While explaining his sudden resignation from Miami on Wednesday, coach Jim Larrañaga partly blamed the growing influence of NIL deals that have made it difficult for him to keep players in his program. Two days later, Norchad Omier — who helped Miami make the 2023 Final Four before transferring to a wealthy Big 12 school — scored 19 points and grabbed 24 rebounds for Baylor in a 107-53 victory over Arlington Baptist.
So … yeah.
"You're talking to people that expect a million dollars for playing college basketball," Larrañaga said.
Like I noted on Friday's episode of the Eye On College Basketball Podcast, nobody is going to feel sorry for Larrañaga losing players to the transfer portal because of NIL money given that his program used NIL money to get Nijel Pack, keep Isaiah Wong and make the 2023 Final Four. If I were Larrañaga, I would've focused less on players getting paid and more on the fact that I'm 75 years old, understandably exhausted and completely uninterested in going through a second straight losing season that seems unavoidable.
Life's too short.
Only unreasonable weirdos wouldn't have understood that. But complaining about big NIL deals less than two years after your school used big NIL deals to make its first Final Four is never going to land well. I wish somebody would've helped Larrañaga understand that in advance because it would've been more fun spending the past two days listening to people celebrate his incredible career than it's been watching people roll their eyes at some of his comments.
Anyway …
Former Miami player Norchad Omier was statistically awesome for Baylor on Friday night. That was my initial point. I'm not sure how much money he's making via NIL while playing for the Bears — but, honestly, I hope it's a million dollars. He's the leading scorer and rebounder for the team ranked 25th in Saturday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, after all. In the current market, I think, he's worth at least a million dollars and probably more.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Chaz Lanier finished with 23 points and four rebounds in Monday's 82-64 win over Middle Tennessee. The Vols' next game is Dec. 31 against Norfolk State. | -- | 12-0 |
| 2 |  | Johni Broome finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's 87-69 win over Purdue. The Tigers' next game is Monday against Monmouth. | -- | 11-1 |
| 3 |  | Tamin Lipsey finished with 20 points and five assists in Sunday's 99-71 win over Morgan State. The Cyclones' next game is Monday at Colorado. | -- | 10-1 |
| 4 |  | Kon Knueppel finished with 18 points and five assists in Saturday's 82-56 win at Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils' next game is Dec. 31 against Virginia Tech. | -- | 10-2 |
| 5 |  | Mark Sears finished with 16 points and two steals in Sunday's 81-54 win over Kent State. The Crimson Tide's next game is Sunday against South Dakota State. | -- | 10-2 |
| 6 |  | Zeke Mayo finished with 25 points and eight rebounds in Sunday's 87-53 win over Brown. The Jayhawks' next game is Dec. 31 against West Virginia. | -- | 9-2 |
| 7 |  | Will Richard finished with 26 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 99-45 win over North Florida. The Gators' next game is Sunday against Stetson. | -- | 12-0 |
| 8 |  | Kam Jones finished with 20 points and eight assists in Saturday's 73-70 win at Xavier. The Golden Eagles' next game is Tuesday at Providence. | -- | 11-2 |
| 9 |  | Jaxson Robinson was 3-of-11 from the field in Saturday's 85-65 loss to Ohio State. The Wildcats' next game is Tuesday against Brown. | -- | 10-2 |
| 10 |  | Coen Carr finished with 17 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's 86-69 win over Florida Atlantic. The Spartans' next game is Monday against Western Michigan. | -- | 10-2 |
| 11 |  | Sean Pedulla finished with 25 points and four steals in Saturday's 80-62 win over Queens. The Rebels' next game is Saturday at Memphis. | -- | 11-1 |
| 12 |  | Kwame Evans Jr. finished with 13 points and three rebounds in Saturday's 76-61 win over Stanford. The Ducks' next game is Sunday against Weber State. | -- | 11-1 |
| 13 |  | Riley Kugel finished with 19 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 79-66 win at Memphis. The Bulldogs' next game is Dec. 30 against Bethune Cookman. | -- | 11-1 |
| 14 |  | Hayden Hefner finished with 19 points and two steals in Friday's 77-45 win over Houston Christian. The Aggies' next game is Saturday against Abilene Christian. | -- | 10-2 |
| 15 |  | Selton Miguel finished with 24 points and two steals in Saturday's 87-60 win over Syracuse. The Terrapins' next game is Saturday against Maryland Eastern Shore. | -- | 10-2 |
| 16 |  | Dylan Andrew was 1-of-6 from the field in Saturday's 75-74 loss to North Carolina. The Bruins' next game is Saturday against Gonzaga. | -- | 10-2 |
| 17 |  | Braden Smith was 3-of-12 from the field in Saturday's 87-69 loss to Auburn. The Boilermakers' next game is Sunday against Toledo. | -- | 8-4 |
| 18 |  | Kasparas Jakucionis finished with 21 points and four assists in Sunday's 80-77 win over Missouri. The Illini's next game is Sunday against Chicago State. | -- | 8-3 |
| 19 |  | Alex Karaban finished with 21 points and six rebonds in Saturday's 78-74 win at Butler. The Huskies' next game is Jan. 1 at DePaul. | -- | 10-3 |
| 20 |  | Graham Ike finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 86-65 win over Bucknell. The Zags' next game is Saturday against UCLA. | -- | 9-3 |
| 21 |  | Nick Boyd finished with 17 points and four steals in Saturday's 71-50 win over Cal. The Aztecs' next game is Saturday against Utah State. | -- | 8-2 |
| 22 |  | Emanuel Sharp finished with 18 points and two assists in Saturday's 87-51 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christie. The Cougars' next game is Monday at Oklahoma State. | -- | 8-3 |
| 23 |  | Duke Miles finished with 29 points and three assists in Sunday's 89-66 win over Central Arkansas. The Sooners' next game is Sunday against Prairie View A&M. | -- | 12-0 |
| 24 |  | Asa Newell finished with 16 points and six rebounds in Thursday's 100-49 win over Buffalo. The Bulldogs' next game is Sunday against Charleston Southern. | -- | 11-1 |
| 25 |  | Norchad Omier finished with 19 points and 24 rebounds in Friday's 107-53 win over Arlington Baptist. The Bears' next game is Tuesday against Utah. | -- | 8-3 |
| 26 |  | Ian Jackson finished with 24 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 76-74 win over UCLA. The Tar Heels' next game is Sunday against Campbell. | -- | 7-5 |
