Jones on KSR today: confirms report that Arkansas is willing to double whatever UK offers recruits

[TX-Wildcat]

Yeah I don't get the NW Ark hate. It's a super nice area. Fayetteville, Spingdale, Rogers, Bentonville and Bella Vista are very nice. Spent a lot of time there.

Agree, that area is very nice. It is not as if Lexington is quite Atlantis either. Both are solid good size college towns/areas filled with good people and nice topographies.

It was a good move for Cal and a good move for us that Cal moved on. Let Arky target us in basketball, we just shouldn't shoot so low in return. They should want what we have. However, our long-term competition in hoops will always be UNCheat, Dook, Kansass, and UCorn.

 

[BigKari]

Wow, Arkansas must have a bunch of guys signed up then.

 

[UKBloke]

I really don't get the ones defending Calipari like he's a saint or something. He bent and even broke the rules when the NCAA had some back in the day. He's flirted with pretty much whatever shenanigans were necessary to sign players while at UK. Do you really think he's above this? There's nothing illegal about what's being said here- paying double for recruits to get them from UK and it's being said by Jerry Jones, not Cal. Why defend Cal on this?

And hey, I know there is a lot of negativity among UK fans over Matt Jones. We all know he's just a fan boy who hit the lottery here. He's no expert or insider. In the last years of Calipari, he had no connections at all because he was pretty much banished for being "too negative" about Cal and program. It seems he's returning to having "some" connections with Pope as the coach, but that remains to be seen. But I do know this- the hate for this man is real. It kinda cracks me up. Who cares? I mean, seriously, if he's wrong, who cares? Others have posted this same story, Matt Jones is just the latest to say it. Has he done something to hurt UK or UK fans that I missed? Or is this really just the same kind of pettiness that Jones and Calipari are being accused of here?

So, shoot me now, I guess, but I don't mind Matt Jones. I don't think of him as some great reporter or an insider. I just think of him as a UK fan-boy who likes to talk about my favorite sports topic and gets paid to do so. I often listen to him just to hear about UK, right or wrong, the same way I would read your messages here or listen to your comments if we had a conversation about UK. I wouldn't call it "life-changing" but just some fun and a pass-time. And occasionally the blind squirrel finds a nut. But why the jealous anger? I must be missing something.

If you're getting the impression that I am covering for anything to do with John Calipari you're mistaken. I was calling for him to be fired long before most, even many in this thread. I think Calipari is a POS and always have. That doesn't mean this is his style or that's any of this makes sense for multiple perspectives. I don't think many understand that if he were to go down this road he loses all control and Calipari is a control freak. Nothing is changing for Calipari from the looks of his classes. NO major recruit is backing out of a commitment, Arkasnas hasn't yet landed a top portal player that I'm aware of.

I just don't believe anyone is going to just throw money away like this and I don't believe control freak Calipari is going to relinquish that much power which he would have to do if this were true.

We'll see.

Bwaaaahahahahahaha! There's a crew of former players who'd like to say hello...shaedon sharpe is at the head of the line

Totally different situation not even remote;y close to what this is about. Calipari allowed players to fleece This program and that incident lined up directly with his pitch that he cares more about the player than anything. He's a liar, he's a fraud, but he wants control of his program. It's one of the reasons he's no longer at UK.

Everyone will see when Arkansas is irrelevant over the next few years. They have a brand problem, Clipari doesn't have a major brand to sell anymore, that's the reason for this nonsense.

 

[Imafan4evr_]

I’ll summarize my follow-up thoughts to the discussion:

1) Cal is petty. He takes offense at everything. He WANTS enemies. Why isn’t it believable he’d do something irrational like overpay to get the better of UK (in his mind)?

2) I don’t understand the MJ hate on every. single. thead. I’m not a defender of him, but he’s the biggest voice in the UK sports world. It’s not like everything he says is a lie by default just because you hate him.

3) Jerry Jones is EXACTLY the kind of guy that would blow money foolishly to prove he’s the biggest axe swinging. He is literally a caricature of this concept. I could totally hear him saying “I’ll double it!!!”

4) Finally and most importantly, I’m just tickled to death that Arkansas has Calipari. Love it for them, actually.

 

[nickhorvathsuxazz]

I really don't get the ones defending Calipari like he's a saint or something. He bent and even broke the rules when the NCAA had some back in the day. He's flirted with pretty much whatever shenanigans were necessary to sign players while at UK. Do you really think he's above this? There's nothing illegal about what's being said here- paying double for recruits to get them from UK and it's being said by Jerry Jones, not Cal. Why defend Cal on this?

And hey, I know there is a lot of negativity among UK fans over Matt Jones. We all know he's just a fan boy who hit the lottery here. He's no expert or insider. In the last years of Calipari, he had no connections at all because he was pretty much banished for being "too negative" about Cal and program. It seems he's returning to having "some" connections with Pope as the coach, but that remains to be seen. But I do know this- the hate for this man is real. It kinda cracks me up. Who cares? I mean, seriously, if he's wrong, who cares? Others have posted this same story, Matt Jones is just the latest to say it. Has he done something to hurt UK or UK fans that I missed? Or is this really just the same kind of pettiness that Jones and Calipari are being accused of here?

So, shoot me now, I guess, but I don't mind Matt Jones. I don't think of him as some great reporter or an insider. I just think of him as a UK fan-boy who likes to talk about my favorite sports topic and gets paid to do so. I often listen to him just to hear about UK, right or wrong, the same way I would read your messages here or listen to your comments if we had a conversation about UK. I wouldn't call it "life-changing" but just some fun and a pass-time. And occasionally the blind squirrel finds a nut. But why the jealous anger? I must be missing something.

Maybe the critics are like me: jealous? I don't hate Jones at all, and view him the same as you do; he's a fanboy. But guess what, I'd (and I'm sure 99% of the people on this board) love to have his gig. Who wouldn't love to earn a living following and reporting on the Cats? And others on this board probably feel the same as I do: I could do that as well/better than Jones. He's got an air of arrogance around him that is offputting to me, but like you I tend to look past that for the UK gossip/rumor mill type stuff that fuels my off-season

 

[yoshukai]

Calipari is a scornful loser. He feels slighted by us, so he's going to ''burn our village down''. Listen to the dude sometime. There's a reason he's hated everywhere he leaves.

He is a petty, vindictive , narcissistic ass hole . Always has been.

 

[jbne222]

Nobody here using common sense. They may over pay for a few guys but it will end quickly, nobody with a substantial amount of money is going to spend 10-20 million on a college basketball roster just so the one in Lexington doesn't have exactly the players they wanted. And even if it was somewhat true and it happens for a few guys it will quickly end once the results on the court aren't what they wanted.

Yeah I think this report is more in reference to any of the previously committed recruits/returning players that consider UK, they will pay them more to make sure they all follow Cal to Arkansas. In addition to any players actively deciding between UK and Arkansas.

I don’t think they’re just offering every single player we go after just to spite us. I’m sure they would do the same thing if a player was picking between Arkansas and another school too. Doesn’t feel like huge news to me, just feels like their donors are essentially saying they will pay whatever it takes to get players.

 

[yoshukai]

I’ll summarize my follow-up thoughts to the discussion:

1) Cal is petty. He takes offense at everything. He WANTS enemies. Why isn’t it believable he’d do something irrational like overpay to get the better of UK (in his mind)?

2) I don’t understand the MJ hate on every. single. thead. I’m not a defender of him, but he’s the biggest voice in the UK sports world. It’s not like everything he says is a lie by default just because you hate him.

3) Jerry Jones is EXACTLY the kind of guy that would blow money foolishly to prove he’s the biggest axe swinging. He is literally a caricature of this concept. I could totally hear him saying “I’ll double it!!!”

4) Finally and most importantly, I’m just tickled to death that Arkansas has Calipari. Love it for them, actually.

Brilliant! I’m 100% with all of this .

 

[LXWildcat]

When do we start charging Cal rent for living in his head?

 

[yoshukai]

Welch’s offense was good last year but guess what no Welch next year for old Cal. No one’s afraid of a Cal coached team. I can’t wait till we play them next year. Pope is going to coach circles around that clown.

Brad will make everyone forget about Welch . Relax , Brads got this .

 

[IL Wildcat]

You ever been to Fayetteville? This is a silly post, and makes you sound salty.

Salty? Ok. Nope, I've never been to Fayetteville. I don't know of anyone who isn't a fan of the University of Arkansas (or maybe being forced to go there to support a team playing AGAINST Arkansas) who HAS been to Fayetteville. Who goes to Fayetteville on purpose? Well, the only people who go to Fayetteville MUST go there on purpose, because you certainly wouldn't go there otherwise. I grew up in West Tennessee and went to school in Ft Worth, TX back in the late 90s and I drove back and forth through Arkansas for 2.5 years and I never even came close to going to Fayetteville on those trips. I went through Little Rock about a dozen times but never got within 150 miles of Fayetteville. The closest I ever came to being in Fayetteville was one time when I went to the Passion Play at Eureka Springs, AR, and even then I didn't know how close we were to Fayetteville, or anything else in Arkansas since it was in the middle of nowhere. Someone said we were about 45 miles from Fayetteville sometime later. I had no idea. I know it has a population under 100,000 people and is the home of the University of Arkansas. That's about it. Maybe you could educate me so I don't sound so salty.

 

[NKYWildcat]

Dont lose the fact that at the end of the day, its still Cal thats on the other sideline. He's not near as intimidating there as he is on the recruiting trail.

 

[ThrowBackCat9]

In honor of Cow, I’m gonna smoke some hog on the grill today.

 

[Coach Marrow]

The truth is probably closer to that he mentioned paying double to impress people. It doesn’t mean that Jerry will follow through.

 

[UKBloke]

I’ll summarize my follow-up thoughts to the discussion:

1) Cal is petty. He takes offense at everything. He WANTS enemies. Why isn’t it believable he’d do something irrational like overpay to get the better of UK (in his mind)?

2) I don’t understand the MJ hate on every. single. thead. I’m not a defender of him, but he’s the biggest voice in the UK sports world. It’s not like everything he says is a lie by default just because you hate him.

3) Jerry Jones is EXACTLY the kind of guy that would blow money foolishly to prove he’s the biggest axe swinging. He is literally a caricature of this concept. I could totally hear him saying “I’ll double it!!!”

4) Finally and most importantly, I’m just tickled to death that Arkansas has Calipari. Love it for them, actually.

Jerry Jones has never, ever, given much to the University of Arkansas and sure as hell hasn't given it to Arkansas basketball. This would be totally detrimental to Akansas recruiting because the agents would have a field day with this. Arkansas doesn't have a major brand so they would be used up quickly and tossed when they didn't cave to demands. This makes no sense from Calipari's style and control tendencies and doesn't make sense from a recruiting perspective.

Salty? Ok. Nope, I've never been to Fayetteville. I don't know of anyone who isn't a fan of the University of Arkansas (or maybe being forced to go there to support a team playing AGAINST Arkansas) who HAS been to Fayetteville. Who goes to Fayetteville on purpose? Well, the only people who go to Fayetteville MUST go there on purpose, because you certainly wouldn't go there otherwise. I grew up in West Tennessee and went to school in Ft Worth, TX back in the late 90s and I drove back and forth through Arkansas for 2.5 years and I never even came close to going to Fayetteville on those trips. I went through Little Rock about a dozen times but never got within 150 miles of Fayetteville. The closest I ever came to being in Fayetteville was one time when I went to the Passion Play at Eureka Springs, AR, and even then I didn't know how close we were to Fayetteville, or anything else in Arkansas since it was in the middle of nowhere. Someone said we were about 45 miles from Fayetteville sometime later. I had no idea. I know it has a population under 100,000 people and is the home of the University of Arkansas. That's about it. Maybe you could educate me so I don't sound so salty.

Arkansas is a neat little college town surrounded by absolutely nothing. It is not easy to get recruits to go to Arkansas. Lexington is surrounded by way more and is in the middle of a city triangle. Not to mention it's in close proximity places like Indianapolis, Nashville, or Knoxville. Everyone living near Fayetteville wants out of Arkansas because the closest places to Fayetteville are Little Rock, Springfield Missouri, and Tulsa Oklahoma which isn't even that close. Lexington clowns Fayetteville from all perspectives. There is a reason Calipari looks so miserable, it's going to be hard for him to get anything done there.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Maybe the critics are like me: jealous? I don't hate Jones at all, and view him the same as you do; he's a fanboy. But guess what, I'd (and I'm sure 99% of the people on this board) love to have his gig. Who wouldn't love to earn a living following and reporting on the Cats? And others on this board probably feel the same as I do: I could do that as well/better than Jones. He's got an air of arrogance around him that is offputting to me, but like you I tend to look past that for the UK gossip/rumor mill type stuff that fuels my off-season

Yep, that sums it up for me pretty well nick. I wish I had thought of that before he did, and I am almost sure I could do the job as well. Haha! It does seem some go overboard when his name is mentioned though. And he does have an air of superiority about him, no doubt. I guess I just don't care about that. I mean, he did have that idea first and he's made a bundle off that idea. Must be a pretty smart guy- not a terrible businessman, at least. But yeah Nick, you and me could do what they do and we'd have a ball.

So, maybe it's not you being jealous, but it seems to me it's going around on UK message boards. When his name is mentioned, watch the reactions. It's immediate and it's salty.

 

[JHB4UK]

Bull spit. This assertion and rumor is garbage. Baseless. Fails when examined with a shred of thought or intelligence.

Explain to me why Jerry Jones, former Arkansas FOOTBALL PLAYER, owner of a FOOTBALL TEAM, is now suddenly in 2024 for the first time bankroll Arkansas BASKETBALL team in the millions? Because i can assure you as someone who follows NIL shit in college football he hasn't done jack squat for his alma matter. And could have since 2021.

Really really stupid to claim, what, Cal sweet talked him into this? Really?

To even try to be believable with this garbage why doesn't KSR say it is the Tyson feller funding it, you know, they billionaire Cal said was his close friend.

Live your life getting factual reporting and truth. Or live believing whatever Jones & his cabal spew out as infotainment.

 

[ArcticChar]

Jerry jones money. Lol. Meh, his team has won 5 playoff games in 28 years and hasn't made the nfc championship since 1995. Him and cow were made for each other.

 

[KYFOSSIL]

Yeah I don't get the NW Ark hate. It's a super nice area. Fayetteville, Spingdale, Rogers, Bentonville and Bella Vista are very nice. Spent a lot of time there.

Yeah, I live there about three years. My daughter was born in Fayetteville.

 

[track42]

Bull spit. This assertion and rumor is garbage. Baseless. Fails when examined with a shred of thought or intelligence.

Explain to me why Jerry Jones, former Arkansas FOOTBALL PLAYER, owner of a FOOTBALL TEAM, is now suddenly in 2024 for the first time bankroll Arkansas BASKETBALL team in the millions? Because i can assure you as someone who follows NIL shit in college football he hasn't done jack squat for his alma matter. And could have since 2021.

Really really stupid to claim, what, Cal sweet talked him into this? Really?

To even try to be believable with this garbage why doesn't KSR say it is the Tyson feller funding it, you know, they billionaire Cal said was his close friend.

Live your life getting factual reporting and truth. Or live believing whatever Jones & his cabal spew out as infotainment.

Except Jones wasn't the first to report this.

 

[Wildcat-in-STL]

Card and Williams can fit, but having 3 dominant bigs won’t work

How did Pope, Mccarty and Walker work ? All it takes is for 1 to be ok with getting the minutes but not starting if the team needs it.... then we're off n running.

I can’t believe Jones is actually reporting this nonsense.

Actually national guys like Matt Norlander reported it first.

 

[WildcatSir]

Jerry doesn't even spend money on his Cowboys lol

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

How did Pope, Mccarty and Walker work ? All it takes is for 1 to be ok with getting the minutes but not starting if the team needs it.... then we're off n running.

Actually national guys like Matt Norlander reported it first.

That was 1996, 2024 is a different brand of basketball

 

[Wildcat-in-STL]

That was 1996, 2024 is a different brand of basketball

So how did Wagner, Reeves, Reed, and Dillingham all play on the same team? Its not like it cant be done to convince the guys to still come.

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

So how did Wagner, Reeves, Reed, and Dillingham all play on the same team? Its not like it cant be done to convince the guys to still come.

My point isn’t that you can’t have multiple players in the same position, my point is you can’t have multiple bigs who can’t shoot

 

[L.O.D.]

Believing Matt Jones is like believing Joe Biden.

 

[DreadLox]

"Confirms" is wrong unless it's accompanied by evidence.

It reminds me of a line from The Firesign Theater: "And you can believe me, because I never lie, and I'm always right."

 

[TopCatCal]

It blows my mind the level of pettiness from Cal toward a program that didn’t do anything to him except overpay his worth for the last several years. Also seems like a foolish use of money by Arkansas donors, but it’s theirs to light on fire. Enjoy the mercenaries, I suppose. I’m sure they’ll play hard and for the greater good of the team…

If I were a recruit, Arkansas could triple what UK offers & I wouldn't play there if John Calipari is the coach.

 

[JAPierce_2]

Salty? Ok. Nope, I've never been to Fayetteville. I don't know of anyone who isn't a fan of the University of Arkansas (or maybe being forced to go there to support a team playing AGAINST Arkansas) who HAS been to Fayetteville. Who goes to Fayetteville on purpose? Well, the only people who go to Fayetteville MUST go there on purpose, because you certainly wouldn't go there otherwise. I grew up in West Tennessee and went to school in Ft Worth, TX back in the late 90s and I drove back and forth through Arkansas for 2.5 years and I never even came close to going to Fayetteville on those trips. I went through Little Rock about a dozen times but never got within 150 miles of Fayetteville. The closest I ever came to being in Fayetteville was one time when I went to the Passion Play at Eureka Springs, AR, and even then I didn't know how close we were to Fayetteville, or anything else in Arkansas since it was in the middle of nowhere. Someone said we were about 45 miles from Fayetteville sometime later. I had no idea. I know it has a population under 100,000 people and is the home of the University of Arkansas. That's about it. Maybe you could educate me so I don't sound so salty.

Ahhh gotcha, kind of what I figured. So you’ve never been there but know it sucks. Understood.

 

[fredmanthecatfan]

There was a riff between Cal and Stoops at UK. Could you imagine the stink that would come up at Arky if JJ was doubling offers to basketball players and not putting the same effort into Arky football.

 

[UKBloke]

Calipari is one of the best recruiters of all time. Probably top 5 at minimum, maybe top 2. He can convince a lot of people of a lot of things, just look at how he managed to get UK fans to ignore losing for a long time and not just that, convinced some that the players goals outweighed the need of the program to win, I used to be amazed when I'd log on and actually see UK fans roll with this pitch, lol

He can convince people of anything. It isn't until he burns his road after years that people wake up and that's where many are now within the fan base. So yea, he can convince these players to commit to a log jam, he did it here during the platoon years.

I will say though, Arkansas is not a major brand and I think many are going to be surprised at how much programs actually matter. Kentucky has a massive brand that sells on its own, and it matters because of the following and connection to the brand that players carry with them when they leave. You're never going to dismiss that aspect. Players still want to play for Kentucky over a program like Arkansas at the end of the day. They're having to create rumors about overpaying and outbidding BECAUSE of the impact of Kentucky's brand. Cal didn't worry about Arkansas when he was at UK, he's worried about UK when he's at Arkansas.

 

[truebluewildcat]

Why just UK players...what about good talent getting recruited by UNC, KU, Duke, Uconn, Arizona, etc...?

Great player getting sniffs from those schools get peanuts because they're not on UK's list?

Folks have made too much out of how much NIL at xyz school, and especially Ark now that Cal is there.

Cal won 1 title with a billion dollars of max contract talent. Yeah, sure, they didn't get that money til they were in the NBA, but nobody else could pitch that, and until NIL came about the most certain path to money was Cal, even more so than Duke, KU, UNC...

 

[UKBloke]

Why just UK players...what about good talent getting recruited by UNC, KU, Duke, Uconn, Arizona, etc...?

Great player getting sniffs from those schools get peanuts because they're not on UK's list?

Folks have made too much out of how much NIL at xyz school, and especially Ark now that Cal is there.

Cal won 1 title with a billion dollars of max contract talent. Yeah, sure, they didn't get that money til they were in the NBA, but nobody else could pitch that, and until NIL came about the most certain path to money was Cal, even more so than Duke, KU, UNC...

Agents are the ones pushing these crazy amounts. None of it is true, nobody is paying the kind of moneyu we're hearing about to an unproven athlete who can transfer whenever they want to. Football is where the majortiy of the money will go, and programs like UK will still put more into basketball than most. All of this will be obvious when the dust settles, right now the agents are trying to inflate the numbers to try and price the market around the numbers they want.

At the end of the day, nobody is going to "outbid" a program like UK. We might not want to get into the mud of bidding wars but nobody can outbid a program like this. Since we're UK we're going to hold the line and not get sucked into it. We don't have to, we'll pay respectable money that makes sense and you get the platform. If you don't want that, go somewhere else. I think Pope has been clear in this regard.

 

[Wildcat-in-STL]

My point isn’t that you can’t have multiple players in the same position, my point is you can’t have multiple bigs who can’t shoot

With Carr, he's a shooter, so it would have to be 25 minutes of having the stretch 4 and 15 minutes of letting Osobor and Williams use their athleticism and strength to score and attack the basket. Pope actually uses an offensive playbook so I trust he can figure how to get 2 guys some plays than Cal .

 

[Cold Stout Beer]

Nobody here using common sense. They may over pay for a few guys but it will end quickly, nobody with a substantial amount of money is going to spend 10-20 million on a college basketball roster just so the one in Lexington doesn't have exactly the players they wanted. And even if it was somewhat true and it happens for a few guys it will quickly end once the results on the court aren't what they wanted.

Agree. I'd love to play poker with some of these guys here as they implode and lose thers sh*t at the drop of a hat, lol.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Ahhh gotcha, kind of what I figured. So you’ve never been there but know it sucks. Understood.

So, you've been there? Please elaborate.

 

[Lazlo7]

I am just glad we have a coach that is above all that now. Cal and Arkansas can do whatever the heck they want. We will see how it turns out for them. Cal is like a boat "a hole in the water you through money into", It got us one championship and a lot of disappointing mediocrity.

Pope cares about the team, players, university and fans not his ego. What a nice change.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

If I was Kentucky, I'd call up every Arkansas state 1-star player, and offer them 50k, and then give them the number of the Arkansas AD and say "want to double this?".

 

[Jerbear76]

Does anyone have a link to Cal or anyone from Arkansas saying this?

 

[Wildcat-in-STL]

Does anyone have a link to Cal or anyone from Arkansas saying this?

Would you like to go on twitter and look back a week on matt Norlander's twitter ? LOL if you think Jones or Cal would say that out loud because its a ncaa violation