AJ Dybantsa to BYU

[Cold Stout Beer]

The day of getting as many one and done's as possible is done and gone, thank goodness.

Pope is going to KILL it with grad transfers that want to play one more year in a fun offense, wear the UK jersey, etc. Sprinke in a few freshman that won't be a cancer or use our facilities to hang out for a year and college basketball is nowhere close to dead for UK fans. It was for sure under Cal's model.

 

[Shaudylo]

I remember when early on the talking point was him coming to Kentucky because of Terrence Clarke.

Come to find out they weren’t even friends lol . Money and Young being an NBA guy was most likely the reason why .

 

[Catlogic15]

Adam Zagoria says it was close to $7 million.

Pope probably wondering where that money was when he was there.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

I really really don't understand that, but yes, at least not to a blueblood.

Almost everything out of his mouth was about going pro. Finally mentioned a championship but went for all the pro stuff implemented and getting him ready to go pro.

 

[Ryan Lemonds Hair]

That's because when the Kentucky job came open, Arkansas opened their checkbook, Kentucky opened their checkbook, and BYU was pressured downstream. Almost all major programs with coaching changes have had to offer NIL packages to coaches as an additional benefit to landing high name coaches.

In some ways, if anyone gets credit for AJ Dybantsa to BYU, it's Jeff Enfield going to SMU

It likely turns out the Arkansas fans may be the only ones who will regret Andy Enfield going to SMU.

 

[dc513]

I may be wrong but I prefer hitting the portal early and getting 4-5 older experienced players instead of chancing that much on a young freshman. Does anyone think the change up defense against Gon. would have worked as well with 2-3 18 yr old on the floor? I don't.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

It likely turns out the Arkansas fans may be the only ones who will regret Andy Enfield going to SMU.

Yeah, Cal's pro prep one year camp may be overtaken by BYU.

 

[BlueInBrooklyn]

Well, he definitely went to the only school he’s guaranteed not to get…

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

Well, he definitely went to the only school he’s guaranteed not to get…

.......who's to say what happens behind closed doors.

On a related note. Dybantsa sounds a bit like an STD, so......

 

[Kingslayer07]

Goodman says $7 million is wrong. He says it was $4-5 million.

Nobody really knows, unless it comes from the athlete's mouth. Can't trust any number.

 

[DaDirtyLeb69]

Goodman said he's getting 7-9 million in NIL. That is insane.

That amount for essentially 6-7 months is crazy

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

That amount for essentially 6-7 months is crazy

Jasper probably got a million. Took the home town discount

 

[LineSkiCat14]

This is all the proof you need to realize just how important NIL funding is in today's college athletics. And it doesn't matter if it's a 1AD player that we might not want to deal with (after all this time under Cal), it's going to be every recruit.. 5-stars to no stars.

Kentucky's #1 mission needs to be "How do we a top5 NIL fund?"

 

[Tayshaun4Three]

That's so screwed up it's pathetic. College sports as we know it are dying. This kid is making more than his coach and ours too. This is equal to making 200k/year for 35-40 years to play 1 season of college bb. Amateur sports are gone.

True, but he better play out of his mind this year or he will be the catalyst for the market correction, aka less spending going forward. $7 mill is a lot and the pressure will be immense

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

This is all the proof you need to realize just how important NIL funding is in today's college athletics. And it doesn't matter if it's a 1AD player that we might not want to deal with (after all this time under Cal), it's going to be every recruit.. 5-stars to no stars.

Kentucky's #1 mission needs to be "How do we a top5 NIL fund?"

Start getting all that foreign horse money involved or beg Tamara Gustovson to forget all about her Alma mater.

 

[Pygmy Sasquatch]

That's a lot of magic underwear

 

[westerncat]

One of these days we are going to see a team that has a lot of problems with one player getting that much money for one season. I see a school that has a lot of discord between the players. It's coming.

 

[bluedog79]

Anywhere but the big dogs. And him saying anything about winning the national championship made me laugh my ******* *** off for a good 15 seconds like Pitino.
Good luck there in nopussyville, USA

 

[bigblueinsanity_rivals250340]

According to what I’ve gathered they wouldn’t open the checkbook up for Pope but would for Kevin Young.

If you're looking at it objectively and in a vacuum, young was the better resume of the two. Pope never won an NCAA tournament game.

Pope was a good fit for uk. We needed someone to give our program back to the fans and he did that. Then he assembled a much stronger staff here and has better resources. Plus he ran a college program before, which means something.

All told, pope is working out well for us but young might well be the better fit especially if theyre spending this money. Might as well have an nba coach if theyre going to have an nba roster

 

[FitchandMurray29]

Classy move…

 

[kywildcat1021979]

Rumor has it around 3 to 4 million.

Not worth it!

 

[nickhorvathsuxazz]

One of these days we are going to see a team that has a lot of problems with one player getting that much money for one season. I see a school that has a lot of discord between the players. It's coming.

I think it's already here...a lot of high payroll rosters underperforming early in the year, for some reason. I'm looking at Kansas, specifically

 

[Tayshaun4Three]

I think it's already here...a lot of high payroll rosters underperforming early in the year, for some reason. I'm looking at Kansas, specifically

Self may have stoked the flames a little more, openly saying Storr hasn’t been playing well enough. He was a big money addition and Kansas has yet to get much in the way of ROI

 

[UK90]

I really really don't understand that, but yes, at least not to a blueblood.

It can be explained in two words: Mormon money.

BYU’s standing in both football and basketball is likely to rise substantially in the coming years. Those folks are embracing this NIL thing with religious fervor.

 

[Tayshaun4Three]

It can be explained in two words: Mormon money.

BYU’s standing in both football and basketball is likely to rise substantially in the coming years. Those folks are embracing this NIL thing with religious fervor.

I have a new NIL slogan for them: “Come to BYU and become a god among men.”

 

[anonymous_2024]

https://www.zagsblog.com/2024/12/10/top-prospect-a-j-dybantsa-pledges-to-byu/

Zagsblog hearing 7 milly too.

 

[catsfanbgky]

I really really don't understand that, but yes, at least not to a blueblood.

Their head coach has huge NBA ties. He sad his main goal was to "get to the NBA". He will play for a coach who coached in the NBA before this year taking the BYU job, Young coached his favorite player (Kevin Durant). Durant spoke highly of the BYU coach Kevin Young, and he has several connections in the NBA to help get feedback for AJ.

 

[Bluesbrother]

Adam Zagoria says it was close to $7 million.

Thats almost Mark Stoops money. I wonder if BYU is paying that to their new BB coach. College BB and NIL is out of control.

 

[podgejeff_]

Good.

He wanders off to a place where he's no threat to anything.

He clearly wasn't a culture fit with what Pope's doing, I remember when Pope first got here he contacted Dybantsa and it seemed like UK was dropped from the list almost immediately.

 

[kywildcat1021979]

Don't blame the kid for taking the money and it's going to set a precedent going forward.

Then I wonder how many players see this and don't feel like they are getting what they "deserve" and start to sit out or try renegotiate their own NIL deals? Didn't that UNLV QB already try this? This could get ugly real quick for college basketball.

 

[NerlensCat]

AJ and his father made it clear he was going to the highest bidder. He’s a 1 and done whatever he goes so why not.

It was funny that his dad actually tried to debunk the”it is all about the money”, to make it seem like the coach/school relationship mattered.

 

[Cats192]

True, but he better play out of his mind this year or he will be the catalyst for the market correction, aka less spending going forward. $7 mill is a lot and the pressure will be immense

Absolutely.

Everyone is going to know what he got paid. The pressure is on to perform. And if he's not "HIM" right away, BYU fans should worry about him starting to tilt.

 

[Cats192]

One thing: I don't want to hear any more of the "Don't criticize the players. They're kids." They're all paid professionals now. If you can cash the checks, you can be criticized.

 

[kywildcat1021979]

One thing: I don't want to hear any more of the "Don't criticize the players. They're kids." They're all paid professionals now. If you can cash the checks, you can be criticized.

This right here amateurism went out the door as soon as NIL was introduced!

 

[Cats192]

I also want to say:

I worry about the rather rapid increases in the NIL cost of top recruits. 7 million for AJ. Number 1 next year will be 8 or 10. We'll see teams costing 25, 30, and one day even 50 million. This is completely unsustainable.

I don't care about rich people's money. I hope our richest will pour billions into NIL. But at some point, the rapid increases become problematic.

 

[brian5562]

This isn't LDS church money. This is coming primarily from Ryan Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz, he obviously has deep pockets and loves BYU basketball more than he loves his own Jazz team.

 

[nickhorvathsuxazz]

It can be explained in two words: Mormon money.

BYU’s standing in both football and basketball is likely to rise substantially in the coming years. Those folks are embracing this NIL thing with religious fervor.

It's a well known fact that the word Mormon is in actuality a portmanteau created from the original: more money

 

[Cats192]

This isn't LDS church money. This is coming primarily from Ryan Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz, he obviously has deep pockets and loves BYU basketball more than he loves his own Jazz team.

Not arguing, just curious. Where are you getting that?

I've heard the Church of LDS has DEEP pockets and was ready to step up when Young demanded BYU up it's NIL game to go there.

 

[brian5562]

Not arguing, just curious. Where are you getting that?

I've heard the Church of LDS has DEEP pockets and was ready to step up when Young demanded BYU up it's NIL game to go there.

Live here in Utah. It's well know that Ryan Smith and his friends are the ones funding NIL at BYU. Smith and Danny Ainge told coach Young he has an open checkbook with them.

 

[Ryan Lemonds Hair]

It is easy to amass amazing wealth when LDS members believe that their salvation is contingent on tithing.

So just curious if he will be required to tithe on his 7 million dollar salary?