A few thoughts on Bub Carrington, Jaland Lowe, NIL, Alliance 412 and more…
- I know it’s been said a lot, but it bears repeating: for Carrington, it truly was a decision between Pitt and the NBA. Money was never an issue, and from what I’ve been told, the NIL offer was competitive with what Carrington would get if he slipped to the bottom of the first round. Remarkably, I think Carrington might have even stayed for less, which is a testament to his connection and his family’s connection with Jeff Capel, which is really strong and factored heavily into all of this.
But once it was concluded that Carrington likely wouldn’t slip to the bottom of the first round, the decision was made to leave (there were some personal family considerations as well, from what I’ve been told).
- So now Alliance 412 can use that $500,000+ that was allocated for Carrington and go get his replacement and more pieces, right? Well, yes and no.
Yes, the money was allocated and can now be re-allocated.
But no in the sense that the money still has to be raised.
With all of these collectives, a lot is being done based on commitments. Lump donations do exist, but most people sign up on some kind of recurring plan, and the commitment of those recurring plans goes a long way in setting the budget for what can be spent.
We might sit here and say “Alliance 412 will spend $2 million on this year’s roster,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean the collective has $2 million sitting in a bank, waiting for checks to be written and distributed to the players.
- I think we have a similar reaction when we see Jaland Lowe announce that he’s returning - an announcement that was made with a graphic that prominently featured the Alliance 412 logo next to an official Pitt logo, which I think is an important step in bridging the gap between Pitt and the collective.
But when we see Lowe make his announcement and we eventually see similar announcements from Ishmael Leggett and the rest of Pitt’s roster - which are expected - there’s an assumption that the money has been raised and is being distributed.
It looks like a finish line, but it’s not. It’s a big step, but the collective still needs to grow the membership.
- To a certain extent, getting to 1,000 members has become something of a benchmark for collectives. If you can get to 1,000, then you’re successfully engaging the fanbase and probably positioning yourself to do what you need to do to acquire and maintain talent.
Quite a few “peer schools” - I would define those as operating in the same area of the great middle of college sports as Pitt - have hit that number. Alliance 412 has not. We can discuss why that is, and I think there are several for reasons for it, but the reality is the reality:
Despite considerable efforts and results over the last eight months, it’s still not where it probably needs to be.
- I think we’ve seen Alliance 412 engage in various promotions to try to sweeten the pot - things like an invitation to tomorrow’s football scrimmage which, if you follow Pitt football or have ever heard Pat Narduzzi speak, you know it’s like getting an invitation to tour the Kremlin (Google tells me you can actually see some of the Kremlin on a tour, but not the inner workings. You get the point).
Narduzzi’s willingness to let Alliance 412 members at a certain level into the scrimmage is a huge step in terms of aligning the program with the collective. Capel does things like this, too; the Pittsburgh Basketball Club offers incentives that get you close to the basketball program, and that’s a sign of Capel’s willingness to engage.
- I know what some of you might be thinking: Alliance 412 is trying to spread its message here on the site, and that’s behind this post. To some extent, you’re right. The people at Alliance 412 know that the fans on this site are probably the most passionate Pitt fans around, so if anybody is most likely to contribute to the collective, it would be the people here. Short of getting a full donor roll from the Athletic Department, this is probably the best place to reach the strongest contingent of fans.
So this post is an update on where things stand. Alliance 412 feels like it needs to shoot for 1,000 members to continue being competitive in the ACC, and they’re not there. They’re actually quite a ways off. But they need to get much closer in order to continue the process of retaining the roster and adding the necessary pieces.
- I made a comment earlier about this not being a finish line, and I understand if you are a bit fatigued by the whole situation with NIL and the transfer portal. But it’s just the reality of college sports right now, and while I don’t think it will last - I don’t think it can last - the reality is the reality. Pitt as a University and an Athletic Department is coming around on this, so you’re seeing Alliance 412 logos show up on more official graphics on social media (the official Pitt basketball Twitter account shared the below image, which includes the A412 logo). I think that stuff is big, because for too long, there was a refusal to engage. More can be done, of course, but the administration is getting on board.
Alliance 412 is hoping that collaboration can help get Pitt fans on board, too.
- I know it’s been said a lot, but it bears repeating: for Carrington, it truly was a decision between Pitt and the NBA. Money was never an issue, and from what I’ve been told, the NIL offer was competitive with what Carrington would get if he slipped to the bottom of the first round. Remarkably, I think Carrington might have even stayed for less, which is a testament to his connection and his family’s connection with Jeff Capel, which is really strong and factored heavily into all of this.
But once it was concluded that Carrington likely wouldn’t slip to the bottom of the first round, the decision was made to leave (there were some personal family considerations as well, from what I’ve been told).
- So now Alliance 412 can use that $500,000+ that was allocated for Carrington and go get his replacement and more pieces, right? Well, yes and no.
Yes, the money was allocated and can now be re-allocated.
But no in the sense that the money still has to be raised.
With all of these collectives, a lot is being done based on commitments. Lump donations do exist, but most people sign up on some kind of recurring plan, and the commitment of those recurring plans goes a long way in setting the budget for what can be spent.
We might sit here and say “Alliance 412 will spend $2 million on this year’s roster,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean the collective has $2 million sitting in a bank, waiting for checks to be written and distributed to the players.
- I think we have a similar reaction when we see Jaland Lowe announce that he’s returning - an announcement that was made with a graphic that prominently featured the Alliance 412 logo next to an official Pitt logo, which I think is an important step in bridging the gap between Pitt and the collective.
But when we see Lowe make his announcement and we eventually see similar announcements from Ishmael Leggett and the rest of Pitt’s roster - which are expected - there’s an assumption that the money has been raised and is being distributed.
It looks like a finish line, but it’s not. It’s a big step, but the collective still needs to grow the membership.
- To a certain extent, getting to 1,000 members has become something of a benchmark for collectives. If you can get to 1,000, then you’re successfully engaging the fanbase and probably positioning yourself to do what you need to do to acquire and maintain talent.
Quite a few “peer schools” - I would define those as operating in the same area of the great middle of college sports as Pitt - have hit that number. Alliance 412 has not. We can discuss why that is, and I think there are several for reasons for it, but the reality is the reality:
Despite considerable efforts and results over the last eight months, it’s still not where it probably needs to be.
- I think we’ve seen Alliance 412 engage in various promotions to try to sweeten the pot - things like an invitation to tomorrow’s football scrimmage which, if you follow Pitt football or have ever heard Pat Narduzzi speak, you know it’s like getting an invitation to tour the Kremlin (Google tells me you can actually see some of the Kremlin on a tour, but not the inner workings. You get the point).
Narduzzi’s willingness to let Alliance 412 members at a certain level into the scrimmage is a huge step in terms of aligning the program with the collective. Capel does things like this, too; the Pittsburgh Basketball Club offers incentives that get you close to the basketball program, and that’s a sign of Capel’s willingness to engage.
- I know what some of you might be thinking: Alliance 412 is trying to spread its message here on the site, and that’s behind this post. To some extent, you’re right. The people at Alliance 412 know that the fans on this site are probably the most passionate Pitt fans around, so if anybody is most likely to contribute to the collective, it would be the people here. Short of getting a full donor roll from the Athletic Department, this is probably the best place to reach the strongest contingent of fans.
So this post is an update on where things stand. Alliance 412 feels like it needs to shoot for 1,000 members to continue being competitive in the ACC, and they’re not there. They’re actually quite a ways off. But they need to get much closer in order to continue the process of retaining the roster and adding the necessary pieces.
- I made a comment earlier about this not being a finish line, and I understand if you are a bit fatigued by the whole situation with NIL and the transfer portal. But it’s just the reality of college sports right now, and while I don’t think it will last - I don’t think it can last - the reality is the reality. Pitt as a University and an Athletic Department is coming around on this, so you’re seeing Alliance 412 logos show up on more official graphics on social media (the official Pitt basketball Twitter account shared the below image, which includes the A412 logo). I think that stuff is big, because for too long, there was a refusal to engage. More can be done, of course, but the administration is getting on board.
Alliance 412 is hoping that collaboration can help get Pitt fans on board, too.
