Nevada head coach Steve Alford is sick of NIL.
Following a lackluster season ath saw the Wolf Pack finish 17-16, 8-12 and seventh in the Mountain West, the former Iowa, New Mexico and UCLA head coach made his opinions clear on the current NIL and transfer portal landscapes.
Steve Alford Criticizes College Basketball’s NIL and Transfer Portal Landscape
Following a 67-59 Mountain West tournament quarterfinal loss to the Colorado State Rams, Alford was asked if there is anything he and his staff need to do to navigate college basketball’s new NIL and transfer portal landscapes.
He proceeded to go on a 3-minute and 18-second rant, lambasting the changes to the sport.
“Five years ago, I wasn’t, you know, in conversations saying, ‘How much (do) you want to be paid?’ Never thought that would happen in college basketball,” Alford said. “And I’ve always been a big proponent as the game and money has evolved and changed. I’ve never been one that said I don’t believe student-athletes shouldn’t be paid.
“I’ve never been one that said I don’t believe student-athletes shouldn’t be paid. But the way it is now is ridiculous. It’s utterly ridiculous”
Steve Alford was asked if there’s anything he & his staff need to do to help navigate this new landscape of college basketball & here… pic.twitter.com/SPvZl0EPts
— Shannon Kelly (@shannonkelly_tv) March 14, 2025
“But the way it is now is ridiculous. It’s utterly ridiculous. And it’s changed our game. And so you’ve got to adapt.”
Alford said NIL is now brought up in every pregame handshake he has with opposing coaches.
“Where’s academics at?” Alford said.
“You’re going to have to replace eight, nine guys to a roster every year. It makes no sense for that to be our model, but that is our model. So do we have to evolve as coaches? Yeah, we’ve got to evolve how we recruit.”
“Like it used to be, ‘Hey, what’s my degree going to look like? What’s your facilities look like? What’s your relationship with the team look like? Are you there for all practices? Are you a coach that dives into relationships and you’re going to care for my child?’
“You might as well throw all that stuff out because the only question they’re concerned about is what they’re getting paid in the portal.
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“To me, that’s a terrible model for an 18-year-old because, truth be told then, a lot of 18- and 19-year-olds are raising family members now. And that’s not what you go off to college for. That’s just not. And so that’s frustrating. Because I don’t like our model at all.
“Like I got five players now. NIL’s done in two months. What happens then? Are they going to be able to handle the real world now after having NIL for a couple years at Nevada or wherever they’ve been?
“Are they going to really be prepared to handle the things that, oh, ‘I’m not getting that money. I have to go earn that money?’ We’re not really teaching them that.
“That’s something that people way above me have to really look at, because the NCAA and collegiate athletics should be about teaching life lessons, period, through athletics.”
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