Ohio coach implies Miami basketball bought team after NCAA win

Jeff Boals the head coach of Ohio University in Athens tweeted on Friday night at the end of the 63-56 Miami basketball win over Drake stating “800,000 dollars will get you a second game and 8-25 FG’s” There are no known connections between Boals and Miami or where he got the 8-25 FG’s from.

The Miami basketball program shot 7-30 in the first half and finished 17-56 which is 30.4 percent. Boals’ $800,000 reference was obviously to the amount third-year sophomore guard Nijel Pack is being paid by John Ruiz and Life Wallet in a Name, Image and Likeness deal. At schools like Ohio, those deals are far less prevalent.

Ohio has been mildly successful in basketball. Ohio Basketball alums include Gary Trent Sr. and currently, Los Angeles Clippers Jason Preston. Boals has been outspoken in the past about the current state of college basketball. That includes criticizing players who transfer. Ohio lost six transfers after the 2021-22 season.

You know what’s not $800,000? The Miami Daily Deals at Fanatics.

That included Ben VanderPlas to Virginia. Ohio brought in three transfers to its 2022-23 roster. Boals is not the first coach to be outspoken about the deal for Pack.

Alabama head football coach Nick Saban also spoke out against the Pack deal. There is a big difference between Saban and Boals discussing NIL deals.

"“It’s an adjustment (to the college level),…Nowadays, the easiest thing to do in life is quit, right? A kid’s not playing, things aren’t going the way you think, so (they) transfer. When I played, you played 39 minutes (for the entire season), you worked harder, you bide your time, you figure it out."

Miami Herald columnist Barry Jackson and Hurricanes’ fans called out Boals for speaking out while being someone who is supposed to be a “leader of men.” Boals was a walk-on at Ohio who averaged 5.6 points per game, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 93 games as a player between 1991-95.

In seven seasons as head coach at Stony Brook and Ohio, Boals has a 222-133 record as a head coach. Boals was an assistant coach at Ohio State when the Buckeyes were implicated in the FBI scandal that Jim Larranaga and Miami were eventually exonerated. Boals spoke about OSU head coach Thad Matta losing his job.

"“He texted me one night when the FBI stuff hit and wrote, ‘Hey, if you were going to jail right now, I’d still have my job.’”"

Miami has continually received criticism nationally since athletes have been allowed to earn money from their own Name, Image and Likeness. Athletes nationally are allowed to earn their own endorsement deals. Current Miami basketball stars Haley and Hanna Cavinder became TikTok stars while playing for Fresno State.

Coaches are not currently allowed to facilitate NIL deals for their athletes and outside entities. Yet, Ohio University announced its own NIL platform in April 2022. As Miami continues to thrive in NIL, expect the criticism of the Hurricanes to continue. The strength Miami has in NIL will help the Hurricanes in recruiting.