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.

 

[ukcatz12]

He’s right tho. What exactly do you think the football team is ever going to accomplish?

Indiana football made the playoff this year. There’s no reason we couldn’t with the right coach.

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

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.

Is it us needing to give more money or our coaching staff not wanting to pay top dollar for players?

 

[LineSkiCat14]

The state of KY just doesn't have the money in the way USC/Cali or UT/Texas would.

Were going to have to lean into the fanbase for some of this. You have to work your strengths.. UKs strength is a rabid and large fanbase. If we can't tap into that in some way, then we will be no different than Ole Miss or Missouri in due time.

 

[Supafuzz75]

Who said we need to give money? I'm sure they have enough to keep me out of giving haha.. I don't like sports enough to be dilly dollyin any of my money to kids..

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Who said we need to give money? I'm sure they have enough to keep me out of giving haha.. I don't like sports enough to be dilly dollyin any of my money to kids..

I question if the school has the funds to keep UK in the top25 of NIL offering. That's the problem. It's a state school in one of the poorest states in the nation. Not trying to dog all the UK grads here, but its not exactly churning out millionaire business owners.

That's why USC is getting recruits despite being a program that I'm not sure has any fans, because they have a millionaire or billionaire donor somewhere.

 

[YardCat]

Indiana football made the playoff this year. There’s no reason we couldn’t with the right coach.

They might have been a .500 in the SEC

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

I question if the school has the funds to keep UK in the top25 of NIL offering. That's the problem. It's a state school in one of the poorest states in the nation. Not trying to dog all the UK grads here, but its not exactly churning out millionaire business owners.

That's why USC is getting recruits despite being a program that I'm not sure has any fans, because they have a millionaire or billionaire donor somewhere.

I don't disagree, but how do you imagine we were able to offer Hurley $12.5 million?

 

[Phil_The_Music]

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 get what you are saying but this relationship has to work both ways. UK needs donations but people who donate need to feel confident that there's a return on their investment. Losing to the worst team in the SEC, at home, with one of the best crowds we've ever had, doesn't inspire much confidence. We could have won this game with the players we currently have, but we didn't for a multitude of reasons and talent wasn't one of them. I love Pope but he let a terrible coach out coach him last night. He has to do better if he wants more money.

 

[gojvc]

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.

How would we know?

 

[Supafuzz75]

I question if the school has the funds to keep UK in the top25 of NIL offering. That's the problem. It's a state school in one of the poorest states in the nation. Not trying to dog all the UK grads here, but its not exactly churning out millionaire business owners.

That's why USC is getting recruits despite being a program that I'm not sure has any fans, because they have a millionaire or billionaire donor somewhere.

I've seen nothing money wise saying we can't get recruits.. Money isn't why we missed Wilson,, it was 100% playing time and promises plus not knowing how Pope will play freshmen.. I only wanted him to add that "gotcha" 5* because never seen him as a instant hit type player.. We won't know anything with Pope and UK for another year to be honest.. He got 3/4 freshman he went after and I'm fine with that this year.. Don't need any more than that nowadays.. Now come next season and he strikes out in the portal,, that'll be the time to "freak" out.. Outside of a handful of freshmen,, the portal will be the deciding factor how good or bad teams will be here on out..

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I've seen nothing money wise saying we can't get recruits.. Money isn't why we missed Wilson,, it was 100% playing time and promises plus not knowing how Pope will play freshmen.. I only wanted him to add that "gotcha" 5* because never seen him as a instant hit type player.. We won't know anything with Pope and UK for another year to be honest.. He got 3/4 freshman he went after and I'm fine with that this year.. Don't need any more than that nowadays.. Now come next season and he strikes out in the portal,, that'll be the time to "freak" out.. Outside of a handful of freshmen,, the portal will be the deciding factor how good or bad teams will be here on out..

Do we know that? I was under the impression that we aren't fully sure what caused us to lose out on Caleb, meaning it could be that we didn't want to pay, or that we didn't love his attitude, or a little bit of both

I do agree, we need a full off season, maybe even 2 full off seasons, so he can build his roster. I'm really not worried yet. Were the most injured team in D1 power conference schools right now.

But I do worry about our potential NIL offering. There's a lot of schools that can outbid us without batting an eye. Places like BYU and USC, aren't even basketball programs, but they have proven they are fine to drop a few million on any player they want. And while I'm not necessarily saying that's a good thing to do.. we do need to keep in mind that if we want to remain a top program, we're going to have to spend like one. You can't win titles anymore being cheap and relying on our "legacy".. now more than ever, we have to pay for wins.

 

[m080470]

I think this hypothesis is a bunch of BS. Last night's loss didn't have a thing to do with NIL. Caleb Wilson going to UNC means what? That he got more money? OK, so what? Well then why TF is UNC sucking in a pathetic ACC if they can just write any amount check they want? According to a lot of the national talking heads, the biggest basketball NIL rosters have been Arkansas, Indiana, and Kansas State and not a single one of those 3 programs is going to the NCAA tournament.
Unless we're talking a generational talent like a John Wall or AD, I would not give a big bag of cash to a 5-star recruit. Justin Edwards, God love him, was ranked the #2 recruit in the country by some of the major services, Kahlil Whitney was #6. So is Wilson going to be more AD or more Justin Edwards? I'm leaning closer to Edwards.
I'd be much more willing to pay a high price for a transfer that I already know can be an elite college player sprinkled in with high 3 star and 4-stars who are going to be in the program more than a couple of years with the occasional 5-star who wants to be one and done

 

[Supafuzz75]

Do we know that? I was under the impression that we aren't fully sure what caused us to lose out on Caleb, meaning it could be that we didn't want to pay, or that we didn't love his attitude, or a little bit of both

I do agree, we need a full off season, maybe even 2 full off seasons, so he can build his roster. I'm really not worried yet. Were the most injured team in D1 power conference schools right now.

But I do worry about our potential NIL offering. There's a lot of schools that can outbid us without batting an eye. Places like BYU and USC, aren't even basketball programs, but they have proven they are fine to drop a few million on any player they want. And while I'm not necessarily saying that's a good thing to do.. we do need to keep in mind that if we want to remain a top program, we're going to have to spend like one. You can't win titles anymore being cheap and relying on our "legacy".. now more than ever, we have to pay for wins.

I'm just going off what his pops said about playing time..