Bob Driscoll on NIL, the latest round of conference realignment, and the future of the Big East
PC's Athletic Director shares how Providence is addressing "seismic" rule changes that have taken place this year.
A decision that seemed inevitable for years came to fruition earlier this summer after the Supreme Court essentially forced the NCAA’s hand by upholding a decision that the NCAA was violating antitrust law by placing restrictions on the benefits student-athletes can receive.
A week and a half after Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote, “The NCAA is not above the law,” the NCAA’s board of directors suspended their rules prohibiting athletes from selling their name, image, and likeness (NIL). While the debate regarding NIL and college athletes profiting had been bandied back and forth for seemingly decades, it was apparent this day was coming. It just all came together in a hurry in late June.
The posturing started soon after. Alabama head coach Nick Saban started talking about quarterback Bryce Young (with all of 22 career passing attempts to his name) already earning nearly seven figures in sponsorship opportunities. LSU football coach Ed Orgeron was a little more direct, when he reportedly told boosters, “We’re paying players now. So, if you guys want to start paying our players, you can go ahead.”
The numbers will certainly be astronomical for the superstars of the SEC, but what does this mean for Providence College and its student-athletes? How will this decision impact the future of the basketball program? Will Providence get swallowed up by bigger schools, or could there possibly be an advantage to being the big fish in the small pond that is Rhode Island?
We likely won’t be able to answer these questions for another year, likely more, but Providence is already taking steps to benefit its student-athletes.
Roughly a month after the NIL news broke, PC announced a partnership with Opendorse to “assist Providence College student-athletes with education, protection, and the monetization of their Name, Images, and Likeness (NIL).” Opendorse’s other clients include powerhouses like LSU, Ohio State, Louisville, Maryland, Illinois, Creighton, Clemson, Florida, Texas, and countless other high major programs.
“We were doing our research in terms of companies that could actually help us in the process,” Providence Athletic Director Bob Driscoll explained in an interview late last week. “We looked at about ten different companies. We put together a group, interviewed them, and we ended up with Opendorse, which I think is one of the best, if not the best in the country.”
Opendorse will work with Providence’s athletes to help them understand their value and how they can go about monetizing their name, image, and likeness. They will provide coaching on branding and set up workshops on campus to help guide students through this change.
“Opendorse has companies they work with, so student-athletes can go online, fill out their profile, and they can link up to pretty much any of these companies that are interested. Companies are reaching out to students through this platform, and it is up to the student to manage their own brand.”
Providence is also working with its students on managing their brand, and partnering with sponsors who represent both the student-athletes and the college well. While Opendorse has its network, student-athletes are also able to seek out their own opportunities.
Providence has a policy that details the parameters the college has in place, but Driscoll sounds as though he is entrusting PC’s student-athletes to make good decisions: “We have a policy that we put together that outlines some of the things they can’t do -- obviously, we don’t want them advertising with alcohol or things that go against what the college believes in, but it’s not a long list. There is a lot of latitude, but part of that is understanding your brand and what you want to be associated with.
“Hopefully a student will come to us and say, ‘Hey, listen, I’ve got this opportunity. What do you think?’ instead of going off on their own…We want to give them as much autonomy as possible, but also educate them on being careful on what you put your name to.”
Some Providence basketball players have already taken advantage of this rule change. Driscoll noted senior center Nate Watson’s half a million followers on TikTok and Al Durham’s clothing line. Yet, for as much education that student-athletes are undergoing about this change, it is imperative that Providence’s coaching staffs have a game plan ready when they are inevitably asked by the families of recruits what the Friars are doing to help students maximize their potential.
“We have one of the best platforms in the country with Opendorse, which I think speaks volumes,” Driscoll answered when asked how Providence will address these questions while recruiting. “It’s more expensive than some of the other ones, but I’m willing to invest in that.
“We have something we are launching this fall called Friars Edge, which is really about educating our student-athletes in all aspects, whether it’s financial literacy, public speaking, mental health, maximizing your brand, resume writing, or interview skills.”
There may eventually be opportunities for Providence’s athletes to have paid internships that will not only get them a decent salary while in school, but lead to job opportunities upon graduation.
Providence’s pitch will, in many ways, remain consistent from a basketball perspective: get a great education, play in one of the best basketball conferences in the country, and be part of a tight-knit community.
There is also the potential, in this era of athletes controlling their own narrative, that Providence’s athletes could seek their own media opportunities -- which is a change Driscoll is embracing: “If it helps other student-athletes and it’s done properly I think it’s a positive. The more faces of our program that can get out and do this, I think it helps us. We’ve got to give up some of that control and be okay with it, and I’m really okay with it. I think we’ve had the wraps on them far too long, and I’m actually pretty excited. A lot of people are nervous about it, but I’m thinking this is going to be a good thing if we can educate our young people. I have confidence that they are smart, they know what they are going to do. Some people are going to make mistakes, but I’m okay with that.”
Of course, the NIL rules aren’t the only significant changes impacting college athletics this year. College basketball will be greatly impacted by the new rule allowing first-time transfers to start playing without sitting out a year. Then there was the news that shocked the college football world with Texas and Oklahoma turning on the Big 12 for the SEC.
Driscoll called the Texas and Oklahoma move a “seismic shift” -- one that reiterated how fortunate he feels that the Big East realigned with basketball-centric schools in 2013. The league’s athlete directors met in August. “Our conversations are about how do we continue playing in Madison Square Garden indefinitely. How do we negotiate our contract with Fox moving forward? And how do we continue to get the talent in the Big East to be able to compete for national championships and units?” Driscoll said.
“I think the league has gotten better. If you look at Georgetown, who we needed to get better, St. John’s has gotten better. UConn is going to be a dominant figure in this league -- we’ve had some success, but now we’ve plateaued a little bit, we’ve got to get better.”
Driscoll speaks of continuity, alignment, and trust when talking about this iteration of the Big East, something that is lacking from the “power” football conferences: “When it completely becomes about money, it’s completely bottom line, and you’ve lost why we do what we do.”