Briggs: Wonder what MAC basketball players are getting paid? As chaos swirls, we found out
At last check, more than 1,900 Division I men's basketball players have entered the transfer portal, including … yawn … seventy percent of Toledo's players with eligibility remaining and … yawn … Bowling Green's top three scorers.
What can I say?
The uproar about the new world already old hat.
Free agency is more loco than the crazy train itself.
We get it.
Still, as familiar as the unfamiliarity of our teams is becoming, there remains a certain mystery to it all — and a real fascination with the market dynamics, especially in men's hoops.
I know because I get the questions all the time:
How much are players making in the Mid-American Conference?
How much are bigger schools offering them?
Which programs have the largest payrolls — and, in assembling a roster, what's the best strategy to maximize those budgets?
Well, I wondered the same things.
What's the landscape of the MAC's most volatile sport really like?
This week, I reached out to a bunch of coaches, athletic directors, and agents for a little direction. They graciously served as our tour guide, although to where no one was entirely sure.
Here goes …
● So, how much exactly are MAC players earning?
Even at the mid-major level, the going rate for a starter is well beyond a scholarship alone.
"To give you an idea on the range within the MAC, if you're looking at the [NIL] collective side of it — where things were up until this year — you're probably looking at $20,000 to $100,000 [per year] for a decent player," said Rick Clair, an agent who represents several current and former Toledo and BG players, including Javan Simmons, who just transferred from UT to Ohio.
"Now that we're moving into the rev-share model," he continued, "we're getting numbers in of [more than] $150,000 for your tier one starters."
A key factor is a player's position.
While there are exceptions — no one would be surprised if Akron shelled out upwards of $400,000 to keep junior guard Nate Johnson, the league player of the year — you can figure the bigger the guy the bigger the premium.
The greatest separator between the MAC and power leagues is the quality of the big men. Good ones are in short supply, so, to land or keep them, schools often have to pay a hefty surcharge.
"It's like a left tackle in the NFL is going to make exponentially more money than a left guard," Miami coach Travis Steele said. "Not to say that a left guard isn't important, but that blind side guy is huge. It's valued at a very high level.
"The same thing can probably be said in basketball. The big guys — at least what we're finding right now — they're going for a lot more money than, say, a guard. It's supply and demand."
● What can a top MAC player make in the Big Ten or ACC?
Let's consider first how much money the power-conference programs are throwing around.
With schools set to begin directly paying athletes up to $20.5 million per year, how much of that pot will go to men's basketball? Here's how leading NIL broker Opendorse projects the per-team allotments — on average — breaking down, per ESPN:
1. Big East: $5.7 million.
2. ACC: $4.4 million.
3. Big 12: $4.3 million.
4. Big Ten: $3.2 million.
5. SEC: $3.1 million.
Add in the already existing stream of NIL money, and the payroll for a good power-conference roster is probably pushing $8 million — maybe higher at select powers in the ACC and Big East, the latter of which does not have FBS football to worry about.
"If you take a kid from the MAC to the Big Ten," Clair said, "you're looking at probably a $300,000 to $500,000 jump."
And sometimes more.
Take Toledo's Sam Lewis, a 6-6 sophomore guard who was the most gifted pure scorer in the MAC last season. Word on the grapevine: He's receiving more than $1 million to transfer to Virginia, per sources from three schools.
While relationships can still carry the day, one league coach said: "If what you're able to do for a player is not even in the vicinity of what they can get elsewhere, you almost have to tell them you should leave."
● Which MAC programs have the biggest bags?
While schools have not laid their cards on the table, we have a general idea of the hierarchy here.
The five coaches I talked to all put Akron and incoming league member Massachusetts at the top — "1A and 1B" — with both schools believed to be moving forward with men's basketball payrolls in excess of $1 million.
Consider that Akron retained not only its pair of first-team all-league stars — Nate Johnson and Tavari Johnson — but added junior guard Evan Mahaffey, who started 38 games the past two seasons at Ohio State.
"I can't see a world where Akron spent below $1 million," one coach said. "There's just no chance."
The programs we heard among the next tier of spenders: Toledo, Miami, Kent State, and Ohio, in varying orders.
● Now, how do you maximize those resources?
Do you go all in on a couple stars or spread the money around?
Oh, and what are the locker-room dynamics if you pay an incoming transfer more than a returning standout?
As coaches evolve into amateur capologists — trying to decrypt the best (and fairest) ways to allocate finite funds — these are just a few of the new considerations they must juggle, with no easy answers.
"Every college coach is trying to figure out the same things," Ohio's Jeff Boals said. "We're talking to NBA people to see what percentage of [their cap] is for a starting point guard, for a max player, for your starters, for your role players to a minimum player … "
"It's part art, part business," Bowling Green coach Todd Simon added by phone from "the front office" at the Stroh Center.
Naturally, the most efficient means of assembling a top roster is keeping your own players. Beyond the benefits of continuity, it's a whole lot cheaper than getting into bidding wars.
"My first priority is always going to be to retain our players," Kent State's Rob Senderoff said.
But, of course, in a world in which more Division I players crashed the portal than not, that's easier said than done.
And not always wanted.
Ultimately, when it comes to navigating the roiling waters, the secret is as simple as it is challenging.
"You've just got to get the right guys," Steele said. "They've got to fit, and it's not just the players.
"It's their circle, as well. Whether it be the high school coach, AAU coach, trainer, mom, dad, uncle, getting people all on the same page and getting everyone singing from the same sheet of music is extremely important in this market and landscape. ... It's like putting a puzzle together."
First Published April 9, 2025, 3:26 p.m.
Brody Sipple Spring 2025
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