. Pete Nacos from On3 reported that today that I think Tennessee is kind of zoning in their running search, running back search right now on Boone. So it's a pity that, you know, with him leaving Louisville, it looks like he's also leaving the ACC. Yeah, that looks to definitely

Starting point is 00:01:40 be the possibility there. But we're going to continue in the notes here because we could be picking up an equal, if not better, back in terms of the ACC as a whole with some other action that's on the brink here. But it is sad to see Penny Boone go especially, you know, you know me. I'm a Detroiter. He's a Detroit guy. I love seeing more Detroiters in the ACC territory. You know, it's always a fun time for me having those types of connections here. But it is one of those moments that, again, like we talked about yesterday, it leaves you wondering what's going on.

Starting point is 00:02:12 But at the end of the day, we don't care about the labor base. Show us the baby. And the reality is it seems to be that he will be producing that baby outside of the ACC. Yeah. And so Tennessee, what they're up to kind of relates to the other running back we're going to talk about because the volunteers, they were one of the suitors for Damien Martinez, excellent running back out of Oregon State, almost 1,200 yards this past season, nine rushing touchdowns, a real workhorse. He had had an official visit scheduled with Tennessee, but they have now dropped off of his official visit list. I can tell you from everything I'm hearing, Miami is going all in on this one, and they really want to become the favorite for Damien Martinez.

Starting point is 00:02:55 He's going to take four visits, though, this month. He's going to be at Arizona today and tomorrow, the 18th through the 19th. He's going to be at Mississippi State, 19th, 20th, and 21st of April, Kentucky, 23rd, 24th, and 25th of April. He's going to end his tour in Miami, 26, 27, and 28th. But the other part of that is, Kenton, before he starts taking those visits, Miami and Mario Cristobal just went in home with Damien Martinez. So they're maybe trying to see if he can scratch some of the. those stops off of his list here and try to get something closed before then.

Starting point is 00:03:33 Let me tell you something. Damien Martinez is a back who I am. Watching him play, he's a throwback. He's a renaissance bag. He's not really what you think of in terms of today's running backs where you're looking at guys that are a little smaller and a lot more capable out of the back that as receiver. And that's not a slight against him. He is capable as a wide receiver. He's just not a guy that you would split out full time the way you would some of these scatbacks, the way you would Alvin Camer. guys Christian McCaffrey guys of that hill but I'll tell you what he is a guy that when you put that ball in his head it's under that right arm or that left arm bit he's dangerous he's physical he has great contact balance his vision and first are the two things that I look at and I say this is what could potentially make him exceptional because for a guy his size I believe he's about 215 or so and for a guy that's his side 230 I'm sorry that's for a guy his size the ability to make some of the jump cuts that he does.

Starting point is 00:04:30 And he doesn't just hit holes in his life. When it gets going, it's dangerous. No, no, no. Right away, if you leave a hole open, he will find him. And he has, he may be 2.30, but he'll shuffle those puppies in a way that will get you thinking. He's only 210, 2.15. And he'll be Katie Denz at the doorstep. He's going from there.

Starting point is 00:04:48 So if I was Mario on him, I would be trying to get him to cross the folks off toll, okay? I'd be wanting to cross everybody else except us because that is a bad, bad man. I'll tell you what, I was surprised that he did not hop in the portal when the coach from Oregon State left and kind of with the situation that Oregon State was left in conference-wise. I was surprised that it took this long, but whoever gets him is getting a special. And I mean that from a very genuine standpoint. Again, he's a throwback. How many backs can you say I'm comfortable with him having 20 carries a game in today? Very few these days.

Starting point is 00:05:25 Yeah, maybe Amari and Hampton at North Carolina. It's a short list. And would you agree with me that he is one of those guys that you're like, if we give him to ball 20 carries a game, that does not mean that we're devoid of talent, that running back, he's just that good. Yeah, one of the big things that stands out about him, a couple of things, you're talking about durability.

Starting point is 00:05:47 I think that's a huge factor. Mario Cristobal also likes big, powerful running backs. That just kind of jives well with his philosophy. and in the case of Damien Martinez, he's someone who seems to get stronger as games go on. So, you know, if he were to come to Miami, he wouldn't get as much of a workload. I don't think is what he was getting in Oregon State. He may look at that as a positive from what I understand because a little less wear and tear on the body before you hopefully start an NFL career in a couple of years.

Starting point is 00:06:16 So it's something to watch out for. And I've talked about it a lot on this channel and on Locked on Cains. And I was on Spencer the other day on Locked on College Football. Cam Ward is so well liked now internally at Miami. I think he's exceeded the expectations of their coaches. They really feel urgency to try to surround him with as much talent as possible because Ward's only going to be in Miami for one year. They really want to maximize that year.

Starting point is 00:06:41 So this is a cool quote that I came across from Mark Packer of ACC Network. I enjoy his content. And he was asked who he thinks the best team is in the ACC right now, heading into the next football season. And a lot of folks would expect him to say Florida State, maybe Clemson, maybe even Miami with the talent they're compiling. But he went all in on the Wolfpack. He said, I'm going to give you a bizarro one here.

Starting point is 00:07:08 Again, I'm allowed to change my mind. He said, I'm going to go NC State first time since 1979. He said, there's more than a chance. I love what Dave Doran has done in the offseason. I think they've got more offensive weapons. In fact, after watching their spring game, I know they do. I'm still concerned about linebacker. That's my concern as well.

Starting point is 00:07:27 Peyton Wilson's absence who takes up for the guy being in the right place at the right time every time. But I just trust defensive coordinator Tony Gibson will come up with the scheme. And I like state's schedule, he said. And honestly, Kenton, when people are handicapping who's going to be in the ACC championship game, I don't think people look at schedules enough because certain teams are kind of lucking out the way those things shake out. Oh, absolutely. NC State schedule, let's make no bones about it. It's a marshmallow soft.

Starting point is 00:07:56 It's one of those schedules that, you know, if you like a tough, firm pillow, you couldn't sleep on that thing properly or you think you're sinking into your bed. The reality here is this. You and I both agree. The lineback and core, it does feel like a bizarre thing for a lot of reasons. Number one, NC State being a favorite, when has that ever been a thing in terms of football? And then you move forward to NC State is known as a big producer. of linebackers. Some of the best linebacks that have come out of the ACC in recent years,

Starting point is 00:08:26 especially under Gibson. We were looking at all of the highest producing linebacks in the ACC. They always come out of his system. And now you're looking at a situation where you're saying to yourself, what's going on with that linebacker position? The defensive line seems short up. You've got playmakers there. You've got playmakers in Daven Van. You got Hibler. You got the noseguard who his name is eluding me right now. But he's a, dynamic from that zero position, getting penetration up to field. He's a very special guy, Brandon Cleveland, that's the name I'm thinking about. Secondary, you've got a corner in Aidan White who has not allowed a touchdown at a very long time.

Starting point is 00:09:04 So good. A very long time. To me, he is the most underrated defender in all of college football, and it's not particularly close. Because any other corner, from any other school, if you put him on Miami, and he doesn't allow a touchdown for two years, everybody is screaming, oh, this kid is, he's going to be the number one picking the draft next year. You put him at Oklahoma and he does. You put him at Texas. You put him at Bam and he does it.

Starting point is 00:09:26 For whatever reason, he's not getting that same love. I don't understand it. But it is what it is. So you go from there and then you say, well, offensively, they finally look like weapons galore. And again, a quarterback who gets it to you on time and on target, I see the vision. I really do see the vision.

Starting point is 00:09:45 The quest for NC State is how do you go from being the hunter to the hunted because the reality is if NC State plays its best game, plays its best football, near its best football, its highest clip. In all of their games this year, there'll be maybe two games where they're not favored, and one of them is not a conference game against Tennessee. So you're looking at a situation where the path is there to get to Charlotte. It is about can NC State execute and not piss down their leg. Yeah, so maybe that's a team that people should be giving more attention to out of the usual suspects with most people picking Florida state heading into next season. Now, you may have noticed a trend so far in this transfer

Starting point is 00:10:28 portal period. You've got players who are, you know, picking their third or even in some cases fourth team they've played for in college. You also have players who are transferring away from schools that they just transferred to back in January. Now, the NCAA is finally adapting their rules to reflect this new reality. We'll talk about it right here on our brand new episode of Locked on ACC. Keep it locked. And I know you're keeping it locked to Yahoo Finance, my friends. When it comes to your financial future, you think you've done it all. You've saved, you've researched, you've invested all that you can. Now you need to take those investments to the next level by using what every

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Starting point is 00:12:14 watch today. The Locked-on NFL mock draft is available now. Find the ultimate six-episode series on Locked-on NFL draft to hear what the local experts on locked on who they're picking for every NFL franchise with live reactions from local college football experts and even the fantasy football angle. The Locked-on NFL mock draft available now on Locked-on NFL draft on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. This is Locked-on ACCC, Alex Dono from Locked-on Caines alongside Kenton Gibbs from Locked-on Wolfpack. So I like Kenton how they're.

Starting point is 00:12:46 The NCAA, their Division I counsel, is announcing these rule changes as if this stuff was their idea. I mean, in reality, they've been getting their butts whooped in court, antitrust cases. But the Division I counsel today announced the council is changing their transfer rules. They permit immediate eligibility for transfers who are academically eligible or in good standing at previous school and meet progress toward degree requirements at new school. and what this means is basically unlimited transferring for athletes as long as they meet academic requirements, which are, I'm sure, different at every school, what those requirements are. So, you know, the NCAA realized we can't really stop people from transferring as much as they want.

Starting point is 00:13:31 So now we're going to make it official. This was our idea all along, guys. And they're also Kenton changing their official rules on NIL, the D1 Council rules, allowing schools. They now allow schools to assist student athletes with NIL opportunities if those student athletes disclose NAL activities valuing $600 plus to their schools. So let's get to that second. Let's talk about the transfer rules first. So we kind of already knew this was a thing.

Starting point is 00:14:00 Now it's officially a thing. You know, Dono, you're a married man, so you probably understand this well. This is like when a man says, I wear the pants in a relationship. My wife just picks the color, the cut, where we get a lot. where we get them altered at and all that type of stuff. But I wear the pants. I wear the pants. It's that type of deal where, you know, the NCAA is very much so getting the wheels

Starting point is 00:14:22 whooped off it in court. It's getting its teeth taken from it to enforce anything. And even if the NCAA were to say, hey, I disagree with this strongly. Okay, sure. Disagree with it as strong as you want. What are you going to do about it? Come on. Let us know quickly.

Starting point is 00:14:37 I'm waiting. Exactly. Nothing. So this is the situation where the NCAA is trying to save a little. little bit of face, if at all possible. At this point, I don't think it is because of how badly they've been devastated in court. And so from here, I think the next thing that we're kind of looking at with these rules are just sort of playing catch up and saying, you know what?

Starting point is 00:14:57 Fine. Since we're already behind, we'll just allow that which already exists and maybe try to add in some parameters and guardrails for there to be a successful situation in what already exist. But even that, I would say, would be giving the NCAA too much credit because in this, I don't even, I've read over this multiple times. I don't even see the additional guardrails. It literally feels like they're just saying, do everything you're already doing. Great job, kids. It's like they came home in the middle of Project X and we're like, well, this is some party through, son, have fun for the rest of the weekend and left. Yeah, yeah. So, and here's the NIL part of it.

Starting point is 00:15:36 There's a lot I want to unpack on this as well. So moving forward, school, because in the first kind of version of NIL, schools had to completely stay out of it, right? That we're not going to even look at what's going on. This is all between third parties and players. Now schools can get involved. They can identify NIL opportunities and facilitate deals between student athletes and third parties. So again, this is not schools directly paying players, but they can facilitate deals with third parties. That's an important distinction.

Starting point is 00:16:07 They can provide a reasonable grace period to student athletes who do not report. NIL information within 30 days. But they also note does the Division I council the existing rules against pay for play in schools compensating student athletes directly for NIL? Those remain in place. But schools can now facilitate. Now, Kenton, like some people may look at that and say, this is like a further loss of control and now this makes schools. They can start dropping bags. That's not what this is. To me, this is an important safeguard because the way that it's operated for, know, the first few years of NIL, schools in some cases have gotten burned by third party NIL collectives who make promises they can't keep. And so now I think this at least, it allows

Starting point is 00:16:53 schools to get involved and maybe regulate to make sure, hey, is this on the level? Like, are you promising this guy seven figures when you can't deliver six figures? Like, I think it's actually important to have schools involved here. Yeah. And the words of me goes, RIP to Nate Dog, I had to regulate because there needs to be some type of safeguards putting by the schools in of themselves. And I think that that is, you know, I was always taught that the more hands get involved in something, the more room for error you have. And it seems to me that in this moment, if we are taking out that kind of, hey, you need, so the player needs an agent and the third party needs an agent, and there needs to be,

Starting point is 00:17:36 the school needs to stay out of it. So we just need the player, the player's agent, the third party, the third party's agent, anything else that may need to be represented in there and potentially somebody to make sure everything is above board with the NCAA that's not related to either party. It's so much going on. It's so much going on. And now you can have schools come up with a branch of their school directly to say, we will do everything we can to keep you eligible. We will get you paid and keep you eligible all at once. and we'll make sure that you don't end up on ESPN. Hey, Damien Martinez has to pay back $300 to the one Beaver collective

Starting point is 00:18:15 because, you know, think X, Y, Z before he leaves Oregon State. Or, hey, you know, Grayson McCall ends up having to pay back $1,000 into the one-pack NIL collect. You know, you just don't want to see that. You never want to see that because, again, it shows that there were lots of hands in this thing. And like you just said, the biggest pitfall, the coach talks to the person who's ahead of the collective

Starting point is 00:18:41 and those two need to be in the same page and everything going as opposed to now again you have a dedicated person who it's their job to facilitate this. It is their 24-sad. They live, sleep, eat, and breathe. Hey, coach, the NIL numbers look like this at the moment. If you want to go after this player, you're going to need another race. Hey, you know, I'm asking on behalf of the coach,

Starting point is 00:19:04 how much money do we have to throw at this kid here because we want them, they've reached out to us and said that they want to be here. What can we do for? What type of package can we put together and give you a few alternatives as opposed to, again, just having some rogue individuals potentially acting on their own behalf as third parties negotiating things out here? Now, I know we still have the current conference system in place. We've talked on this show in the past about the Super League proposal, which would basically take the NCAA out of the equation in football,

Starting point is 00:19:39 and it would blow up the traditional conference structure and create this 80 team super league. Now, I speculated yesterday on what the Super League transfer rules might look like. I've gotten more information on it now because part of their pitch that wasn't public has recently been made public. And so I want to talk about how different that would look. And crazy enough, the Super League transfer rules would actually be more. restrictive than what the NCAA currently has in place because it would be collectively

Starting point is 00:20:09 bargain. We'll talk about that and more when we come back. Keep it locked right here. Alex Dono and Kenton Gibbs with you on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC. Guys, I'm having so much fun with this app. Monopoly Go. My friends, if you've got that competitive side like I do, your competitive side is going to be a big fan of Monopoly Go.

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Starting point is 00:20:56 But it's not just my competitive side that loves it. You can team up with friends and people around the world and time tournaments to earn huge rewards. So get in the game and join your friends. Download Monopoly Go now free on the app store or Google Play. Thank you so much for making this episode of Lockdown ACC, your first listen and your first watch today. We're part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day, Alex Donno alongside Kenton Gibbs. So Kenton, the Sportico recently obtained a quote unquote confidential pitch deck, which was circulated by the Super League group in mid-February.

Starting point is 00:21:33 And I was looking through this today because it does have some details that I wasn't aware of prior. And again, we believe that at some point, college football is going to have to evolve away from the NCAA and to the Super League model where the big difference is there would be a union representing players. There would be a collective bargaining agreement that's somewhat similar to what you have in the NFL and other professional league since college football has basically become a professional sport at this point. One thing that I wasn't aware of was what the transfer policy would look like in the Super League, because I had speculated about possible trades like in the NFL. There's no trades, Kenton, in the Super League. So they write, yeah, they write teams would be allowed 85 roster spots each year, but could only have a maximum of 70 scholarship slots.

Starting point is 00:22:24 At least 50 of those would have to go to players who were recruited by the program directly out of high school. Athletes would be allowed to transfer twice within a five-year eligibility window. Each year there would be two transfer portal windows, an open one in February, and a supplemental one in March, and schools would only be able to sign a maximum of 10 players during each. So there's a lot, there's more restriction there than whatever the NCAA can do. Almost too much, Kenton, because your roster has to be made up 50 out of 70 scholarship spots with players you organically recruited out of high school,

Starting point is 00:23:01 players can only transfer twice in five years. If we see evolution to this Super League pitch, I think they might have to open that up a bit. Well, and this is why I'm glad that the Super League pitch does include collective bargaining because there does need to be that aspect of, you know, this is your first offer to the players. This is your first offer to the universities

Starting point is 00:23:23 because there needs to be some tweaking and adjusting here because it needs to account for. special situations. It just has to, right? Like, let's just be honest. We can all sit here and say, every player that transfers a bunch of times, you know, two, three times is a derelict

Starting point is 00:23:41 and they're the problem and they weren't in two to three bad situations. But how many times have we seen coaches, hey, this coach is on year six, they haven't been productive, they get fired. That's after your true freshman year. You go somewhere else. That coach gets fired two years later. You go, then what?

Starting point is 00:23:57 you're stuck at that school for forever with a new coach who may not want you, who may be recruiting over you, who may say, hey, you're a dropback pro-style quarterback. We run spread here. Our quarterback has to be able to use his legs and make something happen. And you know, that's just a quarterback position. There are so many other positions where you could objectively not be a great fit for a team's system one way or the other. And if that's your second transfer, tough titty said the kiddie when the milk went dries is in essence what they're saying. don't think that's necessarily fair. So I do, I do think we've gotten a little too loosey

Starting point is 00:24:33 goosey with the transfers. I agree with that. I agree. I do think we have a few too many windows because if I understand this correctly, there are at minimum three windows right now for transfers, which I feel like a little bit much, a little, you know, let's make this transfer thing mean a little more than that. But I don't think that we need to go and do a complete 180 on this thing. Maybe let's do a 90. Let's do a 40 degree turn. Let's try 130. Let's see how it feels before we decide to go full like, hey, we're going a hard line the other way.

Starting point is 00:25:08 Yeah, no, I completely agree. And huge shout out to everyone who made Lockedon ACC your first listen and your first watch today. Make sure to support our channel. Smash that like button. Subscribe to Lockdown ACC, whether it's YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever get your audio pods. He is Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack. I'm Alex Dono from Lockdown Caines. We'll talk more transfer portal tomorrow because maybe we'll have more clarity on some of these running back, some of these other players leaving and arriving in the ACC.

Starting point is 00:25:36 Until then, we'll talk next time on another episode of Lockdown ACC, part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC Portal Buzz On Running Backs, Best ACC Football Team? NCAA Transfer & NIL Rules CHANGING... Why?

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