Self says AJ Dybantsa not worth the NIL expenditure

[G-PIP]

According to Sports Illustrated, Kansas coach Bill Self says bringing in an OAD player – even the “best player in the Country” AJ Dybantsa (I thought Cooper Flagg was the best player in the Country?) - for millions of dollars is not a wise investment if you’re goal is to win a title, especially when the average NIL figure for a top-tier transfer portal player is estimated to be $750,000. According to Self, “this isn’t about Kansas being cheap; it’s about long-term strategy.” Also, right or wrong, this doesn’t appear to be a case of sour grapes by Self because KU voluntarily withdrew from recruiting Dybantsa after they were included on his final list of schools.

Is there a reason a program like BYU would be willing to pay Dybantsa when a perennial title chaser like KU would not?

 

[ukfan1622]

According to Sports Illustrated, Kansas coach Bill Self says bringing in an OAD player – even the “best player in the Country” AJ Dybantsa (I thought Cooper Flagg was the best player in the Country?) - for millions of dollars is not a wise investment if you’re goal is to win a title, especially when the average NIL figure for a top-tier transfer portal player is estimated to be $750,000. According to Self, “this isn’t about Kansas being cheap; it’s about long-term strategy.” Also, right or wrong, this doesn’t appear to be a case of sour grapes by Self because KU voluntarily withdrew from recruiting Dybantsa after they were included on his final list of schools.

Is there a reason a program like BYU would be willing to pay Dybantsa when a perennial title chaser like KU would not?

Yes, they just moved into the Big 12 and have big bucks for NIL. Getting the top player in the country could raise their national profile in a big way so he is worth more to them than he's worth to a blueblood. They have a reputation of being a place a lot of kids wouldn't want to play for because of their rules on drugs and drinking and caffiene and pre-marital sex. But there are plenty of top athletes coming out of high school who don't want to put anything into their bodies that hampers their performance and you can be sure they look the other way on the sex rule. After all, if there's no video how do you prove it?

 

[SkyPrince1]

Good timing with the covid year going away.
Will be very few super seniors in 25-26 so AJ is probably a legit NPOY candidate.

 

[ukcatz12]

Is there a reason a program like BYU would be willing to pay Dybantsa when a perennial title chaser like KU would not?

Kansas is good enough where they don't have to take that chance. BYU is not.

 

[4UK4Life]

I bet Self wishes we were back in the days of it being illegal to paying for recruits. He could get them a lot cheaper then

 

[NociHTTP]

He's spot on. OAD players are not worth the cost.

 

[BlueSince92]

As if these times weren’t weird enough already now BILL SELF is saying things I can really get behind.

 

[Big BlueBeard]

Good for Self. About time a coach stood up and said this. I’m all for NIL, 100%. But the $$ being thrown around in ludicrous.

 

[Fox2monk]

It’s not for the figure he is reportedly asking for. That’s for sure.

 

[Catzman]

We went from 450k for a top player in the first year of NIL to 4.5mil a few seasons later. At some point in time you'd think this would level out, otherwise we will get to NBA single season numbers for a legit NBA Allstar. I'm with Self on this one. You can get 2 to 3 REALLY good players (starter material) for the price of one AJ who, unless is surrounded with other top talent, isn't enough to win a championship on his own. I'd rather have a couple high end transfers than 1 OAD 18 year old freshman.

 

[Fox2monk]

We went from 450k for a top player in the first year of NIL to 4.5mil a few seasons later. At some point in time you'd think this would level out, otherwise we will get to NBA single season numbers for a legit NBA Allstar. I'm with Self on this one. You can get 2 to 3 REALLY good players (starter material) for the price of one AJ who, unless is surrounded with other top talent, isn't enough to win a championship on his own. I'd rather have a couple high end transfers than 1 OAD 18 year old freshman.

Of course it will, I don’t think any of these numbers get paid honestly. I can see a million max for real. I know Osobor got 2 million apparently with something to back that up but that should be an huge outlier. Incoming freshman should be around 750k max.

 

[kywildcat41086]

What happens when none of these schools want to pay these OAD kids $2 million a year? What do they do then? Or if it rises to $4 million a year for their 1 year of service. What happens if these schools say enough is enough we aren’t paying it!!! Eventually something has to happen and it has to level off because this is getting ridiculous.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

What happens when none of these schools want to pay these OAD kids $2 million a year? What do they do then? Or if it rises to $4 million a year for their 1 year of service. What happens if these schools say enough is enough we aren’t paying it!!! Eventually something has to happen and it has to level off because this is getting ridiculous.

The Mormons will pay, even if no one else does. It's part of their religion to have people in high levels of success and use their influence to gain converts. So they'll pony up the cash from an evangelical level to put the spotlight on BYU.

 

[TheDude73]

As much as I can't stand Self and KU, I'm actually happy a top tier coach (who cheats) came out and said this. These kids and their agents need to be put back a few notches.

 

[TheDude73]

What happens when none of these schools want to pay these OAD kids $2 million a year? What do they do then? Or if it rises to $4 million a year for their 1 year of service. What happens if these schools say enough is enough we aren’t paying it!!! Eventually something has to happen and it has to level off because this is getting ridiculous.

It's called supply and demand. When people don't pay for goods on the open market, it's a sign of being overpriced, and the sellers adjust.

I'm glad this is happening already and hope it keeps happening. Yes, you'll have the one or two schools that pull a NY Yankees and buy everyone, but even then I'd not be surprised to see the NCAA put in an NIL "cap" to balance everything out.

 

[westerncat]

I have said for years that you can get to a point that you can price yourself out of the market. No kid is worth paying a million dollars to play one year. I hope this NIL overpricing falls flat on it face. If all the schools ban together they can control this NIL.

 

[JwUKFan11]

AJ has been considered the best player regardless of class for a while. Consensus wise.

 

[Ron Mehico]

AJ has been considered the best player regardless of class for a while. Consensus wise.

DJ Wagner was the best player regardless of class when he was in the 10th grade

 

[KAB Cats]

From a fan perspective, unless you're privy to an actual NIL budget, it's impossible to say who is worth what because we have no context of what's available. Even then, an NIL "budget" by all indication isn't a finite dollar amount. You could have a player like AJ Dybantsa where big companies are likely legitimately interested in utilizing his NIL compared to other where it's really more of a collective allocating money. For example, a shoe company throwing up huge dollar figures vs a collective paying 100k.

The lack of transparency with NIL is its biggest flaw in my opinion.

 

[Smashcat]

According to Sports Illustrated, Kansas coach Bill Self says bringing in an OAD player – even the “best player in the Country” AJ Dybantsa (I thought Cooper Flagg was the best player in the Country?) - for millions of dollars is not a wise investment if you’re goal is to win a title, especially when the average NIL figure for a top-tier transfer portal player is estimated to be $750,000. According to Self, “this isn’t about Kansas being cheap; it’s about long-term strategy.” Also, right or wrong, this doesn’t appear to be a case of sour grapes by Self because KU voluntarily withdrew from recruiting Dybantsa after they were included on his final list of schools.

Is there a reason a program like BYU would be willing to pay Dybantsa when a perennial title chaser like KU would not?

Self's right.

 

[littlecreek]

Start letting them go straight to the pros from high school and pay all of them the same in college. My 3 oldest kids went to college and worked 2-3 jobs and still had student loan debt. I don’t have much sympathy for these players.

 

[Larry Skaggs]

Mormons control the vitamin and supplement industry. They will pay him what he wants and give him his own line of gummy chewables

 

[jwphelps]

According to Sports Illustrated, Kansas coach Bill Self says bringing in an OAD player – even the “best player in the Country” AJ Dybantsa (I thought Cooper Flagg was the best player in the Country?) - for millions of dollars is not a wise investment if you’re goal is to win a title, especially when the average NIL figure for a top-tier transfer portal player is estimated to be $750,000. According to Self, “this isn’t about Kansas being cheap; it’s about long-term strategy.” Also, right or wrong, this doesn’t appear to be a case of sour grapes by Self because KU voluntarily withdrew from recruiting Dybantsa after they were included on his final list of schools.

Is there a reason a program like BYU would be willing to pay Dybantsa when a perennial title chaser like KU would not?

I agree with him, especially as we have seen at UK it is not always a slam dunk that incoming freshman is going to pan out.

 

[JwUKFan11]

DJ Wagner was the best player regardless of class when he was in the 10th grade

No he wasn’t.

 

[Lempface]

No he wasn’t.

I don't know for a fact and won't say it as such but I do recall him being #1 for quite some time.

 

[G-PIP]

Self's right.

And, of course, Self is not saying he wouldn't like to have Dybantsa on his team.

 

[G-PIP]

I agree with him, especially as we have seen at UK it is not always a slam dunk that incoming freshman is going to pan out.

And I think even when they pan out, it's usually in a complimentary role - which can be really important. To me anyway, it was the way Calipari tried to use freshmen, not the freshmen themselves, that was a poor philosophy and unnecessarily risky - especially given the program he was at (UK).

 

[UKhoopCat]

I bet Self wishes we were back in the days of it being illegal to paying for recruits. He could get them a lot cheaper then

He most certainly lost his advantage to today’s NIL.

 

[NociHTTP]

And I think even when they pan out, it's usually in a complimentary role - which can be really important. To me anyway, it was the way Calipari tried to use freshmen, not the freshmen themselves, that was a poor philosophy and unnecessarily risky - especially given the program he was at (UK).

He also sought out recruits that desperately wanted to be in the NBA, so they already had one foot out the door before they got here, so they were part of the problem.

 

[chroix]

I have my fingers crossed that Mark Pope has redefined what the model should look like going forward. Give me a bunch of $750k seniors that can shoot lights out and aren’t afraid to bang versus a $2 million prima donna project any damn day. Anytime money is involved you have to start factoring ROI and the super star freshman rarely if ever pan out to be worth it.

 

[chroix]

What would you have paid for Devin Bookers freshman output? You might want to say a lot but what’s 10ppg really worth? Could you get the same output for less money?

 

[jeffky]

He would be perfect for cal can't shoot from the outside or the free throw line but athletic and long great player but I want lose any sleep for a 1 year lay over player thank God that went to Arkansas

 

[ukcatz12]

What would you have paid for Devin Bookers freshman output? You might want to say a lot but what’s 10ppg really worth? Could you get the same output for less money?

Wisconsin probably would have paid $4 million to Booker to go to UK if they knew they would get that performance out of him in the Final Four game.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

Self can remember when you could buy a good power forward for $250,000...Of course, that was before it was legal under NCAA rules...

 

[thebluestreak]

Hair plugs ain’t free. #rugdoctor

 

[aceman509]

Start letting them go straight to the pros from high school and pay all of them the same in college. My 3 oldest kids went to college and worked 2-3 jobs and still had student loan debt. I don’t have much sympathy for these players.

The reason they can't go straight to the NBA anymore is because of the NBA, not NCAA. NBA GMs were tired of risking their jobs on kids out of high school with little data against good competition. Kids can go play overseas if they want to be a pro, which some do. But the NBA has no incentive to allow kids to get drafted out of high school again.

 

[NociHTTP]

What happens when none of these schools want to pay these OAD kids $2 million a year? What do they do then? Or if it rises to $4 million a year for their 1 year of service. What happens if these schools say enough is enough we aren’t paying it!!! Eventually something has to happen and it has to level off because this is getting ridiculous.

And I would hope those kids said "fine, I'm taking my services elsewhere". Because we don't really need this in collegiate sports. Nor does the cost of going to college/university need to be anywhere near as high as it is.

 

[jwphelps]

And I think even when they pan out, it's usually in a complimentary role - which can be really important. To me anyway, it was the way Calipari tried to use freshmen, not the freshmen themselves, that was a poor philosophy and unnecessarily risky - especially given the program he was at (UK).

Over the last several years the teams that made it to the final 4 were very heavy in multi year players.

 

[G-PIP]

Over the last several years the teams that made it to the final 4 were very heavy in multi year players.

"He ain't lying!"

 

[WildcatNC]

I agree with him 100%.

If you're trying to win titles, it's a bad investment. If your looking to appear cool and get press eyeballs all year, then it will do that.

Probably a good investment for teams trying to make a splash and increase their media and recruiting profile.

If you have a loaded team and want to pay for a Wall, AD, Zion, type kid and surround him with experience it's probably a good idea. It just depends.