Once again CBS Sports presents our annual Candid Coaches series, which spotlights relevant topics and issues in men’s college basketball. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander polled roughly 100 coaches in recent weeks on a variety of subjects. Coaches spoke on background and were provided anonymity to offer unfiltered opinions. This is the second installment in our 2025 survey.
The House Settlement that took effect this summer generated a lot of money for attorneys and also returned something akin to recruiting regulations to college athletics. In theory, each Division I athletic department now has up to $20.5 million to spend on athletes however it sees fit. In theory, name, image and likeness deals that were more or less unlimited in recent years are now supposed to be scrutinized with anything that looks more like pay-for-play than actual NIL disallowed.
In other words, there are rules again.
The days of coaches getting a group of boosters to stack money so that they can deliver it to a prospect in exchange for nothing more than his commitment are supposed to be over. But are they? With that in mind, Matt Norlander and I decided to ask more than 100 college coaches the following question:
Assuming there now is what amounts to a salary cap in college athletics, do you trust that your competitors will recruit within the rules?
No:Â 89%
Yes: 11%
Quotes that stood out
From coaches who answered “No.”
“I do not trust that most high-level competitors will stay within the rules. There is too much at stake. Personally, I would rather it be that way. It allowed opposing coaches to know who they were recruiting against and make the decision to stay involved or not.””No. That has never happened.””Absolutely not. I don’t think there’s one coach who’s going to say we’re going to follow the pillars of the NCAA constitution, get the f-ck out of here.””No, everybody will attempt to be as creative as they can to skirt the rules…..
