Billy Donovan explains why he’s not sure if the transfer portal is preparing players the right way for adversity in their lives
“The one thing that I don’t like about NIL is, I have always felt that you guys, while you’re in college, should be taken care of with the amount of money that gets generated through athletics. So I think we’re all in agreement on that. Probably should have happened a long time ago.”
“My issue with NIL is I think you’re teaching kids a really, really bad precedent. That you can go over here and make this amount of money, and then you’re not happy and pick up and go somewhere else.”
“When you go to the NBA, you take a job and you sign a contract. You’re under contract. And I just don’t know how much that’s helping guys.”
“What happens if one of these guys does get drafted, whether it be in the NFL, the NBA, and they sign a four-year deal and they’re not happy in the situation, not getting ready to play? They can’t leave.”
“I think that you’ve got to be able to work your way through some adversity and difficulty sometimes to find out a little bit more about yourself. The way it’s set up, there’s no resiliency of going through anything that’s difficult and tough in life.”
“I’m not begrudging anybody for making anything financially. But when you get into the real world and you sign contracts, you’re going to have to be responsible to those to a certain extent.”