“But from my standpoint, the challenges that exist now are way different, way more challenging than anything that I’ve experienced in the 4 years that I’ve been here.” The UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma shared his brutal take on the NIL era after the Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Bennett called it a day. Auriemma too somewhat hinted at his retirement, opining that “There’s never been a time when this many things are changing.” The coaches especially Auriemma have had their own share of difficulties with the NIL and now, instead of taking the conversation toward his retirement, he has found a middle ground that can change things for the better according to him.

On Thursday’s media session with UConn at Sny, Auriemma provided an alternative to NIL that will keep the earnings of the student-athletes intact, but also help the coaches from the losses from multiple transfers.

“How to fix it? Well you know the NIL part, I think it’s a test. It’s a test for whether people are full of s–t or whether they are serious. It’s a test for, do we keep the charade of student-athlete and amateurism? Or do we call it what it is? You know, semi-professional, pay for play sports. So either, keep the charade of student-athlete… teams will be going three thousand miles for playing conference games if that had anything to do with student-athlete welfare,” Auriemma stated.

About 9 months ago, Auriemma had gone to rant against the former Seton Hall star Lauren Park-Lane. Park-Lane had been with Seton for four years but decided to use her extra year of eligibility with Mississippi State following the 2022-23 season, which did not sit well with Auriemma. He opined that it was an unfortunate event since the coach had “coached the hell out of and you just made them who they are…,” but according to him, the athlete thought “‘Yeah, well, I think I can make more money somewhere else.'”

“That’s number one… So, we obviously threw that in the garbage can. So let’s just call it what it is. We’re gonna pay these guys to play basketball, or play football, or to play any sport at a University. And then let’s make this a business and figure out how do we manage this business…. They sign kids to contract and you’re bound to your contract. And let’s honor the terms of the contract… So we become professional sports, let’s say it, and let’s act it. And let’s stop the charade. To portal, how about we teach the kids how to make a commitment and stick to it…. Let’s sign kids to a contract. Let’s put a buyout in it. Let’s make this a business…. That will fix it and let’s have a salary cap,” Auriemma concluded.

He condemned the player for what he said was a transitional mentality. And wished that the athlete acknowledged the staff’s efforts and paid her gratitude by continuing with the same team. “You wouldn’t have been this good if it wasn’t for your coaching staff that you have right now,” Auriemma enumerated before concluding that no coach his age “completely buys into all that.” However, the player as well as other stars had a completely different take on it.

Why do athletes transfer?: A take by other athletes and coaches

While Auriemma, and now Bennett, look to be really affected by the transfer and the NIL era, the Mississippi State strength coach Kaiti Jones exposed a different side of the reality. Jones pointed out that Park-Lane had transferred after completing her four years and wanted to “compete for championships, not a paycheck.” Thus, she clearly mentioned that athletes don’t usually do it for money but rather to fulfill their dream of getting their hand at the NCAA title.

Meanwhile, Angel Reese, who had transferred to the LSU Lady Tigers for her final two years, and won a Championship with them also came to support Park-Lane. “Been that girl, forever that girl & always will be that girl,” Reese expressed possibly hinting that it wasn’t wrong of her to transfer after four years. But she also revealed that Park-Lane had revealed her wish to graduate from Seton Hall, so sometimes student-athletes also take a college due to academics. Meanwhile, Park-Lane chose to ignore Auriemma, expounding “I still have eligibility left so (I’m going to) just save my comments.”

Whether student-athletes transfer for money or not is still debatable. But now the NCAA can adopt the changes recommended by Auriemma that will actually help old-school coaches find ground in the difficult NIL era. As for athletes, they will also have the chance to transfer due to their personal reasons while keeping things even with their former coaches.