Player Lawsuit Shows Hogs' Place in NIL Race

Arkansas Razorbacks fortunate to have boosters who see value in other sports than football

ASU quarterback Jaden Rashada throws a pass during a spring practice at the Kajikawa practice fields in Tempe on April 16, 2024. / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- As Arkansas fans follow the exploits of the baseball team's pursuit of a national championship during regionals and the slow moving cargo train that is John Calipari's first recruiting cycle for basketball, it is easy to see how successful the Hogs can be in both sports in the NIL era.

However, a lawsuit filed last week made it clear how unlikely similar success will be over the next several years in football. Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman would have had to convince boosters to give him North of $13.85 million to land quarterback Jadan Rashada out of high school.

That's not trying to land a Heisman frontrunner in the transfer portal. That's the cost for a kid who is either 17 or 18 and has never taken a college snap, much less successfully read an SEC defense.

Had Arkansas lost its mind and found a way to pull together the money, it would have been for a quarterback who managed to appear in three games and throw four touchdowns and three interceptions while putting up a QBR of 23 with only one Pac 12 appearance. Complete waste of money.

For that same amount, a potential Top 10 basketball team can easily be assembled. As for baseball, injury or a team-wide case of the yips would be about the only thing that could stop a legitimate run at the College World Series with that kind of cash infused into the NIL coffers.

The value boosters can get for their money in baseball and basketball makes it a no-brainer when it comes to investing. Plus, Arkansas fans care more about basketball than any SEC fan base except, perhaps, Kentucky, and only Mississippi State can come close Razorbacks fans in terms of passion for baseball.

There are far better ways to get return on investment and positive publicity than dumping tens of millions into an unproven high school quarterback. For the same price, someone can double the monthly paycheck of 3,378 teachers in n Arkansas, or, adopt a 4A school like Warren and double the salary of every teacher in the district for three years.

The impact coupled with the national headlines that would follow would be a groundswell of good vibes in the public eye. Meanwhile, banking on getting something back from a teenage boy who is suddenly flush with millions in cash to do good things both on and off the field is a crap shoot at best.

Arkansas is a program with a limited NIL budget. There's plenty for building potential national champions in basketball and baseball, but there will never be enough to consistently build a winner in football. The money in that arena is just too stupid – literally stupid – in how it is spent.

As much as Razorbacks fans love football, the last four years are reflective of what this team can afford financially. However, there is a silver lining. Boosters at other schools pour all they have into football to achieve similar results to Arkansas.

They too will rarely be college football playoff contenders. However, unlike Arkansas, because they didn't invest wisely in basketball and baseball, they aren't legitimate threats in those sports either.

That's 10 months of Hogs fans following two of the finest programs in all of college sports as they chase national championships while much of the SEC has none or just a few months.

It's a good thing to remember if the typical November collapse rolls around in football. Basketball will have already started a push toward a deep run in March and baseball will be about 12 weeks from trying to put together another run to Omaha.

It's a blessing to have boosters who see the value Arkansas fans get from that rather than pouring all their resources wastefully into one player out of 22 who may never step on the field or transfer before he develops. Keep that in mind as the greatest pitcher in college baseball, Hagen Smith, takes the mound for the Razorbacks today in the Fayetteville Regional winner's bracket.

HOGS FEED:

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• Razorbacks ride offense to topsy-turvy win over SEMO to open regional

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