Mike Gundy Reveals OSU's Potential NIL Struggles
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy has adapted to the times. He wants to utilize the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness.
Now, the current state of college athletics feels somewhat of a professional league, though there's no rulebook or salary cap on how programs can spend NIL funds to build their roster. Some upper-tier programs are spending up to $20 million to construct their rosters.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys don't have the history or blue-blood status that their in-state rivals Oklahoma Sooners have. They're having to compete with a program with a richer history and more resources in recruiting battles.
So, the Cowboys are used to recruiting and bringing in underground talents. They're used to thriving with under-the-radar recruits and strong development in Stillwater. The same goes for linebacker Obi Ezeigbo, a Division II transfer from Gannon University.
Ezeigbo got plenty of run on Saturday as the Cowboys routed the Arkansas Razorbacks 39-31 in a two-overtimes contest. He did so because star defender Collin Oliver went down with an injury that will keep him out for an extended period of time.
What did Gundy see in Ezeigbo in the transfer portal?
“Do you want me to go back into coach talk or do you want the truth? He was very inexpensive," Gundy revealed. "The number of players that we go after that were ready to play at this level, we can’t afford.”
Money wasn't quite the only reason, though. Ezeigbo has a from capable of being developed, alongside his potential talent. The money involved did play a role, though.
"So that's why he ended up here in my opinion. So we saw some things that we felt like we could develop we thought we could develop into a good player at this level, and it wasn't going to cost us the money we didn't have," Gundy continued.
Ezeigbo did enough to get on Oklahoma State's radar, though it came down to being resourceful with what the program had to offer in terms of NIL. They've got to distribute their money across a large roster to ensure they're rounded at every position -- they can't make a splash in every position group.
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Kade has been covering a wide variety of teams ranging from the NFL to the NBA and college athletics since joining Sports Illustrated's On SI in 2022