@MattNorlander
NEWS—The revolutionary college basketball NIL tournament set to be staged this year is nearly finalized, sources tell @CBSSports. Seven of the eight schools are on board, and plans are to double the field to 16 in 2025. Details/reporting w/ @dennisdoddcbs:

QuoteA one-of-a-kind revolutionary regular-season men's basketball event to be staged later this year in Las Vegas is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, CBS Sports has learned. Its selling point is based on the major factor that has drastically altered college sports over the past three years: name, image and likeness compensation for players.

Games will be played in November under the umbrella of an event dubbed the "Players Era Festival," which will also include live music and other attractions for fans amid the glitz of the Las Vegas Strip during Thanksgiving week. In a college sports first, the event will also include $1 million NIL payouts for eight participating schools. What's more, players involved will have future earnings opportunities through long-term NIL contracts, sources told CBS Sports

Alabama, Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State and Texas A&M are all on board, sources said. The eighth and final school for the 2024 event will emerge from a small group that is still being deliberated.

The Players Era Festival is not being pitched as a one-year happening, either.

Plans are to double the size of the field, sources told CBS Sports, with 16 teams as the target for 2025 and beyond. Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan, Syracuse and Virginia have all engaged in discussions about potentially playing in 2025.

The tournament would be unique in that the NIL collective of each participating school would be paid $1 million. Additional significant NIL opportunities (believed to be in the neighborhood of another $1 million) would be awarded exclusively to the winner or winners of the event, depending on the final bracket format(s). The money would then be distributed to athletes by the collectives. The athletes, while in Las Vegas, would be required to participate in multiple off-the-court activities to earn that NIL money. That quid pro quo agreement for NIL money is a key distinction and at the core of the appeal of the festival. Pay-for-play remains against NCAA rules. However, athletes can be paid for NIL work surrounding the actual games, which is the pitch here.

Tygert looks to be laboring a lot more. That curve doesn't seem to have as much bite as it did during the early part of the year

Quote from: Johnnie5 on Today at 08:17:30 amHawkins is a 4/5. Not a 3/4

He does have better perimeter skills than Pryor.

Gonna be funny when this dude is a stud In a year or 2

You give out the full number of scholarships available. That doesn't mean all will get a big NIT deal.

What's the word on prior? Anybody on if he is down to so many schools

Quote from: Archawg on Today at 07:20:20 amPryor to me is more of an underweight 4/5. Coleman Hawkins is a 6'10" 3/4.  With both you will need a big body as we have only one. Hawkins is more versatile on the perimeter imo.

Hawkins is a 4/5. Not a 3/4

Quote from: psycHOGlogist on Yesterday at 09:08:48 amHalvorson's numbers at Arkansas are considerably lower -- as one would expect -- than they were at SDSU. She hit 19 HRs in both her full seasons at SDSU. She hit 10 last year and 8 this year. In other words, she hasn't hit as many HRs as a Razorback in total as she did in either of her full seasons at SDSU.

She hit .311 in her final SDSU year and .352 the year before that. She hit .283 last year and .304 this year (so far).

I really like Halvorson and think she's a great Hog. I really like Carter and think she's been great as a Hog (especially as she's gotten used to the league).

But the SEC is better than the B1G and the Summit, and their numbers show it.

Halverson from .311 to .283
Carter from .479 to .305

One drop-off is substantially different than the other. Heck Halverson dropped more in those 2 years at SDSU than she did the year she came here.

A-State's offense- which was expected to be solid in 2024,  has faired really well so far, and is not expected to take any big hits going forward. Has some talented athletes either signed or committed set to join them this summer. Look in great shape here.

They have taken some big hits on defense, and lost some players expected to be key contributors, but as their post spring depth chart shows, they were proactive and added a lot of transfers on defense prior to spring ball.

While they are certainly not in bad shape on defense -they have some talented players currently on their roster, signed but not enrolled, or committed on that side of the ball that have the talent to help them, really will not know for sure until their roster is complete and the new players enrolled.

Hugh Freeze says he and Nick Saban talk frequently post retirement

By Matt Cohen

L-R: Rane, Freeze, Saban

QuoteAuburn head coach Hugh Freeze and former Alabama head coach Nick Saban have maintained a close relationship. Now, after Saban's retirement in January, the two have talked more often.

"Nick and I, we were in Jupiter for spring break together," Freeze told reporters on the driving range. "We actually talk fairly regularly now. It's peaceful. Everybody knows I love Nick. We're good friends away from the field and when we don't play each other."

Saban retired in early January after Alabama's loss to eventual national champion Michigan in the Rose Bowl. But Freeze and Saban have a friendship long before.

Saban and Freeze have faced six times as head coaches, and Saban has won four times.

Saban and Freeze only overlapped on opposite sides of the Iron Bowl for one year in 2023. Alabama won the game 27-24 over Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium, with Bond, Isaiah Bond catching the game-winning touchdown on 4th-and-31 with under a minute to play.