Money. None of this is surprising. If Madsen gets an offer from a program with competitive NIL he will be gone too.

CLOSE THE FUCKIN’ PORTAL, YOU CRAZY BASTARDS, OR YOU’LL BE LIVING IN HELL - JUST WATCH! PRAISE BE TO ALLAH.

— Barstool Northwestern (@Northwestool) April 6, 2026

GoldenBasketBear said:

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I believe this has to simply be about $$$. Does anyone have any insight on whether it could be something else??

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only about the money. The alpha and omega of it. Rumored multiple of millions in respect to the gap. Assuming Cal is at 15% of house and throughs in another 2 to 3 million in fundraise that would put us at 35% of bluebloods.

Essentially we are talking about the A's vs. Dodgers in respect to payroll gap. Pretty clear the result of that kind of disparity.

MiZery said:

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CLOSE THE FUCKIN’ PORTAL, YOU CRAZY BASTARDS, OR YOU’LL BE LIVING IN HELL - JUST WATCH! PRAISE BE TO ALLAH.

— Barstool Northwestern (@Northwestool) April 6, 2026

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Ha
Good one

atoms said:

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NEWS: Cal guard Dai Dai Ames plans to enter the @TransferPortal and test the NBA waters, his agent Adam Papas of @nxtsportsagency told @On3.

The 6-2 junior averaged 16.9 points per game this season and earned All-ACC Third Team honors. Made previous stops at Kansas State and… pic.twitter.com/vVUjDaouje

— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) April 6, 2026

NEWS: Cal guard Justin Pippen, the son of NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, plans to enter the @TransferPortal, his representatives at WME told @On3.

The 6-4 sophomore averaged 14.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game this season. Began his career at Michigan.… pic.twitter.com/5D9IV7wdOx

— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) April 7, 2026

What's going on and how worried should we be?

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Not surprising. Ames and Pippen, like Wilkinson and Stojakovic last season, benefitted from the coaching staff and additional playing time to attract more competitive NIL deals. The challenge will be for Madsen and staff to replicate this again next season. Honestly, not a bad strategy since it's highly unlikely Cal's NIL budget will be competitive and Madsen and staff can show a track record in improving underrated players.

That really sucks. But this is why after 28 years as a season ticket holder, I won't be renewing this year. The portal and NIL have caused me to lose interest. It's a shame.

Golden One said:

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That really sucks. But this is why after 28 years as a season ticket holder, I won't be renewing this year. The portal and NIL have caused me to lose interest. It's a shame.

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I dropped after 39 years because:

1. Cuonzo Martin, Wyking Jones and Mark Fox destroyed the program;

2. Mark Madsen gave the program chest compressions but NIL and The Portal killed the patient anyway;

3. I dumped the A's because of having to memorize a new roster every season as the talent spun off the team and because John Fisher is a demon. Now you have to memorize Cal hoop rosters as the talent spins off;

4. I loved the history, traditions and rivalries of The Conference of Champions. I f@ucking hate the ACC, the East Coast, the schools, their fans, the homer refs and broadcasters, and Cal being the ugly step sister; and

5. It is a buzz kill to be in a 12,000 seat capacity facility with 2000 fans when you have years full of memories of a full Haas going Ape Sh@it!

It just isn't worth the hassle of showing up in person anymore.

Golden One said:

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That really sucks. But this is why after 28 years as a season ticket holder, I won't be renewing this year. The portal and NIL have caused me to lose interest. It's a shame.

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Yes. I may also drop season tickets after 35 consecutive years.

I know that NIL is the name of the game and Cal needs to raise funds. From a personal selfish standpoint, however, it is easy to buy StubHub tickets to five games. The $10k football ESP donation no longer counts towards basketball. Cal asked us to make another $3k donation to basketball to keep the blue chairbacks. That basketball donation does not cover seat tickets nor parking. We would have to then pay for those items as well.

We live in Napa Valley so it can be hard to get to weekday games. We give away 1/3 of our tickets to friends.


I felt a lack of emotion about Michigan winning the title. First team with an entire starting line-up of NIL transfers players. The connection to the schools has frayed to the point of breaking.

bearister said:

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Golden One said:

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That really sucks. But this is why after 28 years as a season ticket holder, I won't be renewing this year. The portal and NIL have caused me to lose interest. It's a shame.

---

I dropped after 39 years because:

1. Cuonzo Martin, Wyking Jones and Mark Fox destroyed the program;

2. Mark Madsen gave the program chest compressions but NIL and The Portal killed the patient anyway;

3. I dumped the A's because of having to memorize a new roster every season as the talent spun off the team and because John Fisher is a demon. Now you have to memorize Cal hoop rosters as the talent spins off;

4. I loved the history, traditions and rivalries of The Conference of Champions. I f@ucking hate the ACC, the East Coast, the schools, their fans, the homer refs and broadcasters, and Cal being the ugly step sister; and

5. It is a buzz kill to be in a 12,000 seat capacity facility with 2000 fans when you have years full of memories of a full Haas going Ape Sh@it!

It just isn't worth the hassle of showing up in person anymore.

---

Amen. I was nearly 50 years when I gave up for the same reasons. I'd only add that one of the things that drew me was getting to watch players develop over time.

LudwigsFountain said:

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bearister said:

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Golden One said:

---

That really sucks. But this is why after 28 years as a season ticket holder, I won't be renewing this year. The portal and NIL have caused me to lose interest. It's a shame.

---

I dropped after 39 years because:

1. Cuonzo Martin, Wyking Jones and Mark Fox destroyed the program;

2. Mark Madsen gave the program chest compressions but NIL and The Portal killed the patient anyway;

3. I dumped the A's because of having to memorize a new roster every season as the talent spun off the team and because John Fisher is a demon. Now you have to memorize Cal hoop rosters as the talent spins off;

4. I loved the history, traditions and rivalries of The Conference of Champions. I f@ucking hate the ACC, the East Coast, the schools, their fans, the homer refs and broadcasters, and Cal being the ugly step sister; and

5. It is a buzz kill to be in a 12,000 seat capacity facility with 2000 fans when you have years full of memories of a full Haas going Ape Sh@it!

It just isn't worth the hassle of showing up in person anymore.

---

Amen. I was nearly 50 years when I gave up for the same reasons. I'd only add that one of the things that drew me was getting to watch players develop over time.

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I used to get a little teary-eyed on Senior Day. Now I don't even know in advance whether certain players are even going to walk or not.

Big C said:

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LudwigsFountain said:

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bearister said:

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Golden One said:

---

That really sucks. But this is why after 28 years as a season ticket holder, I won't be renewing this year. The portal and NIL have caused me to lose interest. It's a shame.

---

I dropped after 39 years because:

1. Cuonzo Martin, Wyking Jones and Mark Fox destroyed the program;

2. Mark Madsen gave the program chest compressions but NIL and The Portal killed the patient anyway;

3. I dumped the A's because of having to memorize a new roster every season as the talent spun off the team and because John Fisher is a demon. Now you have to memorize Cal hoop rosters as the talent spins off;

4. I loved the history, traditions and rivalries of The Conference of Champions. I f@ucking hate the ACC, the East Coast, the schools, their fans, the homer refs and broadcasters, and Cal being the ugly step sister; and

5. It is a buzz kill to be in a 12,000 seat capacity facility with 2000 fans when you have years full of memories of a full Haas going Ape Sh@it!

It just isn't worth the hassle of showing up in person anymore.

---

Amen. I was nearly 50 years when I gave up for the same reasons. I'd only add that one of the things that drew me was getting to watch players develop over time.

---

I used to get a little teary-eyed on Senior Day. Now I don't even know in advance whether certain players are even going to walk or not.

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I don't know why you have Senior Day for a bunch of guys that play one year in your program. You might as well just have every player walk on the last day as potentially their last game. I'm half serious.

But I would say honor players who are graduating. (not finishing their eligibility) Whether they play 1 year or 4, the honor is that they are getting their degree. No degree, no walk.

Golden One said:

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That really sucks. But this is why after 28 years as a season ticket holder, I won't be renewing this year. The portal and NIL have caused me to lose interest. It's a shame.

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I am with you. I like that players are getting paid, but the way this has evolved has made the affiliation with the schools to be totally tangential. I know some athletes didn't go to school in the past and Kentucky had their one and done model for years where guys were on campus for 7 months, but this has taken it too far for my liking.

All feels like a semipro league now. No need for school connection.

stay the course… your life will be empty without experiencing the fun and excitement of Cal basketball