Yay! We have our team not tarnished by somebody making stratospheric money and going to a school in Texas Tech that UF doesn't play, a team not as good as Stanford. Whatever her reasons, thanks for not choosing Alabama, Oklahoma, or Texas. Go get'em Nija. I'm sure Lubbock Texas is a fine place.
I agreed. But, if money was her object, she was never coming to UF. Walton would make an offer but he is not going to get into an absurd bidding war for a player we simply don't have to have on the roster. Having her would be nice, if she fit in, but not for any reason other than she wants to be in Gainesville. If money was what she wanted from the start...no interest.
I actually think UF will have the best team in the nation in the 2025 season as it stands now. Nija would have been a luxury.
Let's be clear about this. Tech is now a team that bought a coach and bought a star pitcher and the rest is made up of mid-major transfers. Yes, the Cajuns were 45-19. But that is because they played in the Sun Belt where they went 22-2. All of these transfers making up the new Tech team were 23-17 against everyone else. Canady will lead them to the promised land, even in the Big 12....check back later and find out what happens. Far less than a guarantee.
I’d much rather have a lump sum up front right now than hope to make up the difference over the next 5-10-15 years. I can start making money right now with that cash, and I’ll easily outpace whatever a piece of paper could do for me. Biggest thing a fancy degree does for you is help you network. I’m thinking this young lady will be able to network on her own just fine, and she’s likely already plugged in to most of the networks she would find useful at Stanford. She’s no average person, so I don’t think average earning estimates are super relevant. No money in pro ball, cash in on your talents while you can. Invest wisely, and you can set yourself up for life.
I will disagree with the board consensus and say that I would have liked adding the best pitcher in college softball. I think it would have been nifty.
So vawter couldn't get SC out of regional right? My guess is TT makes it to a super and if they get an upset regional winner in supers than who knows. TT schedule I imagine very similar to Cajun and only needing 2 runs a game when she pitches on average is probably achievable....damn glad it's there and not any top 20 program we could face earlier. Probably the best outcome other than actually having her in orange and blue. Could rake in the money for a year then transfer again her senior year for the ring. Let me be the first to predict the crazy, being as there are no limits on transfers anymore, she very well may go through this saga again next year after getting bumped early in playoffs.
When the internet came into existence while I was at UF in early 90s the comments we made at the time as students was what a neat thing this Netscape is with all types of possibilities going into the future. With the early stages of NIL and portal stuff I generally have the same reactions as I did with the internet earlier stages. The good or bad of any of this stuff will always be dependent upon how people use it. Students athletes can certainly use the portal and NIL for good reasons or it can be used for bad reasons. And unless the player speaks publicly and honestly about it then it is hard to critique any transfer situation. Again trying to dissect why any one transfers nowadays is just hard to predict in this environment and waste of time trying to judge the mindset of 20 year old. There are many reasons to transfer like wanting more playing time, scared of competing for job because you want something guaranteed to you, coaching changes on staff, not getting along with other players on the team, going to college that is offering you something academically for your post playing career, going to a new place that will challenge you to get better, going to a new place with proven winning record, going to a new place to stay closer to home for family health reasons, and then you have this money thing coming into play. It can be any one thing or a combo of things I just listed out that motivates or causes the kid to transfer. And I’m sure others can figure out other reasons to transfer. This type of move to me is not even a lateral move. I’m sure Texas Tech will have opportunities for post season play now but moving the needle on something beyond that concept is hard to picture. The TT coach is a good coach but again he has never moved the needle during the post season in terms of putting out there a deep run to NC game scenario. Not saying he can’t do it but again he has not done it. Every college or technical school or community college will have something to offer a student so I’m not going to sit here to critique other colleges academically because all these institutions have something to offer any kid. It is an odd transfer that certainly suggests dinero actions which again you certainly have a right in this environment to do that. All I know is UF will be fine moving forward and good things will continue to happen on the field given our existing roster and the kids coming in future years. If you watched any of the interviews by Tim this past year you will understand that the program is extremely calculated in the type of transfers that ultimately come into the program. I have a hard believing UF softball would ever bring in someone for pure money reasons. I think doing something like that can certainly increase the chances of disrupting locker room chemistry issues. Again I have no idea if this is a pure money transfer or not because I’m not a mind reader. I always have zero expectations on transfer possibilities because you can’t predict the thought processes of what a 20 year old and their family put into the transfer process. When we get good transfers then great and if something does not happen then you just move on. The live blood of any program will always be high school kids and then plugging in the gaps with quality transfers when it happens.
Provided Tech doesn't have all kind of chemistry issues with transfers and this nil deal... imo she has a better chance there than she did with Stanford. She already has a better number 2 pitcher with Riasetto. They also have a top freshmen arm coming in. Offense is deifntley no worse.