re: Who is going to be the NIL benefactor for the LSU men's basketball program?

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If you look at how he's come up in the biz it makes sense. Before he got here he only had one year as an assistant at a major college. App st, UNC-Wilmington, and Murray weren't doing a lot of big time recruiting battles.

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You could say the same thing about Wade. Harvard > VCU(asst) > Chattanooga > VCU (head coach) > LSU.

I think the difference is that Wade came up as a manager/grad assistant under Oliver Purnell at Clemson, who wasn't afraid to get a little dirty. Whereas McMahon played and coached for Buzz Peterson who...well...never really won anything except the friend lottery by rooming with Michael Jordan in college.

That said, I can't think there is a HC in America who doesn't recognize just how important NIL is. Now, it is possible McMahon hasn't fully embraced the perpetual free-agency nature of it and wants to operate his program more like a mid-major where young guys are expected to work and develop over the course of multiple years. That could be true. But I think he knows he has to play the game in order to restock the roster every year.