Dusty May discusses his philosophy of player compensation in the NIL era
NIL and player compensation have become a hot topic in college athletics of late, as the discussion of players being played was once discussed in the shadows is now out in the open.
With the addition of the transfer portal, players chasing the top dollar is something that needs to be taken into consideration with programs discussing whether to pursue either a portal prospect or high school recruit.
For new Michigan basketball head coach Dusty May, he has no qualms with his players being compensated for their work. As it's something he has learned to navigate in a new era of collegiate athletics.
"I've been very upfront that I would love for our guys to be taken care of as much as any player in the country," May said. "Right now, that's probably not feasible but I think everyone in our locker room will be making sacrifices. Financial, whether it's minutes. Ultimately, great teams have probably got 8 or 9 guys that deserve to start and they're capable of starting.
"I think the championship teams aren't going out and just being the highest bidder. I think there's always that fine line of that being important but not being the most important thing. Once again, every situation is different. If there's a young player that has a very limited value professionally and they have a chance to maximize their value now and that's the most money they're ever going to make playing basketball than it might be right for them to capitalize and go after the top dollar.
"If it's someone that has professional aspirations and maybe the goal of making millions of dollars in the NBA, then they probably should choose the right fit as far as development, style of play, conference, whatever it is."
On the flip side, though, May didn't shy away from addressing players who are simply looking to be paid and nothing else.
While each player has their own priorities, being paid as the top priority with basketball second is not going to be a philosophical fit with him and the U-M program.
"Just like everything else, every case is different but we've had to weigh that in every recruitment and that's part of the information-gathering phase," May said. "The absolute top dollar is what you're looking for, we're probably not gonna have what you're looking for and we're going to go in another direction. Philosophically, we want the first question to be about relationships and development. After that, hopefully the Name, Image and Likeness part fits."
---
Discuss this article with our community on our premium message boards
Not a subscriber to Maize & Blue Review? Sign up today to gain access to all the latest Michigan intel M&BR has to offer
Follow our staff on Twitter: @JoshHenschke, @Berry_Seth14, @TrevorMcCue, @DennisFithian, @BrockHeilig, @JimScarcelli, @Jerry_Diorio
Subscribe to our podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify
Check out Maize & Blue Review's video content on YouTube
Follow Maize & Blue Review on social media: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram