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AJ Dybantsa to BYU

Can't blame the players it's just the world they're living in but something has to be done. I'm all for guys getting paid but there should be a flat fee for these guys. No player should be getting paid more than a coach. It also puts the emphasis on "me" and not about "we" because let's face it. The player is not coming to your school for your traditions and what it means to play for it.
 
I also want to say:

I worry about the rather rapid increases in the NIL cost of top recruits. 7 million for AJ. Number 1 next year will be 8 or 10. We'll see teams costing 25, 30, and one day even 50 million. This is completely unsustainable.

I don't care about rich people's money. I hope our richest will pour billions into NIL. But at some point, the rapid increases become problematic.
I don’t know what the NIL budgets are for the top CBB programs (someone here can probably tell us what the average likely is), but if I assume it’s somewhere around $5-$7 Million then paying Dybantsa that kind money can’t be about winning games. It might be about BYU’s stature or profile and be deemed an expected positive return on investment for the program in the long run, but it’s not about winning games next season.

Then again, maybe BYU has a $30M budget because of the billionaire mentioned here and it doesn't matter what they promised in NIL. In that case I still wouldn't want Dybantsa, but at least you could pay for a more expensive supporting cast.
 
The average college basketball fan has no idea who Kevin Young is. Everyone knows who John Calipari is.

Again BYU fans are happy because they think he’s an upgrade and the big money seems to agree because they are giving him blank checks which they didn’t want to give Pope.

I’m not saying it’s true. I’m just giving you what the consensus is among BYU fans.
Why would they not give Pope an open check book?
 
Kevin Young was not a “big name” in anything but coaching circles.

The fact is BYU fans feel they got an upgrade over Pope and the big money said they’d fund it which they didn’t want to do with Pope for whatever reason.

The average college basketball fan has no idea who Kevin Young is. Everyone knows who John Calipari is.

Again BYU fans are happy because they think he’s an upgrade and the big money seems to agree because they are giving him blank checks which they didn’t want to give Pope.

I’m not saying it’s true. I’m just giving you what the consensus is among BYU fans.
Dude you have no idea what you’re talking about. BYU’s NIL riches aren’t suddenly coming from “the fans” . It is coming from Ryan Smith the Utah Jazz owner who has a personal relationship with Kevin Young. People around college basketball have been talking about it since the day he was hired.
 
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Cool for them. Definitely seems like an awesome get.



Time will tell about the whole Kevin Young vs Mark Pope thing. Obviously BYU is not Kentucky. But all the same if Young really has money to be throwing $3–$4 million (or “close to $7 million” 😱??) a pop at players and he’s also a better coach or even as good a coach as Mark Pope then what’s holding him back this season?

He did have four fewer days to recruit compared to Pope. But he also brought back 29.2 points and 11 rebounds from last year compared to 21.5 points and 3.8 rebounds Pope brought back in Jaxson Robinson. The difference in the results so far is being #5 vs. being unranked (47 in Kenpom) with losses to then-#19 Ole Miss at a neutral site (but much much closer to BYU and its time zone than to Mississippi) and Providence (Kenpom 80) on the road. (For comparison last year in week 6 Pope had BYU ranked #18 with one loss to top-30 Utah on the road—— not a fair direct comparison since Pope had an established team at the time. But it does establish BYU is a rankable school in the modern era.)

You could definitely say Pope had an advantage in that he brought existing assistants with him. But while Cody Fueger is a powerhouse, the only other assistant Pope brought from BYU is Nick Robinson. Nick is director of basketball operations and so probably has about zero to do with us winning any games.

If BYU boosters really are sinking a lot more money into Kevin Young than they did into Mark Pope I’m just not sure they’re going moon-eyed over the right guy.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What do I know. Good luck to ‘em.
 
Cool for them. Definitely seems like an awesome get.



Time will tell about the whole Kevin Young vs Mark Pope thing. Obviously BYU is not Kentucky. But all the same if Young really has money to be throwing $3–$4 million (or “close to $7 million” 😱??) a pop at players and he’s also a better coach or even as good a coach as Mark Pope then what’s holding him back this season?

He did have four fewer days to recruit compared to Pope. But he also brought back 29.2 points and 11 rebounds from last year compared to 21.5 points and 3.8 rebounds Pope brought back in Jaxson Robinson. The difference in the results so far is being #5 vs. being unranked (47 in Kenpom) with losses to then-#19 Ole Miss at a neutral site (but much much closer to BYU and its time zone than to Mississippi) and Providence (Kenpom 80) on the road. (For comparison last year in week 6 Pope had BYU ranked #18 with one loss to top-30 Utah on the road—— not a fair direct comparison since Pope had an established team at the time. But it does establish BYU is a rankable school in the modern era.)

You could definitely say Pope had an advantage in that he brought existing assistants with him. But while Cody Fueger is a powerhouse, the only other assistant Pope brought from BYU is Nick Robinson. Nick is director of basketball operations and so probably has about zero to do with us winning any games.

If BYU boosters really are sinking a lot more money into Kevin Young than they did into Mark Pope I’m just not sure they’re going moon-eyed over the right guy.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What do I know. Good luck to ‘em.
The “boosters” are not sinking more money into the nil . ONE person is. Ryan Smith, owner of the Jazz who has a personal relationship with Kevin Young.
 
Why would any booster dump millions of dollars into NIL? What is the ROI for them? I realize I can't think in terms of the money some of these big money donors have to throw around but to put it in a frame of reference I can understand, donating 10% a year to a church or charity for a tax write off is silly as your actual tax liability would be much less than the $10K. Do they just give out of love for the university?
 
Why would any booster dump millions of dollars into NIL? What is the ROI for them? I realize I can't think in terms of the money some of these big money donors have to throw around but to put it in a frame of reference I can understand, donating 10% a year to a church or charity for a tax write off is silly as your actual tax liability would be much less than the $10K. Do they just give out of love for the university?


You got it!
 
Cool for them. Definitely seems like an awesome get.

Time will tell about the whole Kevin Young vs Mark Pope thing. Obviously BYU is not Kentucky. But all the same if Young really has money to be throwing $3–$4 million (or “close to $7 million” 😱??) a pop at players and he’s also a better coach or even as good a coach as Mark Pope then what’s holding him back this season?

He did have four fewer days to recruit compared to Pope. But he also brought back 29.2 points and 11 rebounds from last year compared to 21.5 points and 3.8 rebounds Pope brought back in Jaxson Robinson. The difference in the results so far is being #5 vs. being unranked (47 in Kenpom) with losses to then-#19 Ole Miss at a neutral site (but much much closer to BYU and its time zone than to Mississippi) and Providence (Kenpom 80) on the road. (For comparison last year in week 6 Pope had BYU ranked #18 with one loss to top-30 Utah on the road—— not a fair direct comparison since Pope had an established team at the time. But it does establish BYU is a rankable school in the modern era.)

You could definitely say Pope had an advantage in that he brought existing assistants with him. But while Cody Fueger is a powerhouse, the only other assistant Pope brought from BYU is Nick Robinson. Nick is director of basketball operations and so probably has about zero to do with us winning any games.

If BYU boosters really are sinking a lot more money into Kevin Young than they did into Mark Pope I’m just not sure they’re going moon-eyed over the right guy.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What do I know. Good luck to ‘em.
Good points and well written.
 
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Goodman says $7 million is wrong. He says it was $4-5 million.
That's still quite an escalation of max price. It's not only going to be necessary to have a lot of NIL; spending it wisely is also going to be important. Luckily, our coach seems to be good at math and strategy.
 
Rumor was 4-5 million range. He also has a lucrative endorsement deal with Red Bull. I'm sure a shoe company will also sign him.

At BYU there's no pressure and plenty of shots to pad stats. Dybantsa will make Jimmer Ferdette look like a facilitator.
He is going to party like a rockstar there.
 
Dude you have no idea what you’re talking about. BYU’s NIL riches aren’t suddenly coming from “the fans” . It is coming from Ryan Smith the Utah Jazz owner who has a personal relationship with Kevin Young. People around college basketball have been talking about it since the day he was hired.
Yep I read where Smith said he would open his checkbook for Young. Would not get outbid.

AJ transferred to Utah Prep a while back. Not in Mass. Would seem this was in the works for quite some time. Probably already a wealthy young man.
 
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Why would they not give Pope an open check book?
A factor that’s being overlooked is timing.

The wide open pay for play wasn’t fully in effect yet. Guys were getting money but recruits weren’t making millions as the norm and every college hadnt fully embraced it bc they were waiting on Supreme Court rulings and to see how the ncaa was going to respond.

Add to that the fact that last season was BYUs first B12 season and pope made them competitive in year 1. They are in a P5 conference now, getting B12 football revenue, exposure etc. They played more on national TV last season than they ever had before, prob more than the last 5 years combined. A lot easier to get boosters to believe and open their checkbook, as well as to get recruits to listen when you aren’t viewed as a midmajor step down but instead are on equal footing with everyone that isn’t a blueblood.

Plus, the coaching circus put them square in the national spotlight this off season. Cal is a lightning rod, UK is the biggest brand in CBB…they were guilty by association and Mega Rich Ppl don’t like to be one up’d or left out of the fun. Kinda woke up a sleeping giant of a donor base. But the B12 move can’t be undersold. Look at what their football team is immediately accomplishing too.
 
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Im excited he didn't come to Kentucky.

AJ Dybantsa is a user. Just like Calipari. Just like most of the players Calipari brought here. I don't want users at Kentucky. I want players that want to represent Kentucky for Kentucky not because it gets them to the NBA before they've even played a game here.


Good luck to all the Dybantsa's coming up, but please, move along. You aren't needed here.
And the shorts are too damn baggy and doin' away with Freshman junior varsity was the road to ruination and don't get me started on the alternate possession, that ain't no jump ball!!!!!
 
We were the leader for him before Cal left. Imo we would have gotten him. So sorry my opinion upsets you so much lol.
There was no “leader” at that point. Just speculation. And no one thought he would go for seven million either . We would not have been in the game .
 
They knew KY was Pope’s dream job, perhaps.
Do not pay attention to that dude man . Go look in his posting history. Ryan Smith is funding the Dybantsa NIL deal . He is close to Kevin Young . It’s not the “fans are giving more because they view Young as an upgrade “ .
 
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“Some “ people thought UK had a good chance because AJ looked up to Terrence Clark . That’s where it starts and ends . It was all wild speculation.
I’m with you on that one. If the kid had chosen another blueblood, maybe we could say that was possible. He went to BYU —- clearly wanted the bag.
 
I’m with you on that one. If the kid had chosen another blueblood, maybe we could say that was possible. He went to BYU —- clearly wanted the bag.
Yeah , if a person wants to say “if not for the NIL I believe we would have gotten him “ it would make a lot more sense . Cal leaving didn’t cause it .
 
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Then said… We will break the NIL record. He’s worth it. No freshman is worth it.
AD level freshman are, he most likely will be but these kids don’t have that drive the older kids had IMO because they already get paid enough money at 18 than most make in their lives. Even if the AD’s got money or whatever to come it wasn’t close to what it is now.
 
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