Do Blanks and Wolfe go pro?

Blanks already has a NIL deal and from what I can gather is very serious about academics. I would say he comes back for senior year. Parker does not have an NIL deal yet. He could just sign a pro contract instead and move on if he knows that’s where his future lies. I could definitely see Nike in his future with his coaching connections. I might make sense for him to move on as his stock is extremely high at the moment.

Blanks could pull a Gabby Thomas and go pro before senior year

He wouldnt be losing out on scholarship $

And after the coaching debacle at the trials he may very well go pro. Why not?

I think if Blanks would go pro, he would stay enrolled at Harvard to complete his degree. His parents have really stressed how important academics are, so I don't think dropping out altogether is in the equation.

I got the impression from his previous interviews on how team-oriented his mindset is, so I think he would have to be a REALLY generous pro contract if he were to drop his NCAA eligibility. Also, I think he's motivated to try to get back into NCAA title contentions after losing so much of 2024 due to injury (he's very competitive).

Just my two cents.

Coaching debacle?

I think he means for Parker Wolfe, as Wolfe was told by his coach that a top 3 would guarantee himself a spot on Team USA (forgetting about the time qualifier or world rankings)

I bet Parker will go pro. Heard a podcast where more or less said he was not a "school guy".

That may have been Wolfe's best opportunity to make the Olympics in his life, and UNC blew it for him.

If so, this is when he should turn pro. His stock is all time high. He just finished 3rd at the trials, won the NCAA 5k over favorite Nico Young. He may be waiting on Nike but he should probably align with an agent and just go pro. Samuel and Blanks are true XC strength guys and will be tough to beat in the fall. He could probably win another ncaa track title but is it worth it? Might make more sense to just go pro and start working towards worlds next year.

That’s exactly what I meant

No it’s was a very weak year

As a princeton alum whose brother and father are Yale alums, let me chime in here as I can reveal some inside info.

The alums of Yale and Princeton are currently in the process of raising $1 million for Blanks to go pro.

The value proposition is easy. Yale alums know they will never win an Ivy xc title but they are fine with sucking at sports as long as Harvard doesn't win as well. And Princeton alums are spoiled and think it's a travesty if they don't win every year.

It's really a rare win-win-win. Blanks gets rich, Princeton wins another ivy title and Yale doesn't have to see Harvard win anything. The only loser in this situation is coach Alex Gibby. He's a smart guy however and in the process of trying to raise $1.5 million from Harvard alums to give to Blanks to continue to commpete for Harvard.

I'm joking people.

But I was recently thinking about money and it's influence in our sport. Would it be illegal for Parker Valby to approach Whitni Morgan and say, "Hey you want to go to the Olympics? Give me $50k or I'm going to run both the 5k and 10k."

After 2010-2017 finding about their classes for athletes it makes sense for a non school guy to attend UNC. So this checks out.

Blanks is a few credits away from a Harvard degree. no way he walks away from that.

My guess is Wolfe goes pro this summer and Blanks makes one more run at NCAA XC to defend his title and goes pro in the new year but remains at Harvard (similar to Gabby Thomas). I think an XC title is more valuable to him from a team perspective than any track title would and it would let him set up his track season nicely going into 2025 Worlds with no trying to peak for indoor NCAAs

Do we think he'll plagiarize any of his work?

Talking about Robert's family at the top of this post has got me thinking. I wonder who Rojo would have been if he was born 500 years ago?

I'm down to 2 possibilities. Option 1 he had all the fortune and privilege of birth in merry old England and inherited a minor title in the aristocracy. Then, after generation after generation of careful financial management and diplomacy he blows the family fortune in one go, losing it slowly over several years of poor choices at the card table. And he trades their horde of gold for a jar of magic beans to get it back.

Option 2 he takes his family's money and sets himself up as an explorer searching for the new world, gets lost, but after some good fortune he becomes the first man to sail to the moon in the year 1524. Arise, Sir Robert of Dyslexia.

Let's Joust just didn't seem to catch on.