Originally Posted by
Todd4State
I can't see NIL ever catching on in Mississippi because there are so many poor communities there are going to be a lot of schools that simply won't be able to afford it. Like if you play for Ethel High School- how much can their boosters realistically pay a player?
I know recruiting was and has been going on in Mississippi High Schools for years both public and private and I have heard stories about certain players "living with an uncle who has an apartment/house in the school district."
The private schools in Jackson are recruiting a lot more than now. When I was in school it was kind of kept within the realm of "plausible deniability" in other words the only players that were being recruited were players that fit the general profile of the private school- meaning it was only white players. That's certainly not the case now and we've seen JPS being raided by the four country club schools although it seems to me that Prep isn't doing it quite as much. And they probably won't unless they aren't winning championships. They have lost the Championship to Hartfield two years in a row so it might be coming- which to me is a powder keg because they have way more money than the other three country club schools. I could totally see them recruiting players from the suburban public schools if they aren't already which they probably are- as well as JPS.
You can look at Jackson State's roster and you'll several players that went to Prep, JA, MRA, Hartfield and other private schools.
Then you have Greenville Christian who basically horded all of the best players in the delta for a season now. I'm not sure what is stopping them now but I could totally see a school like Pillow Academy or Washington School doing the same thing and becoming a pretty good team.
But it's so crazy to me because when I was in school the only kids that transferred to another school because of sports was because they usually got cut from the baseball team or they weren't playing at all in football. Now I see kids on X committing to high schools and then you have IMG in Florida- it's just crazy to me.
Now, if the private schools start to raid the public schools you are definitely going to see some of the bigger ones like Madison Central, Northwest Rankin, Brandon, Germantown, etc. start to offer money to players because they're going to have to if for no other reason than to keep theirs away from the private schools at least in Jackson and maybe DeSoto County like Olive Branch and DeSoto Central. And then you're going to see schools like Tupelo, Oak Grove, and maybe Oxford paying players just because they can.