Regardless of who the head coach is, NIL will make or break Wake's future as a viable, competitive baseball program.
MAKE- With baseball rosters consisting of a number of partial scholarships, meaning a recruit to a private like Wake could be on the hook for $25K or so in tuition, it's been a struggle for us to compete with cheaper, and in some cases tradition rich public schools who can offer a player a scholarship at a quarter of the cost of what we require. Now with the promise of NIL $$, a Wake player no longer has to make up the difference in the cost of attendance.
BREAK- Wake can't find enough NIL $$ dedicated to the baseball program to overcome the private tuition gap, or regardless of our ability to cover tuition with NIL, it's not enough to compete with in particular public universities with jock-sniffing fan bases who are willing to throw bank at 17 y/o kids. (But that will be the case in all sports, not just baseball).
Me personally, I don't see Wake competing long-term in sports at the current level within 5-10 years, assuming it continues along its path to a professional model, albeit one with no salary cap and no restriction on player movement. And I'm fine with that; 100% on board with these kids getting as much as they can out of the system, but I don't see it having the emotional appeal that being a longtime fan and alumni has given me over the years.
