The Elephant in the Room: our NIL donations need to step it up.

[EliteBlue]

Not a popular opinion bc football is king…but I’d rather go all in on maintaining the basketball superiority as the greatest program in history then to try to luck into a good season every 10 years in football just to make the 16 team field and get beat in the first or 2nd game. Try to do more w less in football and send he bulk of the money to basketball

 

[YankeeCpt]

missing 7.5?
we dont just strive in KY, we thrive in KY 💰🤑

 

[Warf2012]

We've been punked repeatedly when trying to close on the truly elite guys.

We couldn't pull in Davis, or Lanier, or Wilson, or Osobor. Instead, we keep ending up with good but no great players. Ament is a longshot for the same reason. Pope went after Peterson, but we couldn't match what Adidas was offering him to go to Kansas.

This next Spring will tell me everything I need to know about how Pope's tenure is going to go here. Fan interest is at a fever pitch. The NIL is as high as it ever will be. Can Pope manage to bring in a superior haul, or will we get outflanked and outbid?

If we want to win at an elite level, the NIL budget needs to be top 3 in the nation. It was embarrassing getting outbid by Carolina for Wilson, just like it was embarrassing getting outbid by Tennessee for Lanier.

That kind of inferior positioning needs to end this Spring. If we can't spend big, we won't win big.

I mean… a lot of the problem seems to be Pope isn’t willing to give top dollar to anyone anyway.

UK already asks for a shit ton of money out of the fans as it is. Unless they scale back on ticket prices or k fund prices then I don’t see nil money increasing.

 

[runt#69]

We've been punked repeatedly when trying to close on the truly elite guys.

We couldn't pull in Davis, or Lanier, or Wilson, or Osobor. Instead, we keep ending up with good but no great players. Ament is a longshot for the same reason. Pope went after Peterson, but we couldn't match what Adidas was offering him to go to Kansas.

This next Spring will tell me everything I need to know about how Pope's tenure is going to go here. Fan interest is at a fever pitch. The NIL is as high as it ever will be. Can Pope manage to bring in a superior haul, or will we get outflanked and outbid?

If we want to win at an elite level, the NIL budget needs to be top 3 in the nation. It was embarrassing getting outbid by Carolina for Wilson, just like it was embarrassing getting outbid by Tennessee for Lanier.

That kind of inferior positioning needs to end this Spring. If we can't spend big, we won't win big.

It is very much a concern. You're right. Thanks for staying on it and alerting us that didn't know that much about the situation. I appreciate the heads up and your careful pointing that out, as you have in the past. It has been more and more on my mind as this season goes.

We shall see. It will be interesting.

 

[Docpath1972]

People seem confused about NIL and the money that will be taken from the athletic department and distributed to the athletes as salary. The latter will be very similar among the SEC schools with marginal differences as to distribution between the sports with some allocating more in football. This is not NIL and it will be this pool of money that determines where many athletes will go to school. The court agreement mandating paying the athletes does not forbid NIL. I said from the beginning that this would not benefit UK, a school in a very poor state. NIL money is not department money even though some schools are directing the large pools

 

[fisherscatfan]

Wish we knew if this was true or not. Nil will hurt uk. Just not enough money in the state. I would say ul will have more funds than uk. Does anything from ticket sales or concessions go to nil? Not sure how uk can compete in this free agency market

I’ve been saying it since Day 1. NIL is a real problem for UK and nothing the “regular” people of Kentucky can do. Once it became pay for play, tradition didn’t mean a damn thing. Cal just sped it up with the NBA and Cal U stuff.

Cal came to UK when he did to be able “to recruit the best of the best”. NIL 100% changed that.

 

[PopesReignOverCardinals]

Who decides how much NIL money a specific recruit is offered? I'm not aware of any recruit that we lost because the money wasn't there, it just wasn't offered.

 

[ManitouDan]

I'll let the university write blank checks to 17-18 years olds or a hot shot transfer from .... ah .... say Dayton . I'm not giving my hard earned money to teenagers , I've got 2 I already raised and they are on their own .. if I want more I'll adopt . And if that means we root for whatever Money the U will buy .. then so be it .. The moment players accept only getting paid when their performance is worthy is when I'd consider giving , even then it's doubtful . Complicated process these days , but it's college in name only , this is pro sports at the HS level. SAD

 

[Butters' Dad]

We've been punked repeatedly when trying to close on the truly elite guys.

We couldn't pull in Davis, or Lanier, or Wilson, or Osobor. Instead, we keep ending up with good but no great players. Ament is a longshot for the same reason. Pope went after Peterson, but we couldn't match what Adidas was offering him to go to Kansas.

This next Spring will tell me everything I need to know about how Pope's tenure is going to go here. Fan interest is at a fever pitch. The NIL is as high as it ever will be. Can Pope manage to bring in a superior haul, or will we get outflanked and outbid?

If we want to win at an elite level, the NIL budget needs to be top 3 in the nation. It was embarrassing getting outbid by Carolina for Wilson, just like it was embarrassing getting outbid by Tennessee for Lanier.

That kind of inferior positioning needs to end this Spring. If we can't spend big, we won't win big.

I've been saying this from the moment I decided to post.

 

[Grs51]

But, I thought they said that NIL money was flying in when Pope came aboard? There were numerous reports regarding how much more funds we were reeling in than we were getting with Calipari at the helm.

We are Kentucky, and there should be zero excuses when it comes to getting the elite recruits.

Getting a “ looking a lot like Indiana “ vibe

 

[Butters' Dad]

We are reportedly Top 4 in NIL money. If you have a problem with quality of players you probably need to look at the top and not lack or money.

Sure we are, Jan. Just compare our roster to any of the other "Top 4" in NIL and get back to me.

 

[hootervillearnolds]

Remember 8-10 years ago, when they first started talking about getting money for the kids. We all thought that the schools with a big fan base, especially a national one would have the players clean up and clamor to come. I imagined how many jerseys John Wall could have sold. Then when announced as NIL I thought it was all over for all but the top ten or so schools. Nobody sold more apparel than UK. Then reality set in. This isn't Name, Image, Likeness on a shirt or even a billboard...this is pay the kids from a pot with no limitations filled by wealthy alums. The school may not be paying but the coach and recruiters control the purse and that purse is limited not by $50 jerseys but by Billionaire alums. Add to it the ability to transfer at will. And well UK is not in the tip top tier with just Duke and KU. I guess sometimes you get what you ask for and maybe we did at UK and IU.