Hogs’ NIL gets boost with coach

Last Sunday, I ventured into the world of Razorback sports, drawn in by the drama of a departing coach and almost the entire remaining roster of the basketball team. Most of the time, I’m smart enough to leave that subject to the sports reporters at the Democrat-Gazette and our dedicated Hawgs Sports Network.

But I’m also a Razorbacks fan and watcher of sports overall, though I don’t have a vault-like mind for sports history like so many of my friends and colleagues. I wish I did, because so much of enjoying sports is recognizing histories between teams, players and fan bases.

My column questioned whether Eric Musselman’s move to Los Angeles was at least in part inspired by the limitations at Arkansas involving NIL, the now-familiar acronym for college athletes’ rights to control and profit from the commercial use of their name, image and likeness. I don’t have a problem with that concept, but I do dislike the way this new component of collegiate athletics has morphed into what is essentially pay-to-play. It’s too big a factor in the recruiting of athletes and too much a motivator in the age of the transfer portal. Loyalty now has a price tag.

That said, within about 14 hours of when my column published, my concern about Arkansas’ NIL prospects began to look rather foolish, thanks to two Johns. One was the new head basketball coach at the University of Arkansas who said at his introduction Wednesday that his friends call him “Johnny” Calipari. Judging by the reception for him at Bud Walton Arena, I’d say there are at least several thousand Arkansans eager to call him Johnny.

The other was John H. Tyson of the billionaire family still deeply involved in the Northwest Arkansas-based company founded by his grandfather, Tyson Foods. He’s been friends with Calipari for years and made the introductions that led to the former Kentucky coach and Arkansas coming together.

Introduced at Calipari’s big event Wednesday, Tyson received an ovation perhaps louder than anyone else at the event. And that’s saying a lot, because the introductions included baseball Coach Dave Van Horn. Here in the midst of a baseball season in which the Razorbacks are (before Friday’s game) 29-3 and 11-1 in conference play, Van Horn is hard to beat both in terms of games and ovations.

Why is Tyson so popular, beyond Hog fans’ robust appreciation for good chicken? Arkansas Athletics Director Hunter Yurachek credited Tyson, along the Stephens family in central Arkansas, for providing the financial support needed to attract Calipari to Arkansas. There are also reports Tyson will deliver NIL support that, in this era of college basketball, is vital to attracting the players you need. Details on that aren’t clear, but it sounds like Calipari became far more comfortable with Arkansas’ NIL stature than I was last week.

“I will say that Coach Cal and I talked NIL robustly,” Yurachek said. “Him and I are on the same page of where it needs to be for us to be competitive.”

Then Yurachek, perhaps mindful that no amount of money in the bank is enough when it comes to modern-day college athletics, continued.

“We’ve got some ways to go to get there. Reports make it sound like it is a done deal and the money’s in the bank. What I will tell you is that’s not the case. We’ve got a pretty good program in place, but we’re going to need help from people across this state to make sure that we give Coach Cal the tools that he needs to put a great team on the floor, not only this year but next year and the following year.”

Maybe I wasn’t so far off base last week.