I don’t doubt that it’s true, but I’ve struggled to find any other sources for this besides them.
On one hand, it makes sense–he’s more than good enough, and Texas doesn’t allow NIL stuff with highschoolers.
On the other hand, he and his coach have talked repeatedly about how he wants to stay a highschooler, and do all the high school competition things.
Puzzling. But I imagine things change when Nike throws a bag of money at your kitchen table.
He’s far too good to run in HS meets. He improved a HS 800m record that had stood for almost 20 years, by over 4 seconds. The equivalent times for the mile and 5000m are 3:45 and 12:46. Would such a distance runner compete in HS?
His family is probably middle income so the contract will result in a significant improvement in lifestyle, which would include buying a new house, a fancy car, etc. They won the lottery and should cash in.
I think he is competitive and wants to win. On any given day, he has a chance to win any race on the planet. I agree that racing the HS schedule and competition is not the way to be the best he can be. I’m sure the money is very nice, but I suspect that from his perspective, the main thing is that he needs the resources and freedom to do the training and racing that will prepare him to compete and win at the global level- not “someday” but right now.
Not to be too cynical, but many of those around him won't have his best interests at heart. Nike doesn't, his agent doesn't. Coach and parents are the only ones who would meet that burden, and thankfully they all seem to have their heads screwed on straight -- as does Cooper. Unfortunately that hasn't always been the case with these high school phenoms.
What makes you think his agent doesn’t have Cooper’s best interests at heart? Do you believe he left something on the table when negotiating the contract, or wrongly influenced him to go pro? What did Nike do wrong?
Because he is an agent. They have their best interests at heart.
It’s with Nike…why not go the ncaa route, get a big NIL deal with Nike, d!ck around for a couple years (he could only race a couple times per year), and then go pro? Running 1:42 means he could go anywhere for free - 2 Nike schools in particular
I had hoped he wouldn't go pro, but I get it. I bet Nike is guaranteeing him at least $10 million over the next 10 years with large bonuses for Olympic gold medals and WRs. This is just a drop in the bucket to Nike.
Great. Now we can expect him to race twice a year and wonder why his race tactics are bad. Fans lose. No ncaa. No friends. Just doing lonely workouts on an empty track. Nike will force him to leave his high school coach and some other coach will waste his talents. At least he gets paid, but watching Drew Hunter 2.0 play out again is going to be unbearable.
Be a kid for as long as you can, run with other kids. At least three NCAA years enjoying the college experience.
Entering the work world at 22 is how you do it.
There’s no one that can compete with him in college or HS. Hopefully they don’t pressure him to run a set number of meets. If he had the option between the max they would pay him or a lesser offer (still in the 100s of thousands) with more flexibility, I hope he took the offer with more flexibility. There’s just no point in running any hs or college meet. He can still go to their practices which was basically all he’d be doing before anyways
Great. Now we can expect him to race twice a year and wonder why his race tactics are bad. Fans lose. No ncaa. No friends. Just doing lonely workouts on an empty track. Nike will force him to leave his high school coach and some other coach will waste his talents. At least he gets paid, but watching Drew Hunter 2.0 play out again is going to be unbearable.
This is not Drew Hunter 2.0. Drew Hunter had horrendous mechanics, absolutely fighting his body every stride, which is why he has been unsuccessful. Everyone that knows the sport sees Cooper's gift, at his size and power, the kid is silent on the track. His feet don't make a sound. Effortless. No fighting body at all.
Would have liked to see him run one more year of HS. Would have added a number of other records including the 1000m indoor and 1500m outdoor marks.
Cannot criticize Lutkenhaus for cashing in though. The money is there now and there is always the possibility of injury (however remote).
Best of luck to this kid. He's a pleasure too watch compete.
Yes I agree it would be fun to see more high school records be set. But isn’t it kind of strange that we value HS records rather than age records. Is there something about being a HS student that makes us value HS records? A pro Cooper can still set age records, and those probably are more meaningful (with clearer criteria and rationale) than HS records.
Would have liked to see him run one more year of HS. Would have added a number of other records including the 1000m indoor and 1500m outdoor marks.
Cannot criticize Lutkenhaus for cashing in though. The money is there now and there is always the possibility of injury (however remote).
Best of luck to this kid. He's a pleasure too watch compete.
Yes I agree it would be fun to see more high school records be set. But isn’t it kind of strange that we value HS records rather than age records. Is there something about being a HS student that makes us value HS records? A pro Cooper can still set age records, and those probably are more meaningful (with clearer criteria and rationale) than HS records.
True. He will run age 17 and age 18 marks that will serve as HS marks. They simply won't be counted as HS records. I agree, it really does not matter.
Not to be too cynical, but many of those around him won't have his best interests at heart. Nike doesn't, his agent doesn't. Coach and parents are the only ones who would meet that burden, and thankfully they all seem to have their heads screwed on straight -- as does Cooper. Unfortunately that hasn't always been the case with these high school phenoms.
What makes you think his agent doesn’t have Cooper’s best interests at heart? Do you believe he left something on the table when negotiating the contract, or wrongly influenced him to go pro? What did Nike do wrong?
Ermmm, cuz he gets 20% of whatever Cooper makes? Of course the agents want the sure money now. They are like realtors in that respect, Always Be Closing.
I had hoped he wouldn't go pro, but I get it. I bet Nike is guaranteeing him at least $10 million over the next 10 years with large bonuses for Olympic gold medals and WRs. This is just a drop in the bucket to Nike.
$10M??? what are you smoking? Maybe $1M over 5 years with some extra bonuses. I don't think Nike will spend extra on a 16y/o versus a more proven 19-22y/o. Clearly Cooper is MASSIVELY talented, but he is still 16
Great. Now we can expect him to race twice a year and wonder why his race tactics are bad. Fans lose. No ncaa. No friends. Just doing lonely workouts on an empty track. Nike will force him to leave his high school coach and some other coach will waste his talents. At least he gets paid, but watching Drew Hunter 2.0 play out again is going to be unbearable.
This is not Drew Hunter 2.0. Drew Hunter had horrendous mechanics, absolutely fighting his body every stride, which is why he has been unsuccessful. Everyone that knows the sport sees Cooper's gift, at his size and power, the kid is silent on the track. His feet don't make a sound. Effortless. No fighting body at all.
I had hoped he wouldn't go pro, but I get it. I bet Nike is guaranteeing him at least $10 million over the next 10 years with large bonuses for Olympic gold medals and WRs. This is just a drop in the bucket to Nike.
$10M??? what are you smoking? Maybe $1M over 5 years with some extra bonuses. I don't think Nike will spend extra on a 16y/o versus a more proven 19-22y/o. Clearly Cooper is MASSIVELY talented, but he is still 16
Whatever it is get it into a trust Nike cannot take back.
Don't want to get "Ackman'ed" like GST did. I wouldn't trust Knight an Nike