“I got some messages from Tallahassee from people that were there, various agents, they were like, This is crazy, there are 50 coaches in a lobby willing to talk to Kenyans.”
‒agent Davor Savija talking to Letsun.com about how the college coaches were lined up in the lobby at the World XC Champs in Tallahassee begging the Kenyans at World XC to run for them.
“I got some messages from Tallahassee from people that were there, various agents, they were like, This is crazy, there are 50 coaches in a lobby willing to talk to Kenyans.”
‒agent Davor Savija talking to Letsun.com about how the college coaches were lined up in the lobby at the World XC Champs in Tallahassee begging the Kenyans at World XC to run for them.
and you are shocked by this? I am shocked they waited until they got back to the hotel I would have thought they would have been all over them at the course
I was thinking that watching the junior race - pretty sure I saw some college coaches on the stream. It would be cheaper and you would get better runners than USA based runners sadly.
Like think about Oregon - get like Marta or something, boom NCAA champion. Posted this watching the race - "Marta you are an Oregon duck - $50k NIL waiting for you!"
and you are shocked by this? I am shocked they waited until they got back to the hotel I would have thought they would have been all over them at the course
I'm not surprised. I was thinking about it at the venue and expected to hear reports like this. There were lots of coaches there. I mentioned in a different thread that I got confused for a coach several times. Twice I had somebody come right up to me and began addressing me as if it were a given that I was a coach.
We have seen American coaches attend European Cross Country Championships and try to persuade youngsters to give their programs a look. But that's the old fashioned method, with minimal gain. It's the same as attending junior golf events.
Prioritizing Kenyans has exponentially greater upside and can transform a program in a hurry. It fits with the quick-fix methods like the portal in college football, or even with college track programs who load up on grad transfer blue chip talent.
Besides, if you were a coach at that meet who would you be looking at, the waves of talent near the front, or those gasping for breath with hair wet and stringy from humidity deep in the pack?
Did anyone also notice a former California hs coach offering his expert coaching. Surely these young athletes would want to get advised by the very best
I was thinking that watching the junior race - pretty sure I saw some college coaches on the stream. It would be cheaper and you would get better runners than USA based runners sadly.
Like think about Oregon - get like Marta or something, boom NCAA champion. Posted this watching the race - "Marta you are an Oregon duck - $50k NIL waiting for you!"
They can’t pay foreign athletes directly. They’d have to have Nike in Europe or South America pay them.
this is no different than college basketball coaches lurking around AAU games or college football coaches standing on the sidelines of the All American Bowl.
the only difference is its Kenyans instead of American high schoolers.
college recruiting is a merciless cutthroat business and coaches, especially ones whose contracts are about to expire, would sell their own mother for a blue chip athlete.
and don't forget pretty much every college coach gets a bonus for each runner who becomes an all-American. just one top Kenyan can buy a coach a new deck and braces for their kids.
This post was edited 5 minutes after it was posted.
Wait, is nobody else thinking that the quote and context right before this is the funniest part? He said:
"If somebody goes to the US two years too early, they are most probably not going to succeed in the US. But if they go to the US at the right age and the right training volume, then probably they will succeed in the US. And many of these kids are going to the US, respectfully, way too early."
This, in reference to the athletes being recruited by coaches at... World Juniors? Where the age limit is U20, also known as... Normal college age? It's hilarious that this agent is pretty overtly just being like yeah, not all the Kenyans pan out in the NCAA if they're not ready. You know if you send them over there when they're just 18, like all the incoming freshmen from the US, they won't be ready for the training. Sometimes it's best to wait until they're a 22 year-old freshman.
This just makes the lack of age regulation in the NCAA feel so silly. In principle, I actually don't have much of an issue with athletes coming from foreign countries to raise the bar for our best American runners. But the agents OPENLY admitting that it's best to wait a few years for the kenyans to really be able to beat up on true freshmen shows that the NCAA is in a ridiculous place right now.
and you are shocked by this? I am shocked they waited until they got back to the hotel I would have thought they would have been all over them at the course
I'm not surprised. I was thinking about it at the venue and expected to hear reports like this. There were lots of coaches there. I mentioned in a different thread that I got confused for a coach several times. Twice I had somebody come right up to me and began addressing me as if it were a given that I was a coach.
We have seen American coaches attend European Cross Country Championships and try to persuade youngsters to give their programs a look. But that's the old fashioned method, with minimal gain. It's the same as attending junior golf events.
Prioritizing Kenyans has exponentially greater upside and can transform a program in a hurry. It fits with the quick-fix methods like the portal in college football, or even with college track programs who load up on grad transfer blue chip talent.
Besides, if you were a coach at that meet who would you be looking at, the waves of talent near the front, or those gasping for breath with hair wet and stringy from humidity deep in the pack?
Confused for a coach? Were you wearing a baseball cap?
If there were 50 coaches in that lobby, there was likely 250 agents crawling around the joint.
At least the coaches are offering a great American education, health care for a few years, mentorship, meals, housing and likely some cold, hard cash. It’s a dream for these kids.
The agents on the other hand will just take at a minimum 15% of every penny these youngsters make on their tiny shoe contracts and treat them more or less like crap.
If there were 50 coaches in that lobby, there was likely 250 agents crawling around the joint.
At least the coaches are offering a great American education, health care for a few years, mentorship, meals, housing and likely some cold, hard cash. It’s a dream for these kids.
The agents on the other hand will just take at a minimum 15% of every penny these youngsters make on their tiny shoe contracts and treat them more or less like crap.
They can’t offer cash unless they have a way to pay it from abroad. It would violate terms of a student Visa
Thats how to win champs. In 2017 Nike's last CEO announced at the shareholder's Nike is moving back to a centralized L.A. location from hundreds of rural small towns its Marketing, Branding, Film, TV, Photography, Design, Creative, Arts, Design stars a team of best, brightest, most innovative, filmmakers, performers, and thinkers.
The spectacular, mind blowing Nike Icon Studios opened in 2020 next to a now fully operational Light Rail Station. It cost $Billions to win a position at that location. Netflix, Amazon, Bollywood Film from India, Saudi Arabia, Apple Film Studios, MLS, etc. all bid for that lot.
I think Nike earned a chance to bid for the 2028 Marathon Trials at Hollywood, Santa Monica, Culver City, nearby Nike Icon Studios.
Wait, is nobody else thinking that the quote and context right before this is the funniest part? He said:
"If somebody goes to the US two years too early, they are most probably not going to succeed in the US. But if they go to the US at the right age and the right training volume, then probably they will succeed in the US. And many of these kids are going to the US, respectfully, way too early."
This, in reference to the athletes being recruited by coaches at... World Juniors? Where the age limit is U20, also known as... Normal college age? It's hilarious that this agent is pretty overtly just being like yeah, not all the Kenyans pan out in the NCAA if they're not ready. You know if you send them over there when they're just 18, like all the incoming freshmen from the US, they won't be ready for the training. Sometimes it's best to wait until they're a 22 year-old freshman.
This just makes the lack of age regulation in the NCAA feel so silly. In principle, I actually don't have much of an issue with athletes coming from foreign countries to raise the bar for our best American runners. But the agents OPENLY admitting that it's best to wait a few years for the kenyans to really be able to beat up on true freshmen shows that the NCAA is in a ridiculous place right now.
Yeah. Really good post and point. It’s crazy they these internationals can wait until they are the “right” age if they want to. Americans don’t get that option. The age issue is a bigger equity deal than the number of Kenyan or foreign athletes (although I find both concerning).