In another episode of as ND MBB burns....

by Domer99, John Wesley Powell's Expedition Island, Saturday, April 04, 2026, 16:57 (54 days ago)

I am sure Tom Noie is taking "I told you so victory laps" as Markus Burton made it official today. Something Tom will be sure to remind you that he predicted.

Which will inevitably reopen the tired and lazy administration support boogeyman reasons for systemic failure. There's some kernels of truth to that but I don't think it's lack of institutional support as much as it is an almost unrelentless patience for all sports.

I am sure people are bored of me saying it but it's lazy because this rests on the supposition that ND's NIL is somewhere in the $3-4 MM range. There's no real sourcing other than hearsay so that's what everybody believes as gospel.

I doubt the figure...unless 95% of all of that money was to Burton and Haralson ( https://spartanavenue.com/posts/interesting-nil-detail-emerged-hours-before-jalen-haral... ?!?!??!?!?!??!?!?!?). But let's say it's true. Does that mean ND fielding a competitive MBB team is a complete nonstarter?

Apparently not.

On3 put out a premium article ( https://www.on3.com/news/college-basketball-transfer-portal-the-programs-ready-to-spend... ) so I can't tell you the contents. My guess is that schools are preparing to get to $10MM at least moreso that this anecdotal wivestale that the best of MCBB is already there.

And look, as a fan, I'd have no problem with ND spending that. But even with football, money and commitment didn't come over night. There was a process where the program deserved a spend commensurate with the top of the CFB. MBB? Well, we're a long way from them deserving anything. But this notion of simply throwing money there and things will be fixed is about as vapid and shallow as it gets.