In this era of NIL and the portal, how was Cal getting all of these top 5 rosters?

[83Cat]

I used to hear a lot of people say that it wasn't the coach, it was players wanting to come to KY. Now I hear that they leave to follow coaches, or they go where the NIL is the biggest. What motivates these kids these days? I would never had imagined IU getting players over us.

 

[EJonesy]

Because he only went after high schoolers. Likely a lot cheaper to get even the best high schoolers vs well seasoned guys that have already proven it. Also he has the track record for the one and dones to get to the nba.

 

[UK90]

I would never had imagined IU getting players over us.

What players has IU gotten “over us”? The three portal players they landed aren’t ones I heard anything about UK even contacting.

The only player in the last year that I really heard about both IU and UK going head to head hard for was Boogie Fland. Those were reportedly his final two on decision day …and he chose UK.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Reputation of getting players to the pros.

He also didn't do as well since NIL. We were always a player or 2 short to really have good seasons the last few years.

It would have been interesting to see what UK could have done with the full resources now being pumped n. Another transfer in 2022 or 2024 may have made a decent difference.

Of course, cal was still the coach so ultimately doomed.

 

[Blueaz]

Because he only went after high schoolers. Likely a lot cheaper to get even the best high schoolers vs well seasoned guys that have already proven it. Also he has the track record for the one and dones to get to the nba.

maybe OP was trying to be rhetorical.

 

[kyrx]

Direct path to the NBA...

 

[The_Answer1313]

I think right now there's two things that motivate players

1) NIL money. Most are just going to go to the highest bidder.
2) If a particular school doesn't have maybe the most NIL but they have a coach that puts players into the NBA, they'd go there knowing that's the place where they can most likely reach their ultimate goal.

Players want money and they want to get drafted. Period. They will go to the place that offers both.

 

[StubbornPenny]

He made a deal with Klutch for the “best” incoming freshmen. It bit him multiple times.

 

[83Cat]

What players has IU gotten “over us”? The three portal players they landed aren’t ones I heard anything about UK even contacting.

The only player in the last year that I really heard about both IU and UK going head to head hard for was Boogie Fland. Those were reportedly his final two on decision day …and he chose UK.

We weren't after Oumar Ballo, the top player in the portal? How the heck did IU get him? And Khalifa to UL? I guess we just didn't want/need either of them. The great thing is, whoever we get, Pope will coach them up.

 

[JonathanW]

You (OP) are confusing top 5 recruiting class with top 5 roster. There are probably 50-100 JRs & SRs better than the 10th best FR each year. Now in 2-4 more years that #10 FR will be better than 95% or more of those guys. But not for that 1 year.

As for IU, it's quite obvious they are buying them a team now. Just like we are trying to do. They either are spending more, or targeting guys we aren't.

 

[Elliott Tim]

I used to hear a lot of people say that it wasn't the coach, it was players wanting to come to KY. Now I hear that they leave to follow coaches, or they go where the NIL is the biggest. What motivates these kids these days? I would never had imagined IU getting players over us.

MNBA!
Money
National
Basketball
Association

 

[CincinnatiWildcat]

We weren't after Oumar Ballo, the top player in the portal? How the heck did IU get him? And Khalifa to UL? I guess we just didn't want/need either of them. The great thing is, whoever we get, Pope will coach them up.

I never heard us linked to Ballo since pope joined, ballo doesn’t really fit his style at all. Khalifa is sitting out a year…

 

[UK90]

We weren't after Oumar Ballo, the top player in the portal?

Again, I’ve never heard a word about us even contacting Ballo, much less making a serious effort to go “after” him. Maybe you can claim we should have, but it’s also understandable why we got a late start with the early portal entrant guys given the coaching change.

IU ain’t getting players “over us” if they ain’t players we actually pursued.

 

[Seth_C]

Since NIL he hasn’t. Actually, since before NIL. The results speak for themselves.