College Basketball Coach Gives Brutally Honest Recruiting Pitch In NIL Era

UW-Green Bay assistant basketball coach Jordan McCabe gave the most honest recruiting pitch fans will ever hear.

Green Bay hired radio host and former D1 player Doug Gottlieb to take over the program, and the hiring is the most interesting of the off-season. Gottlieb is going to balance being a mid-major college coach and a radio honest at the same time.

It should be fascinating to follow, and a major part will be how he'll recruit at a mid-major program in the NIL era. In the modern era of major college sports, teams with the most money and resources dominate. Those without, don't. 

So, how will the Phoenix recruit? Assistant coach Jordan McCabe has a plan.

Jordan McCabe lays out incredibly honest recruiting pitch.

"Where are [bigger schools] going when they do go in the portal? Where are they looking? Typically, it's the Dalton Knechts of the world at Northern Colorado who are putting up big numbers and proving production at a college level. So, as a high school kid, where can you go to turn that corner, bend that corner a little bit quicker so that, unfortunately in the world we're in as a mid-major, you can maybe have an opportunity to if you want to ge to that high-major level, you come to a place where you can prove you can do it here. Then we can go over the options in the summer," McCabe said, in part, when explaining his recruiting outlook as an assistant at a mid-major program.

Translation: Come play at a middle of the road school and get paid down the road if you play well. That's about as honest as you'll ever hear a coach get.

You can watch his full comments below, and let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com. 

You have to applaud McCabe for his brutal honesty when it comes to his recruiting outlook. Powerful programs are raiding and plundering smaller ones with offers of big money.

That's why McCabe referenced Dalton Knecht. Knecht was a star at Northern Colorado before he transferred to Tennessee. Green Bay won't be able to land major five star recruits out of high school and the Phoenix won't be a sexy transfer option.

However, they could sign some really solid regional recruits who aren't catching the eye of bigger programs. If they dominate at the mid-major level, then a bigger team might come calling. It's a sad sign of the times, but it's always incredibly honest.

Doug Gottlieb is the new basketball coach at UW-Green Bay. (Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

I have no idea how the Gottlieb experiment will go in Green Bay, but there's no doubt his assistant coach has a clear-eyed approach to recruiting.