Kentucky Basketball reportedly has a massive NIL budget for 2025-26 roster
Should be a fun few weeks in Lexington.
www.aseaofblue.com
Got to spend money to make money đź’° 8 to 10 million
Kentucky reportedly has a massive NIL budget for 2025 and 26 sea of blue
- Thread starter jeffky
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Got to spend money to make money đź’° 8 to 10 million
The staff doesn’t act like this is the case….don’t believe we have won a single bidding war yet. I find it all rather puzzling. The only thing that kinda explains our behavior (and I’m totally guessing) is perhaps the coaches are worried about donations in future years and so they are being very financially prudent these first couples of years???
Kentucky has a lot of competition for players with deep pockets as well. Fans need to face the facts that it’s a new world in college sports.
I think part of it might be the number of players we are going to need. Who knows how much of that money has already been spent on incoming recruits and what will be spent on guys returning. So, if you need 5 more guys, are you going to grab one guy for $3 million and then split the other $2 - $3 million on 4 other guys. Or do you look at 5 guys at $1 million or so a year.
I'm sure they have a very detailed spending plan and a system set up that evaluates a players NIL worth based on their anticipated output.
On who dent, who was always staying out west coast? Sometimes it’s about how u manage ur money look at Washington and great Osobor or what Kansas did last year. People are impatient…
Kansas State also spent big and was terrible.
Yeah they had a losing record. It’s sometimes attitudes or what fits on a team or what you need.
This portal cycle just started so we only have one cycle of evidence. It's stated that we have money left over from last year which will help us this year now that we have a full cycle to go after people, last year Pope had to do a lot in very little time.
8-10 mil, even if accurate, is not even top tier. Now consider we already have almost 2 mil of that sunk into jj and will probably pay at least 1.5 to oweh and 750k to Garrison. Moreno got some too.
Compare that to the insane money some of these guys are about to get and we will once again be a moneyball team.
The crafts basically fund everything from nil to coaches salaries. Cant expect fans to make a significant impact. Mitch doesn't seem interested in finding more big fish. Doesn't look like mitch is interested in sport specific revenue sharing.
Even if we go all in to get an impact guy, there wont be enough to surround them with anyone. The brand alone isnt enough, but combined with style of play it will get us a discount but nothing crazy.
So this is what we will be until either the rules or mitch change.
Compare that to the insane money some of these guys are about to get and we will once again be a moneyball team.
The crafts basically fund everything from nil to coaches salaries. Cant expect fans to make a significant impact. Mitch doesn't seem interested in finding more big fish. Doesn't look like mitch is interested in sport specific revenue sharing.
Even if we go all in to get an impact guy, there wont be enough to surround them with anyone. The brand alone isnt enough, but combined with style of play it will get us a discount but nothing crazy.
So this is what we will be until either the rules or mitch change.
I feel like the proof is already in the pudding as far as having confidence that CMP will sift, sort, evaluate, have a spending plan, etc and have all bases covered. If he does identify any area he would need help, he has got it. He proved to me, at least, that he knows exactly the right kind of player and attitude is indeed, all important, for a player here at the University of Kentucky.
In my book, none his guys underperformed on the whole this past season. A great talented player may look right to come here on talent alone, but there is so much more to it than that, and CMP knows it. It was evidenced this past season.
And just because a player is really super talented, he may not be the best fit for our team, here.
I think that was part of Cal's dichotomy here at UK. Going purely after the best talent regardless of fit or roster construction, or other concerns (or ABOVE other concerns) ... didnt equate to the level of performance his teams gave. Although he basically said "this isnt for everyone here at kentucky" , he still didn't master matching his talent with the right kind of mental toughness and other things needed to keep the highest level of success he enjoyed here.
Pope comes in, takes a hastily brought together team but the right fit and character and enough talent that gave better results than anything Cal had done in the past 6 years.
we're in great shape now
Go Big Blue !
In my book, none his guys underperformed on the whole this past season. A great talented player may look right to come here on talent alone, but there is so much more to it than that, and CMP knows it. It was evidenced this past season.
And just because a player is really super talented, he may not be the best fit for our team, here.
I think that was part of Cal's dichotomy here at UK. Going purely after the best talent regardless of fit or roster construction, or other concerns (or ABOVE other concerns) ... didnt equate to the level of performance his teams gave. Although he basically said "this isnt for everyone here at kentucky" , he still didn't master matching his talent with the right kind of mental toughness and other things needed to keep the highest level of success he enjoyed here.
Pope comes in, takes a hastily brought together team but the right fit and character and enough talent that gave better results than anything Cal had done in the past 6 years.
we're in great shape now
Go Big Blue !
You don’t think we out bid anyone for Kam Williams? We offered 3 million for Dent. How much would you have given ? Half our budget? You can’t build a TEAM by giving half your budget to one guy .
I think breaking the bank for Dent or Eaglestaff would have been very shortsighted. The portal is just now heating up.
As this cycle is only days old I was mainly referencing last year….the recruitments that come to mind are (1) Great Osobor (2) Johnell Davis & (3) Austin Mahaney. Anytime it turned into a protracted battle surrounding money we walked away and ceded the player to the other bidder. Pope seems to prefer a “blitz” recruiting strategy where he goes on a personal visit with the player and their family and gets them to commit in a 48 hour period. Anything that becomes longer we walk away. And while I think Dent was always staying west it was worth the risk to make an offer. But the little rumors/reporting we heard was that UK gave Dent only 48 hours to decide on our offer. I’m actually not trying to criticize the coach staff just making observations about our recruiting behavior.
Crazy to pay JJ that much. He's an unproven freshmen but with that money you have to assume he will start or expect to start.
Maybe they don’t think anyone is worth the money yet or they are saving it for a potential later entry of NBA Draft returnee. We never know. The good thing is it’s there. The more guys pick others schools the less spots and money is there. We need to get guys but we should be picky as well.
10M is absolutely top tier, Ohio States entire NIL for Football last year was just over. 20M and that was at the top
I agree. Crazier still because he was a uk legacy and in state guy. We got no discount at all.
The hidden value though of that commitment was pope needed a recruiting win and got it.
The other interesting part was apparently Morgan and Morgan apparently came through with some solid money. They do alot of nil scattered across several teams, basically spending on any major schools located in cities where they have offices. However seemed like they gave something extra for jj.
Thats another big fish Mitch could work on but doesn't seem interested.
How many programs are in the top tier, ahead of Kentucky? What is their budget?
I don't think Jasper got $2m for a single year. All we hear are the dollars, but we never hear the term. Is that for 1 year, 2, 3, 4?
I think something to keep in mind during this portal season is the faith or lack-there-of in our returning players. I believe moves made in the portal will be more building around what we currently have vs what we can afford. Maybe there's a great player out there that is asking for a large bag that technically we can afford but maybe we don't feel like its necessary to get that player because we have that skill-set covered by someone currently on the roster.
For instance; how much faith does the staff have in Colin Chandler? I think he is a tricky situation. He appears ready to take the next step; good shooter, above average athlete, great defender, good passer, etc. Does the staff see him taking such a big leap next season that there is no need to get in the portal at his position? Or.......do they think he is still another year away and need to get a stud at his position? And.......can you afford to do that if the fallout is maybe he jumps in the portal himself? What if he is going to be really really good? How do you navigate his situation?
The other wildcard is just how ready/good is Jasper Johnson? Can he come in as a freshman and be ready to lead this team? It seems unlikely given the current make-up of college basketball, and the sport getting seemingly older and more mature. Johnson by all indications is outstanding, but the trend now is that freshman (outside of a Cooper Flagg) no longer are the answer to lead a team to the promise land.
I think it's going to be a fascinating next week, but I think the moves this staff make will be based purely on what they want/need rather than what they can afford and whether they'll be outbid.
For instance; how much faith does the staff have in Colin Chandler? I think he is a tricky situation. He appears ready to take the next step; good shooter, above average athlete, great defender, good passer, etc. Does the staff see him taking such a big leap next season that there is no need to get in the portal at his position? Or.......do they think he is still another year away and need to get a stud at his position? And.......can you afford to do that if the fallout is maybe he jumps in the portal himself? What if he is going to be really really good? How do you navigate his situation?
The other wildcard is just how ready/good is Jasper Johnson? Can he come in as a freshman and be ready to lead this team? It seems unlikely given the current make-up of college basketball, and the sport getting seemingly older and more mature. Johnson by all indications is outstanding, but the trend now is that freshman (outside of a Cooper Flagg) no longer are the answer to lead a team to the promise land.
I think it's going to be a fascinating next week, but I think the moves this staff make will be based purely on what they want/need rather than what they can afford and whether they'll be outbid.
8-10 if accurate isn't enough to run with the big dogs.
That was a good number 2 years ago.
We need to be at 15 mil + to get multiple top end players plus fill out the roster with good players.
That was a good number 2 years ago.
We need to be at 15 mil + to get multiple top end players plus fill out the roster with good players.
One benefit this year is that Pope has a way better foundation than a year ago. His incoming freshman class is better than last years, with one of the incoming players being a potential OAD star (Jasper Johnson) and having 3-5 possible returners with one of those being an elite talent (Otega Oweh). I agree with what Fox2Monk said, we need to fill the holes but we also can be picky in how we do so.
If you’re not landing Top 5 freshman or Top 5-10 portal players, then you are not spending big enough! How many of those did K-State have?
Just look across any sport of your choosing…
The teams with the highest payrolls, are historically the teams with the best regular and post season results! Teams that nickel and dime, are historically in the bottom of the results!
Look it up, the body of evidence is undeniable.
Sure. Osu will pay 6 mil or so this season in just coordinator salaries. They did spend wisely because they spent on mostly line of scrimmage instead of qb.
Psu will pay anything. Notre dame has endless money. So does texas, who paid a fortune for two QBs. Now Nebraska entered that fold too. Miami is there and showed it by paying only a good qb 4 mil.
In basketball you have uconn, kstate, sj, sac state, duke, Houston, and probably other im forgetting that will literally pay whatever it takes to get the players they want. Doesn't mean success, but we're talking about rosters.
No matter how people try to rationalize a different state of reality, its still true that we are down the list. We have basically one donor who funds everything in two sports including coaching salaries and an ad seemingly disinterested in finding other solutions or other big donors.
I mean do you think any of those 3 were worth $2m plus?? All 3 were kind of busts which is just further proof that there's more to it then just buying the most expensive dudes.
I don’t believe that “48 hours to decide “ for a second. Great Osobor was never going anywhere but to play for his old coach. Pope recognized this and quickly moved on even while Osobor was still on campus. Do you mean Aidan Mahaney? We wanted Brea over him and we got him. Funny that you think we got “outbid “ by UCONN for Mahaney but we didn’t “outbid” them for the player both teams preferred.
I just listed them in another post. Thats just from the top of my head.
Idk the term either but multi year deals are extremely rare. I don't think theyre allowed but noone cares about that. Theyre just not market standard especially not for anyone with one and done aspirations.
8-10 million is ok but I think it takes more to go around.Kentucky Basketball reportedly has a massive NIL budget for 2025-26 roster
Should be a fun few weeks in Lexington.www.aseaofblue.com
Got to spend money to make money đź’° 8 to 10 million
Well Ohio St football just overwhelmed cfb with a $20m payroll with 80+ players. Not many schools out there spending $8m+ on basketball. Maybe just us, Kansas and Duke.
If you don't, he goes elsewhere where they give him 2 mil!
JJ is a very important recruit. Pope needs to develop him into a OAD! And I believe he will!
Im not trying to hype him up, but I believe in this offense he will be elite! But a lot of recruits will be watching to see if Pope can put talent in the NBA!
Also think Lewis will surprise a lot of folks!
His game also fits nicely in this offense!
He isn't required to beat his man constantly to get his! He appears to be a good shooter on caught and shoot. Also off the dribble. Nice pullup and floater as well!
This past year we really struggled in ball handling, creating off the dribble without butler. We have 2 guys here that look the part. Auburn "pettiford"
Was rated about the same as Lewis and I can see similar talent level!
You don’t have to be snarky….I don’t agree with your version of events at all. I think Mahaney was viewed at the time as the superior player and UCONN did in fact outbid UK for him. Once he committed of the places Brea was looking at both UCONN and KU were full so we secured Brea as the last available elite option to him likely at a discounted price.
I’m wondering if a Cooper Flagg type went to Pope and said, “Duke is offering $2.8 million, but I will go to UK for $3 million…” Does UK THEN spend the money that they are supposedly sitting on?
My point is, every other big time program has already went out and publicity flexed their NIL muscle…, except for UK!
That’s not up for debate! And that’s a bit concerning.
My point is, every other big time program has already went out and publicity flexed their NIL muscle…, except for UK!
That’s not up for debate! And that’s a bit concerning.
Did you know that John Morgan (the firms founder) grew up in KY and is a huge UK basketball fan? The firm was started in FL and his son went to UF so they are big boosters of UF athletics as well. But yeah John Morgan is a big UK basketball fan.
Well you just stick with your little theory that we are outbid for everyone we don’t get but we never outbid anyone for a player we get. lol
Barney needs to leave. He came in to be AD in the Stone Age. I mean internet was only a few years old and now he is being forced to do something he hates. He’s already fix mindsetted. It’s lunacy to expect him to adapt to nil. Idk if Eli has announced his retirement either but there is a real need to refresh the admin of the university especially our athletics. Barney has taken athletics and dragged our top all time bb team into losing big on several occasions. The fact he continues on doesn’t give me hope for our program to grow to get back where it needs to be. 3 tournament misses and the worst season in our history because of Barney’s management style. We have slipped to a second tier team in the SEC. Young people don’t know this but CM was as instrumental as pitino in our resurgence in the 90. I saw an article from 2019 of the longest tenured ADs and Barney was 3rd. That was 6 years ago. Nothing is going to change until Barney is put out to pasture and replaced with an AD who is cut throat when it comes to winning. We should have 20 million available to access if we ever needed. Pay the price and watch our brand grow again. Top program should be leading the way on nil we should be making the rules. Instead we are watching half of the sec out spend us in basketball!!
I do know that. Thats why i think mitch should be trying to cultivate a better relationship with him. He has major political ties to Florida as well, it being their home base and he had a fairly serious chance at a decent gubernatorial run there that he might want to revisit.
Currently they spend alot but spread it across many programs as evidenced by their nil ads and billboards across the southeast including UL. Would be nice to see uk get more but that requires finesse that apparently we just don't have.
No, the report was Dent was asking for $3M, and we were a finalist. Did not say we offered the $3M.
