The coach isn't the problem as much as the funding is the problem. Coaches like Calipari and May chose not to come to OSU because the roster funding was better elsewhere. OSU football is the priority for roster funding. OSU men's basketball absolutely is in a position where the coach has to take some gambles on high upside players to make up for not being able to buy the best players.
I don't think that I would go that far. They can get one star per season like Anthony Thompson or Bruce Thornton, and when those stars come they do get enhanced. Bruce Thornton developed really well over 4 years, he was getting better and better every season. But they will not have a team of stars. They have to win with building good teams that work together and doing well scouting, projecting and developing guys that aren't the highest end recruits.
well... right... i understand that the funding isn't there, obviously.
NIL is based on wealthy donors contributing to the program. Duke has a ton of NBA guys, so does Kentucky, UNC, Kansas. OSU doesn't have that many former NBA guys to kick in to NIL. Some other programs might not have a rich history of pros, but they might have other rich donors instead who have fortunes from big oil or big tech. OSU has Les Wexner, who apparently has no interest in contributing to NIL, and no other billionaire donors. Most college athletic departments don't make money, and even OSU's profits are limited, we're talking $5M to $20M profit per year, and it's variable. Ideally the athletic department would cut down on costs and find a way to invest more in NIL, but that's not what higher education does, everything always gets bigger and more expensive. So they have to rely on wealthy donors, who aren't all that plentiful.
