As transfer portal heats up, Seton Hall says NIL in good shape
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As transfer portal heats up, Seton Hall says NIL in good shape: ‘Of course, winning helps’
By
Adam Zagoria | For NJ Advance Media
With transfer portal season in high gear,
Seton Hall believes its NIL situation has been shored up by the team’s
NIT championship last week.
“Of course, winning helps,” Mike McBride, Seton Hall’s Deputy Athletics Director for Revenue Generation, NIL & Strategic Initiatives, told NJ Advance Media in a phone interview.
“The more success we had on the court, those that believed in creating NIL opportunities and supporting
Onward Setonia, they dug deeper and were able to bring on additional individuals that wanted to get behind and support the efforts of the athletes,” he added. “The success that the team had has definitely helped Onward Setonia.”
After being
snubbed for the NCAA Tournament despite a 13-7 record in the Big East, the Pirates opted to play in the NIT and proceeded to win five straight games. They earned the program’s first NIT championship since 1953 with last week’s win over Indiana State at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.
“When you are successful on the court, it generates more attention, more awareness, so you get a wider spectrum of individuals that are contributing to Onward Setonia and that’s been evident,” McBride said. “[The] NIT was just another contributor to that. There was an influx of individuals that had never given to Onward Setonia [who] stepped up and gave. There were individuals that had already given that contributed even more so.
“Yeah, winning helps and a rising tide raises all ships.”
Since the title, senior wing
Dre Davis opted to enter the transfer portal and has heard from a large number of schools, but his parents told NJ Advance Media that returning to The Hall remained an option.
Kadary Richmond and Dylan Addae-Wusu have eligibility remaining, but have yet to announce their plans.
Asked if he believed Seton Hall could make competitive offers to these and other available players, McBride said, “Yeah, absolutely. There’s never been at time that I’m aware of that we weren’t able to have discussions with athletes and be quote competitive.
“Coach Sha [Holloway] has been amazing at building out teams and programs and there’s no reason to think that won’t be competitive.”
Before this season, Seton Hall senior guard Al-Amir Dawes said he was more focused on winning at Seton Hall than on NIL opportunities.
“I think a lot of these college kids are emphasizing the money and trying to just find a place based on what they’re paying, but it’s different here,”
he told NJ Advance Media. “We want to win and we want to collect the trophies and get all the plaques we can.”
He added: “I feel like here, we’re not really worried about NIL as much. We know that when we win and we play good, things will take care of itself.”
McBride took over last October and said he found “a solid foundation” that just needed some organizing and streamlining.
“I found that there were a lot of people working hard to give the program the support they needed,” he said. “What was needed when I got here was really fine-tuning and organizing and creating a strategy and a plan. And that’s where we are today.
He added: “From all general conversations, we were happy then and we’re even happier now with the funding.”
