Name Image Likeness

Nevada Basketball Coach Steve Alford Takes Aim At NIL, Transfer Portal Set Up

Steve Alford took aim at the current NIL and transfer portal set up following Nevada's loss in the Mountain West Tournament.

Brad Wakai

Feb 4, 2025; Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; Nevada Wolf Pack head coach Steve Alford in the first half against the Air Force Falcons at Clune Arena
Feb 4, 2025; Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; Nevada Wolf Pack head coach Steve Alford in the first half against the Air Force Falcons at Clune Arena / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
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College basketball has changed a ton over the last five years, and it probably is almost unrecognizable for current Nevada head coach Steve Alford compared to when he starred at Indiana University from 1983-87.

If name, image and likeness was around when Alford played, it's safe to say he would have been one of the highest-paid athletes in college sports.

Not only was he an elite player for the Hoosiers, becoming their all-time leading scorer before his total was eclipsed, earning two First Team All-American selections and three First Team All-Big Ten honors, he was also a national champion in 1987 and had the look that every company would have loved to make the face of their brand.

Alford was a living legend, and even though his professional career didn't turn out like many expected, he is still viewed favorably in the college game, especially when it comes to his coaching acumen.

That's why what he said about the transfer portal in this new NIL era should be listened to intently.

"Five years ago, I wasn't in the conversation saying, 'how much do you want to be paid?' Never thought that would happen in college basketball. And I've always been a big proponent of as the game and money has evolved and changed, I've never been one that said I don't believe student-athletes shouldn't be paid. But the way it is now is ridiculous. It's utterly ridiculous, and it's changed out game," he stated.

Alford isn't alone in that thinking.

Many coaches who have been vocal about players getting paid what they're worth are starting to sour on how things are set up.

Players will be able to hit the transfer portal after the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, a completely ridiculous timeline when it comes to the appropriateness of player movement and how coaches have to handle that when the game's biggest event is still taking place.

"Every handshake I have now before games, that's brought up. Every game, me and the opposing coach are going to talk about portal issues ... You're gonna replace eight, nine guys to a roster every year," Alford added.

It's a frustrating thing, and he brought up how academics have now taken a backseat when it comes go college athletics.

Alford lamented what name, image and likeness has become, calling out the model.

"I don't like our model at all ... I don't like the model that we currently have because it's not name, image and likeness. That's not what it is ... Most of them are getting what they're getting before they ever produce. You should have to produce, then you receive. It's a bad lesson, and we shouldn't be sending kids off to college, academically or in our profession, to teach them bad models for when they’re 25 and 26," he stated.

It was a pointed statement from the 60-year-old who has spent virtually his entire life involved in the game of basketball.

If decision makers don't listen to the voices of people like Alford, a prominent current coach and former player, then there is no hope for things to get figured out so NIL can become a sustainable model for everyone involved.

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Brad Wakai
BRAD WAKAI

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