Inside the Mind of Jhop: Cry Harder

For weeks now we’ve all read message board posts, tweets, Facebook posts all about one thing. And no this is not where Jhop breaks the cardinal rule and talks politics.

No. Instead I’m talking about one thing we’ve all heard countless times by now.

“Oregon is buying players.” “Phil is trying to buy a championship.” “What are you going to do when Phil dies and stops buying recruits.” Blah blah blah.

You get the point. We’ve all heard about it. And obviously once Oregon landed five-star wide receiver Dakorien Moore, it feels like that’s ALL we’ve heard about.

Well here’s what I have to say about it.

CRY HARDER!!!!!

Seriously, every single person from whichever fanbase that cries about this will answer this question the SAME way.

“Would you be whining if uncle Phil was buying recruits for your school too?”

Hell no. Not a single one of them would say “Gosh I really don’t like all these elite recruits Uncle Phil is helping us land. I wish he would stop.”

Shut up man. You’re only pissed because he’s not doing it for your school. Well guess what, Phil isn’t the only billionaire in the world. Furthermore it’s his money. Who cares if he spends it all recruits (via NIL) or if he decides to spend it all on ocean front property in the Thailand or he just buys up all the world’s ice cream supply only to never eat any of it.

IT’S HIS MONEY.

It isn’t illegal. In fact, I have it on good authority Phil was vehemently opposed to paying for players BEFORE it was legal. He didn’t want to risk or tarnish the Nike empire with a scandal. The Will Lyles thing, while careless, really wasn’t illegal. It was a gray area, which the NCAA knew and ultimately why Oregon was never really punished. (Hand slap)

Guess what? It’s completely legal now. He could buy every five-star for the next ten years if he really wanted to. And still probably not even notice the difference in his bank account.

Is Oregon aggressive with NIL? Yes, sure, they are competitive with all of the other schools making similar, aggressive NIL offers. You think kids are going to Ohio State for free? Kalen Deboer magically turns into a super recruiter at Bama overnight after two awful years of recruiting at Washington, for free? GTFO.

Look I’m here to call a spade a spade. Yes, Oregon is aggressive with NIL and we can see they are having recruiting success because of it. But let’s not just make up storylines because you’re mad about it.

Ohio State’s head coach has gone on record basically saying they need about $13 million to be successful recruiting in the NIL era. I don’t think Oregon has ever spent that in a recruiting cycle. However, this might be the year they are.

Last I checked, Oregon had the No. 4 class in the country per On3. So you’re telling me Ohio State, Georgia and Bama got their guys for free and Oregon is only at No. 4 because of Phil’s money? Like I said earlier, Phil could buy every one of those five-stars if he REALLY wanted to. There’s a massive difference between buying recruits like that and simply being competitive with other offers from other programs.

Oregon signed the No. 3 ranked class in 2024 and the No. 7 class in 2023. No. 11 in 2022. No. 6 in 2021. No. 12 in 2020. It’s not like they were terrible in recruiting prior to this year. That No. 11 class in 2022 includes a late-year coaching change as well which Lanning managed to hold together mostly.

They currently sit at No. 4 and are charging towards No. 1 with a couple of big pieces potentially looking hard at Oregon. Including five-star cornerback DJ Pickett later today and five-star safety Trey McNutt two days later. Oregon might get both of them, none of them or one of them. Who knows.

So if Pickett goes to Miami do we just assume he went to Miami for free? Like Phil couldn’t outbid Miami for him if he didn’t really want to? GTFO.

I’m tired of hearing it. Oregon is playing within the rules, the same rules that apply evenly to every school and anyone with the money to burn. If you don’t like it, go find you a billionaire to help fund the cause. If you don’t like it, we don’t care. Oregon is playing within the rules so why don’t you quit your crying.

The SEC has been widely cheating for years by paying players before you could actually pay players. Everyone knows it. Where was all this outrage then when it actually wasn’t even legal?

So the next time Oregon lands another 5-star or an elite prospect all of the heavyweights were also recruiting and I hear someone bitch about Phil buying recruits, I’m simply going to tell them to Cry Harder.

Jhop out.

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