COOPER GOES PRO

I don’t mean to be rude, but what the hell are you going on about? The guy’s value will literally never be higher than it is right now. Heck, he can win Olympic gold in LA in 3 years and he wouldn’t command more money, but he would have lost out on the 700K-1M annual for the years he chose to run dual meets vs. 2 minute guys.

And btw, there’s no guarantee he improves and is even worth half of what he is right now. An injury could wipe everything away tomorrow.

In no world, if you’re getting sound advice, do you not strike while this iron is red hot. He just changed the trajectory of the rest of his life. Sheesh

Why should Track All Access not report the news? Why does Nike get to impose an “embargo” on news?

Because he can’t get into college. He has two years left of high school. This isn’t that hard guys. He just got paid more money than 99% of this board has ever seen and there’s no guarantee he will get that in a few years.

In any other sport this is the route. Tennis, basketball, soccer, etc. You put on the pro uniform as soon as you’re able. Cooper Flagg reclassed to get to college earlier so he could get to the nba earlier. And if the rule wasn’t in place, he would have skipped that one year at Duke.

But our fans want kids to go to college so we can watch them run the DMR at ncaas. What is wrong with these people.

I said what you said in my post, just simpler. All I’m saying is that he and his coach seemed to still want to maintain the high school experience for his last two years

And as I said, it’s the right thing to do, especially because Texas doesn’t allow NIL.

Yep, that’s what I’m saying.

Tough to go back to running against high schoolers after USAs. He can become a side show like Quincy Wilson and travel the earth running national meets. We'll find out a lot in Tokyo. If the kid can run well and make finals, then it is full indication that his coach can work magic and the young man has a talent that overcomes everything that is against him going into that level of meet with such little experience, traveling to the other end of the earth, having a long season, dealing with the physicality of international racing, etc. Good luck to him!

Why are your panties all in a bunch? Why’d you remove the first half of my comment, where I’m saying why it makes sense for him to go pro? I’m not the one who said he should stay with HS competition, HE DID. His coach did. Why are you mad at me? 😂

Especially with Texas, not allowing NIL, this makes more sense than ever. Nike wins, and gets one of the best marketing stories of the century. And he gets to capitalize off of a historical performance which may never happen again.

People downvoting you clearly don’t understand how running contracts work. You’re likely far closer to the real number than he is. Although the contract may be a lot shorter than that, with many more performance reductions.

This is insane if true. What, did Nike want to announce it first?

Kid is worth $1 million+ per year and I hope he didn't settle for much less. IMO there is a greater than 90% chance he breaks the world record in the next 2 to 3 years and becomes the GOAT middle distance runner for many years to come.

Not being able to run in college is the only unfortunate aspect of this and in the end if he ever wants to run for a college team, say when he’s peaked a little earlier like 28/29, he can get a good lawyer, maybe the same one that Robinson guy got to get out of his navy commission, bend a rule here and there, find a loop hole here or there and attend college as a 29 year old freshman.

Because you’re, in your words, puzzled that he went pro.

Three short weeks ago his entire life changed so dramatically and we should assume info is coming at them fast and furious. There’s nothing at all to be puzzled about and those involved in the sport knew this was coming even before Paul Moser was hugging him trackside.
There is absolutely nothing to be puzzled about here.

This is logical and was so obviously coming.

And for those who are bummed that he won’t be setting more HS records or spending a year or two in college, well, I don’t even know where to begin with you all.

being in Texas necessitated this. He doesn't come from money, and you just can't pass up the kind of envelope that was handed to him. No matter what happens, he can continue to work with his HS friends and do the things hs kids do with their friends. Hopefully he can keep it normal for at least another year.

don't be a kid, wasting time doing moron stuff.

be a man and develop yourself, do your own thing,

college is rubbing shoulders with a people that don't know what they're doing, and have horrendous habits.

the average american man has the brain of a 14 year old. and obese.

go your own way, and borrow from people like Jim Ryun if it resonates.

it's not too complicated, don't do stupid things.

Where do you come up with $700k/year? Nike will pay him $75k base with bonuses for making teams, records, medals, etc. x 4 years (potentially 2 or 6 years in this case, around the Olympic cycle). He’ll get stipends, gear, and be required to race a certain amount of times each year and be at specific Nike sponsored events. In no world is he making $700k-1 million a year. No way. Not even close.

Uhh no.

He’ll only be remembered for HS times if he doesn’t improve after graduation. Ryun ran tremendous times in HS, but is mostly remembered for his pair of 3:51s, his 1500m WR and his adventures in the Olympics. LV’s, Webbs’s and Kessler’s records are rarely discussed on LR. Only very serious fans will be aware of indoor times and a 1500m record.

What place does have infrastructure for kids like this? Or has kids like this? We only have kid like this

Same posters were all excited for Kessler to go pro. He had a couple years of only racing a couple times a year and displayed a compete disaster for race tactics. His improvement curve was stunted. He was “too good” to race ncaa, but really he wasn’t. Sure Cooper gets paid, but let’s not pretend this is the best development environment for him as a person or runner.