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Miami's Final Four berth raises questions on NIL's impact on performance

Miami men’s basketball coach Jim Larranaga and his players found themselves “defending their highly public NIL deals” during the first on-site pregame media conference Thursday ahead of the Final Four, according to Michelle Kaufman of the MIAMI HERALD. They “dismissed any suggestion” that UM booster John Ruiz’s Twitter post “announcing Nijel Pack’s two-year, $800,000 deal hurt the Hurricanes’ locker room chemistry.” Kaufman writes Larranaga “did not field a single question about strategy,” but instead “told tales about Sir Pizza and smoothies.” Miami’s NIL deals have been a topic of conversation “since the tournament began.” College athletes all over the country have signed NIL deals, but the fact that Ruiz “publicized Miami’s deals on Twitter ‘sent shock waves’ through college basketball.” Larranaga believes that NIL deals can “help educate young athletes on money management.” Larranaga: “I don’t know how many of these guys are spending every cent they get, but I know a lot of NBA guys did that and ended up bankrupt. It’s a learning experience” (MIAMI HERALD, 3/30).

PAPER ROUTE: USA TODAY’s Dan Wolken wrote it is “fairly remarkable that we are here at the Final Four talking about these things openly with a Miami basketball team that is both extremely good and very well-paid.” In addition to Pack, LifeWallet “signed another transfer” in F Norchad Omier. Along with Gs Isaiah Wong and Jordan Miller, who “also have deals with LifeWallet,” they “make up the core of a Miami team that won the ACC regular-season title and have reached the Final Four for the first time in school history.” It is a “messy environment,” which is why the NCAA has “gone to Congress hat in hand looking for a bill that will allow them to make more rules around NIL without the threat of being sued eight ways to Sunday.” But for now, NIL is “just like anything else in college sports.” It is “undeniably a factor in how teams are built” and some programs will “handle it better than others.” Wolken: “How can you fault Miami for doing it bigger and better than its competitors? Because at the end of the day, this isn’t about a booster trying to buy a championship, which may or may not work in the first place.” There are “no guarantees” (USA TODAY, 3/30).

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