Transfer portal has been ‘all NIL,’ Fran McCaffery says

IOWA CITY — As Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery and his staff seek players in the transfer portal, opportunities for athletes to profit off name, image and likeness have been a crucial factor.

The portal is “all NIL,” McCaffery said. “That’s what it is.”

Iowa’s staff chooses to “address it directly” with prospective recruits.

“A lot of the guys you talk to — they’ll say NIL is not a big part of this decision,” McCaffery said. “And most of the time, they’re telling the truth. But they have an expectation that it’s going to be a part of the decision.”

As Iowa vets transfer portal players, an athlete’s financial intentions are now a factor.

“You try to determine, OK, who’s doing this for one reason and one reason only? And that’s money?” McCaffery said. “Who is hoping to get some money as a result of ‘I pick the right place, and I have the perfect fit.’”

Iowa has tried recruiting the latter of those two groups.

The Hawkeyes theoretically benefit from McCaffery’s recent track record of sending players to the NBA.

Three players — Keegan Murray, Joe Wieskamp and Luka Garza — have been drafted in the last two years, and Kris Murray is projected to be a first-round pick this year.

“It should help immeasurably, but there are certain things that will trump all the things that typically would go into making a sound decision,” McCaffery said.

McCaffery has seen “disgraceful” actions from some agents amid the NCAA’s laissez-faire approach to NIL and the transfer portal.

“The thing that I think is really bad is that there are agents actually shopping mid-major players before they go in the portal and convincing them to go in the portal,” McCaffery said.

The NCAA, McCaffery said, “screwed this thing up completely” and is “not able to try to fix it.”

“I think it’s too late,” McCaffery said. “I don’t think you can cap one’s ability to make money off your name, image and likeness.”

Some teams have a “rather large salary cap essentially” because of robust NIL infrastructure.

“They could buy a team,” McCaffery said.

Iowa, meanwhile, tries to “keep doing business as usual and try to get who you can get.”

“If somebody’s going to outspend you, they’re going to outspend you.”

Iowa has lost guard Ahron Ulis and center Josh Ogundele via the portal, but also added former Valparaiso forward Ben Krikke earlier this week.

“Obviously we’re in the market,” said McCaffery, who cannot publicly comment on Krikke yet. “We’ve had some success, so we’ll just keep plugging away.”

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