Bentley

[Charleston Pony]

Everybody needs to Pony up if you want to compete. Don't leave it all up to our BMDs and then complain that we aren't competitive

[PerunaPunch]

So what happens when a student-athlete signs an NIL deal and then transfers? Really sucks for whatever organization invested in that student-athlete.

[redpony]

I would assume the NIL deal is null and void. I don't think the athlete gets his money up front. i.e. if a deal is for 4 years then it is paid out over that period of time.

[Charleston Pony]

So what happens when a student-athlete signs an NIL deal and then transfers? Really sucks for whatever organization invested in that student-athlete.

I would assume there are contracts in place and at the very least monthly payments would be stopped but if there are indemnity clauses, good luck ever getting reimbursed. If enough dollars are involved, I would think it would be pretty easy to at least take a judgment against the former player and potentially complicate things for him down the road.

Just another lesson in "business" for college athletes

[mustangxc]

Seems like a murky situation. On one hand, the student athletes are not paid to play. They are paid for their endorsement. However, a business could legitimately pay a student athlete to help promote their business locally and if that student athlete moves across the country and is no longer relevant to that local business, the business no longer has any use for the endorsement. I am thinking there needs to be some very clear legal language in these NIL contracts.

[JasonB]

Not everything comes down to money.

From what I recall from a couple years ago, Lashlee wants a power running game. Power spread. RB runs between the tackles. QB zone read is off tackle. And then the WR screen is your outside option. Bouncing a run outside from time to time is going to happen, but he is going to prefer RBs who are going to drive contact rather than just run away from it.

I would guess that UB doesn't want to be a change of pace back, he wants to be "the guy", and that is driving the change as much as anything else. It is too bad, and he will be missed.

[Charleston Pony]

Not everything comes down to money.

From what I recall from a couple years ago, Lashlee wants a power running game. Power spread. RB runs between the tackles. QB zone read is off tackle. And then the WR screen is your outside option. Bouncing a run outside from time to time is going to happen, but he is going to prefer RBs who are going to drive contact rather than just run away from it.

I would guess that UB doesn't want to be a change of pace back, he wants to be "the guy", and that is driving the change as much as anything else. It is too bad, and he will be missed.

Good point. He may have seen enough in spring ball to already decide he wasn't going to be happy with his role in this offense. I think Sonny already found a couple of transfer RBs so might not have room for Ulysses in Ft Worth. Will be interesting to see where he ends up

[birddogger]

Not everything comes down to money.

From what I recall from a couple years ago, Lashlee wants a power running game. Power spread. RB runs between the tackles. QB zone read is off tackle. And then the WR screen is your outside option. Bouncing a run outside from time to time is going to happen, but he is going to prefer RBs who are going to drive contact rather than just run away from it.

I would guess that UB doesn't want to be a change of pace back, he wants to be "the guy", and that is driving the change as much as anything else. It is too bad, and he will be missed.

JasonB, this is a plausible explanation if there are wholesale changes made to the running game, but it strikes me as odd that the staff would not try to fit the system to allow our best RB to ply his trade. I would think Coach Lashlee is more flexible and creative than to try to pigeonhole UB that way. I have no inside scoop or knowledge of what changes are coming, but UB isn't exactly a lightweight and should be able to run between the tackles as well as be a potent weapon on swing passes and as a safety valve. My two cents. Like I said before, we won't really know why he is leaving unless he says something about it, but a large NIL at Big State U could lend a clue.

[PerunaPunch]

JasonB, this is a plausible explanation if there are wholesale changes made to the running game, but it strikes me as odd that the staff would not try to fit the system to allow our best RB to ply his trade.

It always felt to me that UB was more effective as a change-of-pace ... after TJM wore down the D a bit. He is much more of a homerun threat than the other RBs on the roster for sure, but not a guy who will constantly get a couple of yards out of a busted or neutral play.

If I were in his shoes, if I were going to get 20 carries a game regardless, I'd want them after TJM, TL, or BE loosened things up a bit.

[Charleston Pony]

Bottom line is that this team has some guys who run pretty well between the tackles and with Bentley leaving, maybe the staff will be able to bring in another strong north/south guy

[SoCal_Pony]

Not everything comes down to money.

sure, but reality is MOST times it does.

This NIL is potentially the biggest change to college athletics in our lifetimes and I can't think of one school that could benefit more from it than SMU (and I mean where we are NOW vs. where we CAN be). Stanford could become a national force in all sports, Harvard certainly in BB.

We have the location, the school, the academics, the city, the money. What we need is an AD who has the vision, the people skills, the work ethic and tenacity to make it become a reality. Sadly I think our current AD has none of these qualities.

If the City of Dallas, its businesses and SMU truly had an NIL partnership, we could be a player again on the national level. That would be good for everyone, but especially SMU.

[Topper]

We will continue to see a lot of upperclassmen from all over the country who are proven commodities put themselves out to the highest bidders. Bentley might be just the missing ingredient to a roster somewhere on a team that will compete for a national title. I'm sorry to lose any player of his caliber, but perhaps he doesn't fit well enough with the new system to make it worth the money. I loved watching him play and maybe he will stay. He will be a big positive wherever he lands if he can put together a healthy season. I would love to see him stay but I am afraid that with the portal announcement it is a done deal.

[Charleston Pony]

We will continue to see a lot of upperclassmen from all over the country who are proven commodities put themselves out to the highest bidders. Bentley might be just the missing ingredient to a roster somewhere on a team that will compete for a national title. I'm sorry to lose any player of his caliber, but perhaps he doesn't fit well enough with the new system to make it worth the money. I loved watching him play and maybe he will stay. He will be a big positive wherever he lands if he can put together a healthy season. I would love to see him stay but I am afraid that with the portal announcement it is a done deal.

Guys jump into the portal for personal reasons but obviously for the chance to improve their personal situation, whether it's money, playing time, being closer to home or even educational opportunities. Bentley had enough success here that he should have plenty of opportunities; many more options than he had coming out of H.S. We can speculate all day long but if you aren't close to him or his personal situation, it's all just speculation and just gives us something to chat about on this forum. The off season can get boring since we don't have baseball, but at least our hoops team is still alive!

[shadowman]

Headed to Ole Miss. Hard to view this any other way than a recruiting job where Ole Miss needs a back and they went out and bought one.

[DC-Pony]

If that’s true that’s a head-scratcher of a location. Zach Evans already committed there from TCU. You’d expect each would aspire to be the primary ball carrier.

https://247sports.com/Player/Zach-Evans-94137/

Did Evans’s status change?