$8 million for Stokes?
- Thread starter Apple14
- Start date
Gotta disagree. He’s not the same at all. Hes different in his own way. Will be the number one pick in the draft after his freshman year so we won’t have him for two years anyway. He good damn good. Folks can downplay it all they want… we need to get him locked down. This is important for Pope. Imo
Exactly. But other than that he is a good player. He will produce on the court. If we don’t want to pay for the number one player in the country then who do we want to pay?
Why not? UCLA did and that was 60 years ago.
Who really believes this kid will be in college for two years? Not me. I'm calling BS on this one.
You can believe me now. As I mentioned above I still love the cats and want them to win but that is the only basketball I watch and it’s been that way for a long time. I am 72 years old and the joy and purity of the game has been stolen from me and many others I know.
Ehhh...possible, with a $8 Million two year deal. I mostly agree with your point though. It's just that, if you said it was $2 mil for the 1st year...that'd be amongst the highest paid so far in NIL(supposedly). Add $6 mil for a 2nd year....that's getting into REAL MONEY territory if he fell outside the top 10 draft picks after year 1 even. Either way, it might not be huge generational wealth but 8 mil ain't a poke in the eye either.
I agree. Supposedly we have a 20 million payroll this season. Closest teams to us in payroll amount are in the 10 million+ bracket or so. I have been a Cat fan my entire life and while I think players deserve a percentage of the revenue , I am not a fan of just outspending everyone for a recruit. I am a little concerned that college teams will be for sale in the near future. UK will keep its name and history but a Joe Craft type of guy will own the team. Sounds crazy but just look at what has happened to college sports just in the last few years.
I never want to see Kentucky lose a player when the money is there, just because someone wants to take a stand against the nature of the game now. That is silly, because the alternative is losing. Players get paid now. It's not money out of your pocket. People need to get over themselves, accept the fact, or don't watch!
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I think his point is if UK or any team wins this way, then what’s the real pride and accomplishment in winning?
Unless you have as much of a true salary cap and equal amount of resources, then it all becomes video game entertainment without any real core integrity.
But let's be real here there hasn't been integrity for many years before nil, teams were already doing whatever they wanted look back on the UNC scandal and what they got away with zero punishment.
Your statement has absolutely nothing to do with my point about people bitching and moaning over NIL.
Does not. Let me spell it out for you. My statement clearly was directed at those people who think Kentucky shouldn't pay a player because they think the amount is ridiculous when the money is there. You don't get to misconstrue my point to make it look like Kentucky lost out on players because they came up short.
Considering the #1 player in the 2025 class AJ Dybantsa gets $4.1 million. $4 million isn't unreasonable for Stokes.
Let’s buy the best players we can get and hang another banner. Sounds like Mitch has given Pope the green light to sign studs every year. And Coach Pope seems to really dig deep into the players thought process and their approach to the game before signing them.
Maybe I’m looking at it wrong. As a Kentucky fan I think it would be awesome to have 100 million dollar roster if we have that kind of money. If you gotta buy championships then buy them. I’m just an average fan. That’s my team I want them to be the best at everything like Pope said.
Like I said it’s not my money. This is just college sports. Not world affairs. Stokes wants 4 million to play this year then give him 5. That’s all I mean when I say idc it’s not my money. If we got it like that then prove it. Save me all this if the character fits stuff. It’s not cheating. Idc about a sportsmanship award. Give me a player that’s gonna talk a little
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We got a good coach. I think we got good players this year. Should want better players every year. Go get some better players. If we are gonna suck in football to have some basketball championships I’m ok with that. I became a wildcat through the bball program.
just an average fan of course so it may be different than somebody’s opinion that has spent real money with the program and is closely connected. I’m just a fan from afar that’s catches games on tv and keeps up with everything UK through the internet.
Like I said it’s not my money. This is just college sports. Not world affairs. Stokes wants 4 million to play this year then give him 5. That’s all I mean when I say idc it’s not my money. If we got it like that then prove it. Save me all this if the character fits stuff. It’s not cheating. Idc about a sportsmanship award. Give me a player that’s gonna talk a little
.We got a good coach. I think we got good players this year. Should want better players every year. Go get some better players. If we are gonna suck in football to have some basketball championships I’m ok with that. I became a wildcat through the bball program.
just an average fan of course so it may be different than somebody’s opinion that has spent real money with the program and is closely connected. I’m just a fan from afar that’s catches games on tv and keeps up with everything UK through the internet.
Very true.
I think the difference now is the crazy money. Football it’s much grosser. One of the worst programs in P4 history (IU) has a billionaire booster who basically can buy rosters and pay coaches whatever they want..
He’s been quoted several times saying this is the best time in history to be a college basketball coach and that he loves this.
That’s why I think we get him. I heard it was 3 million, but that we would go as High as needed. He will only be here a year anyway. He’s worth that cost to me for recruiting in the future. It’s an investment in winning and future recruiting.
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Yeah I agree it's crazy but if we don't spend crazy on the players somebody else will so I just would much rather it be us getting the best players.
We are the Yankees and we have to spend to win. That’s the deal now. We may not like it but we wanna win. Spend away.
Imagine Duke signing Flagg for two years. No way either stay that long but imagine if he was returning this year. Everyone would be on here saying we need to pay talent like that.
Way more than that. I’m looking for tickets for all games this year. Anything below the bottom of the upper level is $200-$500 a ticket for Eastern Michigan’s, and games like Indiana are bare minimum $500 all the way to $2,000 for great seats. I found two lower level seats for around $350 i think I’ll buy for an early season cupcake just so I can legitimately go once this year. You can find some middle uppers for under $100 if you don’t care where you are really for cupcake games.
Disagree. We don‘t need this. Be competitive, but don’t over spend. This is Kentucky. It’s a privilege to play here. And if it quits being that, then it’s over with, and it doesn’t matter anymore.
So what? Of course he’s saying that. You want him to say “man this sucks, I hate the NIL, you guys shouldn’t be paid, it’s ruined the game, but come play for me anyway”?
Coaches do NOT like the NIL. It makes their work much harder, it’s ruined all forms of rules and structures that protected the game, and it’s created outside influence where coaches no longer can protect players. It’s horrible. No, a guy like Mark who loved the game he played in college does not like this bastardized version. Pitino, Calipari, and the rest don’t like it either. Tubby was just talking about how much he’s glad he’s not coaching.
It’s called coach speak. I wouldn’t expect Mark to say anything different.
What’s the privilege to play here? Or anywhere? It’s a privilege to have top athletes imo. Sports is about championships. If the topic isn’t sports I might have a different opinion.
that privilege stuff is gonna turn us into Indiana
We won’t get the top players unless we pay what they are worth. Just like any other team in sports. Maybe some give a small hometown discount but you have to be competitive in salary.
UK has never lost a player over money. UK will never lose a player over money.
Spending big in NIL is a necessity to compete for championships. When Kentucky is cutting down the nets, fans in the moment aren't even going to think about much the NIL budget was.
Do you have some inside information? That’s just your opinion if not which is fine but kind of wild to say it in a matter of fact way.
So if we have the highest payroll in the country and sign players like Stokes because of it, doesn't that increase the pressure even more on Pope to produce? If we pay out all this money and can't even get a SEC regular season, SEC Tournament, or FF out of it, what's the point then?
Better find a coach that can. But I think Pope gets it done honestly.
Yes there will be a ton of pressure to win big. That has never wavered at the University of Kentucky. Mark Pope isn't ducking the expectations unlike the previous coach who made every excuse in the world after losses. Hell, even made them before losses happened while making $10 million per year. Pope has only coached one year. Had to completely rebuild the program last year, and he was doing a great job until the season got derailed by injuries. Kentucky hasn't even played the first game yet with this new roster. It is premature to be making claims like what's the point of all of this. Stokes hasn't signed with any school yet. You are assuming Pope doesn't win SEC Championships, Final 4s and Nationals Championships when making statements like this. If down the road Pope doesn't meet those expectations, your complaint will be valid. Until then, give him the chance first.
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Nobody has any idea beyond what is being reported. Anybody who claims to know is FOS.