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Matt Doherty

Don’t know if that’s true or not, but Oscar was not a kid. If he wanted to do it, and they were going to pay him to do it, that should have been left up to Oscar.
I assume there could be some legal problems with a non us citizen getting paid for a political endorsement but idk more of a UK legal department or compliance thing not coach Cal though
 
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Real story is the Crafts wanted Oscar to come to a derby invite and they reached out to calipari. Cal lied and said Oscar was not available saying he was out of country and family member was sick. Crafts texted Oscar themselves asking how the family member was and he said he had no idea what they were talking about and was never told about the invite
That started it all. There was a time Oscar and cal had a terrible relationship over it as well.

Also by the way there is a thread on TOS about this. Where it’s basically this story and not the other that’s confirmed.
 
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Something isn't adding up then.

1. Calipari had the overwhelming #1 class with Wagner, Bradshaw, Edwards, Dillingham, and Sheppard. How's he pull that in with no NIL support?
2. He also had a very solid class coming in for 2024/25. If NIL is required, and not available, then how is he pulling in these great classes?
3. Calipari's garbage coaching seasons started in 2020-21. Did the Crafts really pull support 2 full years prior to running for governor? Do they have a Delorean equipped with a flux capacitor?
4. Calipari left on his own. Nobody forced him out. He sat down next to Mitch Barnhart in front of TV cameras and said he was committed to coaching UK, a week later he put deuces up and ran out of town. Nobody forced him.

Something obviously soured the Crafts and Calipari. But Cal's coaching ineptitude was what led him to lose and then to leave... he had overwhelming talent on his rosters, he just refused to play coherent lineups or adjust his coaching.
its not that he didn't have NIL money, its that he had to solicit to get it as opposed to benevolent donors giving it to him while he could stay at home and play with his dogs. It was the driving reason he went to Arkansas. Cal drove off donors and he honestly thought UK would back him on getting NIL money. Instead they saw it as a way to drive him out
 
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My first thought was, " let me guess, Kelly is a Republican". Looked it up and bam, she ran as a Republican. Cal's a flaming northeast liberal Democrat, of the sleepy Joe variety- there's no way in hell he would put any form of support behind a Republican because being a right winger in today's society, let alone the left wing dominated sport of college basketball would be recruiting suicide due to optics. it's cool to be liberal, it's career suicide to be tied to the Republican Party.
 
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Something isn't adding up then.

1. Calipari had the overwhelming #1 class with Wagner, Bradshaw, Edwards, Dillingham, and Sheppard. How's he pull that in with no NIL support?
2. He also had a very solid class coming in for 2024/25. If NIL is required, and not available, then how is he pulling in these great classes?
3. Calipari's garbage coaching seasons started in 2020-21. Did the Crafts really pull support 2 full years prior to running for governor? Do they have a Delorean equipped with a flux capacitor?
4. Calipari left on his own. Nobody forced him out. He sat down next to Mitch Barnhart in front of TV cameras and said he was committed to coaching UK, a week later he put deuces up and ran out of town. Nobody forced him.

Something obviously soured the Crafts and Calipari. But Cal's coaching ineptitude was what led him to lose and then to leave... he had overwhelming talent on his rosters, he just refused to play coherent lineups or adjust his coaching.
I think the answer to the first question is Cal’s track record still gives him a lot of pull with players even if the NIL amount isn’t as much as other schools. He can just point to the NBA and say “yeah you might make 200K less with me next year, but I’ll make you millions”
 
Real story is the Crafts wanted Oscar to come to a derby invite and they reached out to calipari. Cal lied and said Oscar was not available saying he was out of country and family member was sick. Crafts texted Oscar themselves asking how the family member was and he said he had no idea what they were talking about and was never told about the invite
That started it all. There was a time Oscar and cal had a terrible relationship over it as well.
This is so dramatic. What makes it even worse is we're talking about adults in their 60's acting like this.
 
If true that puts Cal in a tough spot. You can like someone and be grateful for how they've helped your program, but it doesn't necessarily mean you want them to be Governor
Kind of like many felt about Cal, we liked what he did for the program but no longer wanted him as coach.
 
I'd heard Cal backed the wrong Governor candidate and that led to NIL funding drying up. He didn't have to overtly support Craft, but you cannot overtly support her opposition.
I don’t recall him endorsing anyone. However, if you watched her campaign, it was shit. She didn’t even make it out of the primary. God bless ‘em for their financial support but money does not a leader make. I think we see that every day with clowns on both sides of the aisle roaming around in Frankfort and D.C. Cow is gone. I am happy. Whatever dynamics took him away matters little to me.
 
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Heard an interesting comment yesterday and thought I’d share.

Was at a work conference where former UNC head coach Matt Doherty was the guest speaker. He was asked if he were to coach again how he would try to navigate today’s game compared to the way it was in the early 2000s when he last coached.

First words out of his mouth were that he would ask the school what his NIL budget would be because without a good one you can’t compete. Very reasonable answer.

However, it was this little comment he threw in that woke me up, something to the extent of:

“John Calipari just left the Kentucky job because of his NIL budget. Their biggest booster, the Craft family, pulled his funds because he wouldn’t let them use one of his player’s to help Mrs. Craft run for governor, so they just pulled all his funds.”

I know it’s been mentioned here, but I was pretty taken back by how matter of fact he was about it. Can’t help but think that’s how it is being viewed through coaching circles, that the Craft’s just ran Cal out.
This did not happen with Oscar and the Crafts. It’s complete nonsense.
 
According to Kentucky NIL law, endorsing a political candidate is not against the law. I have cut/paste a portion of the law below.

"A student-athlete shall not enter into a NIL agreement to receive compensation from a third party relating to the endorsement or promotion of:
01. Sports betting;
02. A controlled substance;
03. A substance the student athlete's intercollegiate athletic association forbids the athlete from using;
04. Adult entertainment; or
05. Products or services that would be illegal for the student-athlete to possess or receive"

It also reads that a college can not prohibit or punish a player for the NIL deals they make. Maybe Oscar's visa stood in the way, and the NIL deal was stopped because of that... But you figure as a billionaire that their lawyers would have found a way to get him the money and not break the rules. This and what allegedly happened with Reeves does not paint a great picture for Cal.
 
Can someone tell me the name of UKs practice center? Question of the day.
i think that is where the rift started
just my speculation Cal wanted a new facility and was told no then he went out and got some of his former players to pay for it
i would assume the name would have changed
 
So they are supposed to give money to NIL with zero return? How is that NIL then? That’s pay to play. These athletes were given the right to make money off their name. That usually involves endorsements or work. Otherwise, it’s pay for play.
So you think the players should’ve campaigned for Craft to be governor because of NiL I know that’s not what you mean.
 
Yall are shooting so much bullshat out your arses but completely confident it is the truth. Amazing.

The GOP gov primary was in May 2023. I assure you, Cal has pissed off and run away a lot of high dollar doners YEARS before that.

He didn't run away like a coward because of lack of NIL funding! His dumbass didn't know how to use it! He still thought college basketball was 2012 and he could win with 6 true freshman one and doners.

Trying to make the Crafts who are so incredibly generous to our sports as the badguys is garbage trash.
 
By some accounts, the Craft’s gave Oscar a shit ton of money and even let him live on their property. I also heard he was very close with the family.

If he was willing to do it, and if it was also discussed as part of the NIL funds that were being flowed to him, then I don’t see a problem. He was a grown ass man capable of making his own decisions.

I think it had more to do with Cal wanting complete control and not wanting anyone to have any kind of influence over one of his players.
That would be a bad look and piss off a portion of the fan base. I vote no
 
UK basketball (and by association, its players) should in no way be associated with any political party. If the Crafts want to donate as individual donors, go for it. But tying NIL funds to endorsement of them as politicians, that shit should be strictly prohibited.
I’m not thrilled with the idea of it either, but prohibited by who? To my knowledge, no one has any authority to “prohibit” someone from choosing to use their name, image, or likeness to offer a paid endorsement.
 
Cal can't, or at least shouldn't be able to dictate what a kid does of court.

That's even more bull shit, than the actual rumor.

In a perfect world I would agree that it's not ideal for college athletes to get involved in politics, but again off court what can you really do. Their time, dime, and life.

To each their own. No coach should have the authority to shut that down.

There didn't seem to be a whole lot of resistance to all sorts of athletes across all sorts of sports making political statements in the arena, wearing the colors of their teams. Quid pro quo Clarice...

If they can voice their opinion on court, they should be allowed to do it off, especially if there was some money involved for them.
 
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I do think the Craft’s have way more pull than we realize, but also, I can’t recall a college player ever campaigning for a politician. That sounds odd.

But billionaires throwing around money for entertainment. Money we all appreciate by the way, and that is why they have so much power. It wasn’t coincidence the jet flying around to see Scott Drew and Hurley were registered to Joe Craft’s LLC.

I mean we're only a week away from tracking the Craft private jet.
 
Something isn't adding up then.

1. Calipari had the overwhelming #1 class with Wagner, Bradshaw, Edwards, Dillingham, and Sheppard. How's he pull that in with no NIL support?
2. He also had a very solid class coming in for 2024/25. If NIL is required, and not available, then how is he pulling in these great classes?
3. Calipari's garbage coaching seasons started in 2020-21. Did the Crafts really pull support 2 full years prior to running for governor? Do they have a Delorean equipped with a flux capacitor?
4. Calipari left on his own. Nobody forced him out. He sat down next to Mitch Barnhart in front of TV cameras and said he was committed to coaching UK, a week later he put deuces up and ran out of town. Nobody forced him.

Something obviously soured the Crafts and Calipari. But Cal's coaching ineptitude was what led him to lose and then to leave... he had overwhelming talent on his rosters, he just refused to play coherent lineups or adjust his coaching.
I like the back to the future reference
 
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By some accounts, the Craft’s gave Oscar a shit ton of money and even let him live on their property. I also heard he was very close with the family.

If he was willing to do it, and if it was also discussed as part of the NIL funds that were being flowed to him, then I don’t see a problem. He was a grown ass man capable of making his own decisions.

I think it had more to do with Cal wanting complete control and not wanting anyone to have any kind of influence over one of his players.

Or it's simply Cal protecting his kids.
 
I’m not thrilled with the idea of it either, but prohibited by who? To my knowledge, no one has any authority to “prohibit” someone from choosing to use their name, image, or likeness to offer a paid endorsement.
The NCAA does. They prohibited NIL for decades. They only allow it now. They could (and probably should) prohibit NIL for political advertisement.
 
So you think the players should’ve campaigned for Craft to be governor because of NiL I know that’s not what you mean.
For free no. The Crafts hire them as spokespeople through NIL. I give you 60k to appear at 5 events with me. That’s exactly what NIL was SUPPOSED TO BE. If I’m giving to NIL I want something in return. I will never send a dime to buy players.
So YOU think the Crafts should give 2 million to NIL and NOT ask for anything in return. I know that’s not what you mean?
 
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The NCAA does. They prohibited NIL for decades. They only allow it now. They could (and probably should) prohibit NIL for political advertisement.
Courts have already ruled the NCAA can put zero restrictions on NIL. Have you not been following. Tennessee and Virginia sued because they were openly buying players and the NCAA wanted them punished Courts said the NCAA can not regulate NIL in ANY way.
 
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The guy couldn’t get past the first weekend of the tournament and lost twice in the opening game. With #1 or #2 recruiting classes. He alienated himself to boosters because he got the big head and thought he was bigger than the program.
Thank God he’s gone!! However it happened I’m glad.
 
The guy couldn’t get past the first weekend of the tournament and lost twice in the opening game. With #1 or #2 recruiting classes. He alienated himself to boosters because he got the big head and thought he was bigger than the program.
Thank God he’s gone!! However it happened I’m glad.
Any sensible person can see this . But we’re on rafters so…..
 
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Something isn't adding up then.

1. Calipari had the overwhelming #1 class with Wagner, Bradshaw, Edwards, Dillingham, and Sheppard. How's he pull that in with no NIL support?
2. He also had a very solid class coming in for 2024/25. If NIL is required, and not available, then how is he pulling in these great classes?
3. Calipari's garbage coaching seasons started in 2020-21. Did the Crafts really pull support 2 full years prior to running for governor? Do they have a Delorean equipped with a flux capacitor?
4. Calipari left on his own. Nobody forced him out. He sat down next to Mitch Barnhart in front of TV cameras and said he was committed to coaching UK, a week later he put deuces up and ran out of town. Nobody forced him.

Something obviously soured the Crafts and Calipari. But Cal's coaching ineptitude was what led him to lose and then to leave... he had overwhelming talent on his rosters, he just refused to play coherent lineups or adjust his coaching.

This.... dummies believe what they want to believe but if the Crafts cut Cal off, it had nothing to do with politics and more to do with the way he treated them and other boosters. He was "La Familia" for NIL, he was "my players have contributed x amount to build a new practice facility". He had obvious alienated the money ppl at UK thinking he could do it on his own.

Again, nothing to do with backing a governor candidate and more thinking he was more important than he was - hence, $hitting the bed when he tried to renegotiated with the Arkansas offer and being told he breached his contract and would let go with cause (no buy out) if he didn't move on.
 
Something isn't adding up then.

1. Calipari had the overwhelming #1 class with Wagner, Bradshaw, Edwards, Dillingham, and Sheppard. How's he pull that in with no NIL support?
2. He also had a very solid class coming in for 2024/25. If NIL is required, and not available, then how is he pulling in these great classes?
3. Calipari's garbage coaching seasons started in 2020-21. Did the Crafts really pull support 2 full years prior to running for governor? Do they have a Delorean equipped with a flux capacitor?
4. Calipari left on his own. Nobody forced him out. He sat down next to Mitch Barnhart in front of TV cameras and said he was committed to coaching UK, a week later he put deuces up and ran out of town. Nobody forced him.

Something obviously soured the Crafts and Calipari. But Cal's coaching ineptitude was what led him to lose and then to leave... he had overwhelming talent on his rosters, he just refused to play coherent lineups or adjust his coaching.

Pretty much said what I was thinking. Cal the narcissistic victim clown.
 
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Oscar is 24 years old. Was prob 21-22 years old when this happened. Not a “kid.”

Nothing personal against the posts calling these guys “kids” but cmon. Hey if it’s a student rule or a team rule then so be it, but if 18 year olds can go get shot up overseas for the country then these no longer amateur college athletes (getting paid) can make their own decisions with this stuff. Just my opinion.

Pretty obvious real reason why Cal wouldve be salty over it.
 
Cal - the guy who had 2 lottery pics coming off the bench, and the year previous the returning NPOY. Cal - the guy who has had the #1 or #2 recruiting class for 15 straight years. Cal - who hasn’t had a number 1 seed in 10 years and won 1 NCAA tournament game in 4 years. Hey Cal - it wasn’t talent or NIL that was the issue.
 
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