JMI cost us Collins?

[travisbickle]

Either that OR pope really is that much worse than Gillispie or Tubby at recruiting...which is a possibility I haven't completely counted out

It’s possible but I keep coming back to the idea that, for instance with Collins, every piece of info we had was he was about to put pen to paper. Pope had recruited him at minimum a year at this point so it’s not like Pope’s personality wasn’t known to him.
And to hear most people, that doesn’t matter anymore it’s just money (I disagree with that but it’s obviously a big factor). And yet something changed and he didn’t sign early.

I also think Pope (again if the article was true which I believe it was) is not seasoned yet with how this works at this level, but to me it’s an easily fixable thing. If he’s getting too emotional, get him out of the money negotiations. He’s a smart guy and he can adjust. The supports behind the scene need to get better as well. “Here’s who I want, here are my priorities and needs. Make the budget happen and get it done for me”. The details of a contract with a player shouldn’t depend on Mark Pope’s negotiating acumen. This is why I’m hoping we’ll hear about the new basketball GM any spring.

I also have to believe that the JMI situation will be worked out, but it’s too late for this HS class. I don’t think Stein would’ve agreed to be here if he didn’t feel like he was going to have extra hurdles above the historical hurdles UK football has always had. I’m hopeful the JMI stuff gets fixed because it doesn’t sound like a growth mindset for their business if their only SEC school they solely represent (UGA is not exclusive to JMI) is hamstrung by their own strategies. Change the effing strategy.

All just MHO.

 

[travisbickle]

Athletes literally don’t even have to use JMI but have to sign their NIL rights over? Imagine pushing rumors to negatively recruit against your own program.

If they want to use the UK marks it has to go through JMI.

 

[Btoddisabish]

or UK is going to have to try to win with lower tier guys

this should absoluitely never be the issue here. we can pay as much as any school PLUS we have a larger fan base that will follow their career in the NBA, buy their merch, vote for them in all star games, etc

the benefits of going to a school like Kentucky or Duke are obvious, plus we can pay as much.

 

[Vismund]

Athletes literally don’t even have to use JMI but have to sign their NIL rights over? Imagine pushing rumors to negatively recruit against your own program.

I keep seeing this argument astro turfed all over this site. If it is just a rumor, are we to believe that Pope just can't land anyone and it is all his fault?

A literal drunk running 5th grade offense got 5 stars to sign here but a staff of good recruiters and an unlimited war chest signs 0 recruits for 2026 and the JMI rumors are just coincidence?

 

[Anon573848]

I think this is the nut of the JMI issue. Guys want to come in and say "I like Under Armour, I rep them, I want to do their commercials and that's a part of my brand now."

Whereas at UK , thru JMI, we make that process more difficult and cumbersome (Barnhart has alluded to this fact himself), so that players are more likely to do promotions with our NIL partners (like Clarks Pump n Shop, Paul Miller Ford, Harlan County Tourism, etc.) Which is fine for a guy like Lamont Butler who just wants to hoop and doesn't care who's writing his checks. But maybe not for a guy like Caleb Wilson or AJ Dybantsa that have a whole superstar future lined up for them and their endorsement deals are a huge part of that.

What does JMI have to do with 3rd party deals? JMI has no ownership over the players and they’re free to sign any deals they want.

 

[Vismund]

What does JMI have to do with 3rd party deals? JMI has no ownership over the players and they’re free to sign any deals they want.

They limit the use of UKs brand which makes even pinning down 3rd party deals difficult. We are also abiding by rules that don't yet exist in regards to the types of deals JMI is approving outside of the NIL suite.

You think a brand wants to do an ad with a big name college star wearing an all gray jersey in a logoless gym?

 

[preston-lemasterpiece]

What does JMI have to do with 3rd party deals? JMI has no ownership over the players and they’re free to sign any deals they want.

did you just create an account on behalf of JMI or Barnhart or something? weird

 

[preston-lemasterpiece]

They limit the use of UKs brand which makes even pinning down 3rd party deals difficult. We are also abiding by rules that don't yet exist in regards to the types of deals JMI is approving outside of the NIL suite.

You think a brand wants to do an ad with a big name college star wearing an all gray jersey in a logoless gym?

he knows all this. Everyone who has written anything about JMI always mentions that it's a pain in the *ss to do these 3rd party deals.
He's a Barnhart troll. He'll be telling us how great the volleyball team is next

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

The strain is called Common Sense and provides a clear mind that reduces all anxiety and conspiracy theory thoughts.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Brea, Williams, Carr and most of his first "class" were very coveted players. We managed to land almost everyone we wanted from the portal.

I know portal recruiting and high school is different but sometime between then and the end of the first season, the damn wheels fell off. Either Pope is the worst closer in history (and it happened over night) or something else is going on.

Billy G pulled 5 stars with nothing but the name but suddenly Pope can't with endless resources? I don't think so.

Yeah because all the major players we have whiffed on the last year have shown us that it couldn’t be possible right? pope and staff can’t recruit and the JMI deal is crap. The proof is in the commitments.

 

[Anon573848]

I keep seeing this argument astro turfed all over this site. If it is just a rumor, are we to believe that Pope just can't land anyone and it is all his fault?

A literal drunk running 5th grade offense got 5 stars to sign here but a staff of good recruiters and an unlimited war chest signs 0 recruits for 2026 and the JMI rumors are just coincidence?

It’s literally a rumor because there are no facts to back up. It comes from a vague quote from an anonymous source. Kentucky asking stuff that no one else is from anonymous source. You’d think people would have actual facts with such an obvious terrible situation.

 

[Anon573848]

did you just create an account on behalf of JMI or Barnhart or something? weird

I know asking for clarity on vague rumors that can be used to negatively recruit against UK is very upsetting to most of you. It’s just weird that so many of you are into pushing this narrative with no substance to back it up.

 

[Vismund]

I know asking for clarity on vague rumors that can be used to negatively recruit against UK is very upsetting to most of you. It’s just weird that so many of you are into pushing this narrative with no substance to back it up.

Not as weird as creating an anonymous account to parrot the corporate shill that JMI isnt part of tbe reason we haven't landed a single recruit this cycle.

Not just top 25 guys, zero recruits.

Pope would have to be pissing in grandma's floor to whiff that much.

Barnhart even mentioned nil with us is "trickier" than other institutions, yet you continue carrying this ridiculous narrative.

If nothing else about JMI is true, the fact that we signed with them with such a huge conflict of interest in house is enough of a reason to question the decision.

Go shill somewhere else.

 

[Uncle B.S.]

Question for JMI troll #48.
Players have to sign their NIL rights over to you guys.
How long do you keep them?
How can they get them back?
How do they make a NIL deal with a non-partner when they don’t own their own rights?
I thought the purpose of NIL was that the ATHLETE owned his rights and was able to monetize them themselves?

 

[Anon573848]

Not as weird as creating an anonymous account to parrot the corporate shill that JMI isnt part of tbe reason we haven't landed a single recruit this cycle.

Not just top 25 guys, zero recruits.

Pope would have to be pissing in grandma's floor to whiff that much.

Barnhart even mentioned nil with us is "trickier" than other institutions, yet you continue carrying this ridiculous narrative.

If nothing else about JMI is true, the fact that we signed with them with such a huge conflict of interest in house is enough of a reason to question the decision.

Go shill somewhere else.

Nope, attacking your own program and hurting your own team is infinitely weirder. Your narrative is more important than the truth, that’s why you get so defensive when asked for the truth and specifics. You make misleading statements too, Mitch Barnhart was referring to using the logo with it being trickier, he was talking about a specific thing, you made it vague to push your anti UK narrative that it’s hard to do NIL deals at UK.

Will Stein is about to kill it in the portal, I wonder what lie you’ll switch to when that happens because the narrative must be protected at all costs.

You g shill against UK somewhere else because we know you can’t back up a word you say here.

 

[preston-lemasterpiece]

I know asking for clarity on vague rumors that can be used to negatively recruit against UK is very upsetting to most of you. It’s just weird that so many of you are into pushing this narrative with no substance to back it up.

Mitch ain't gonna date you, bro

 

[LineSkiCat14]

JMI is going to have to restructure. They’re going to have to limit their restrictions. They are making a terrible name for themselves and as the little guy on the block who wants flagships to sign with them, their *** is on the line. Keeping UK from recruiting to normal levels isn’t how you get more of these programs to deal with you in the future.

Mitch, the ONLY AD in the entire conference who thought it best to go with JMI. The only one.

This is kind of my big positive takeaway as well. JMI has been put on blast for how they are handling these deals.. they are going to have to pivot if they want to stick with UK and even remain as a sports "agency" or whatever they are. They really stepped in it and they can't just keep doing things business as usual.

 

[Anon573848]

Question for JMI troll #48.
Players have to sign their NIL rights over to you guys.
How long do you keep them?
How can they get them back?
How do they make a NIL deal with a non-partner when they don’t own their own rights?
I thought the purpose of NIL was that the ATHLETE owned his rights and was able to monetize them themselves?

No they don’t, it’s just another one of your false narrative. Players don’t even have to use JMI. The contract clearly states states it, state law even prohibits forcing players to use in house NIL, yet you still make the false claim. You can’t even back up a credible source making this claim.

No matter how many times you claim they don’t for your BS narrative, players absolutely control their own Name Image and Likeness. The desperation to push this nonsense will never make sense to me. Back up your claim with some actual evidence if it’s true.

Again, you don’t care about the truth, just the propaganda.

 

[Vismund]

I'm done arguing about JMI.

Fire Mitch Barnhart.

Fire Eli Capilouto.

Conduct an investigation into this Athletic Department like Michigan and everyone just move on.

 

[Uncle B.S.]

No they don’t, it’s just another one of your false narrative. Players don’t even have to use JMI. The contract clearly states states it, state law even prohibits forcing players to use in house NIL, yet you still make the false claim. You can’t even back up a credible source making this claim.

No matter how many times you claim they don’t for your BS narrative, players absolutely control their own Name Image and Likeness. The desperation to push this nonsense will never make sense to me. Back up your claim with some actual evidence if it’s true.

Again, you don’t care about the truth, just the propaganda.

I don’t see any explanation of how?

 

[Supafuzz75]

No they don’t, it’s just another one of your false narrative. Players don’t even have to use JMI. The contract clearly states states it, state law even prohibits forcing players to use in house NIL, yet you still make the false claim. You can’t even back up a credible source making this claim.

No matter how many times you claim they don’t for your BS narrative, players absolutely control their own Name Image and Likeness. The desperation to push this nonsense will never make sense to me. Back up your claim with some actual evidence if it’s true.

Again, you don’t care about the truth, just the propaganda.

Lol,, another jmi or uk plant on here again..

 

[Kentucky15]

JMI also cost me the ability to maintain erections and made my hair fall out. Death to JMI!!!!!

JMI 100% did not cost me my erection. That I can tell you.

There’s no problem here folks.

 

[preston-lemasterpiece]

No they don’t, it’s just another one of your false narrative. Players don’t even have to use JMI. The contract clearly states states it, state law even prohibits forcing players to use in house NIL, yet you still make the false claim. You can’t even back up a credible source making this claim.

No matter how many times you claim they don’t for your BS narrative, players absolutely control their own Name Image and Likeness. The desperation to push this nonsense will never make sense to me. Back up your claim with some actual evidence if it’s true.

Again, you don’t care about the truth, just the propaganda.

You don't HAVE to use the in house NIL. But it is heavily de-incentivized not to, in many ways that have been discussed at length. Pay is one of those differences:

If you do an ad for a UK NIL partner, you get paid, end of story, no hurdles or hoops to jump through. It's nice and easy because that's the route they want you to take.

If you want to do an ad for an outside company, there are delays: delays on getting these deals approved through the NILGo process, and more importantly, delays on receiving payment (volleyball players on the team now have had to wait months for $20 checks).

It's just an extra pain in the *ss that players don't want to deal with.

 

[Ky_Bred_Cat]

Something came up in the LHL interview that I hadn't considered. What about players that already have marketing deals coming out of high school? This would I assume mostly be the top prospects. Chances are whatever deals are in place could easily be considered a conflict of interest to one or more of the 200 UK partners.

Not much was said about this in the article. Mitch responded only with more word salad to the effect of - "well, we work through these things" (paraphrasing here). Nothing was asked or said about if it has been an issue or has prevented someone from signing with UK.

 

[Kentucky15]

The strain is called Common Sense and provides a clear mind that reduces all anxiety and conspiracy theory thoughts.

Conspiracies? You might want to actually look into that word, and cross reference it with the CIA who’s used it routinely while actually doing what they’re calling a conspiracy lol.

Are the weapons of mass destruction really there?

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

@Verbal Kint II is that you on another burner account?

 

[Kentucky15]

Also if JMI is this big of an issue then we’ll never be able to get another coach. What coach would want to join and then have an immediate disadvantage to signing players?

That’s what I’m wondering. I wish we had more information but Mitch isn’t gonna let this out at all. There’s been a few guys that seem to know a lot about it as it pertains to the contract and congress, every time I talk to someone who seems to really get into the weeds with it, they don’t like it. Couple that with the leaks, and with a beat writer who told me he’s hearing agents aren’t into it. I just think the smoke is more than there when you use common sense. occam’z razor man.

I don’t see how pope could be THIS bad. I’m not saying he’s an ace recruiter. But he couldn’t be this bad at UK. Nobody ever has been.

Hopefully there’s an adjustment or he starts reeling in the big ones somehow to put it to bed. But I don’t think it’s going to happen until it’s sorted out.

 

[Kentucky15]

We all joke but the repercussions are just starting and it's going to seriously effect our beloved basketball program.

All of BBN should unite and demand the contract be voided or revised year to year based on performance. We are tax payers funding a public university and our voices/opinions matter.

Barnhart and the entire board of trustees/directors should be held accountable. You don't sign a long term deal (2040) without knowing if the partnership will be effective. It's gross negligence and proof of yet another egregious contract. The only reason you do this is out of ignorance or kickback money. Neither of which is acceptable.

This. Collective action against the process is the only way to get anything done. I know how that sounds, but it really is. What that looks like? Don’t know. Massive revolt is fine by me.

 

[preston-lemasterpiece]

JMI 100% did not cost me my erection. That I can tell you.

There’s no problem here folks.

They're overrated anyway. You can still do the deed with a softie...just ask Mitch!

 

[Kentucky15]

The best I understand it, JMI is paying money upfront for the players to more or less sign over their NIL rights, then shopping them around to companies that already have partnerships with UK and JMI to do advertising work deemed to be appropriate for the value they signed for. This is probably closer to how NIL was supposed to ideally work, but the problem is that pretty much everyone else knows the NCAA is unlikely to be able to enforce such a structure in court and are using booster collectives to just throw cash at recruits for rather unspecified services while not asking them to enter much in the way of a binding contract. The losing control over being able to define their own “brand” seems to be a big sticking point for a lot of the top guys and their agents when we’re the only ones asking that.

Before anyone says that I can’t prove that, it’s true that this is based on anonymous sources. It’s the kind of story you’re going to have a hard time getting a player or agent to put their name to though, and the smoke matches what we’re observing that we’re having a puzzlingly hard time signing any recruits this cycle. I do think there’s probably something to it.

This is what Mitch thought was going to happen. And the SCORE act was shelved, and the NCAA is afraid so they don’t enforce the rules. Everyone else is just doing whatever they want while Mitch wants to follow rules that don’t exist.

What he’s really doing imo is he’s using that as an excuse to cover for how horribly he’s managed this and how awful he missed. Pretend it’s because they’re all cheating, when really you wanted the extra cash and sold out the programs to do it in the first place. Then stand behind said rules when it’s over and gaslight everyone.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

JMI 100% did not cost me my erection. That I can tell you.

There’s no problem here folks.

I haven’t had one since the deal was signed. Farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Pope!

 

[preston-lemasterpiece]

A few things I would LOVE to know about the JMI situation (perhaps Verbal could share?):

1. How much more $$/year are Mitch and Eli bringing home because of the JMI deal?

2. Is there a complete list of all 200 UK NIL partners? That information seems difficult to obtain for whatever reason

 

[Kentucky15]

I haven’t had one since the deal was signed. Farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Pope!

It’s taken a buck outa my bang to an extenze but I can take a year off and they’ll still be satisfied so really doesn’t matter. I linger that I can tell you.

 

[preston-lemasterpiece]

I haven’t had one since the deal was signed. Farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Pope!

ahhh so that's why you post so much on here, lol jk jk

 

[Kentucky15]

A few things I would LOVE to know about the JMI situation (perhaps Verbal could share?):

1. How much more $$/year are Mitch and Eli bringing home because of the JMI deal?

2. Is there a complete list of all 200 UK NIL partners? That information seems difficult to obtain for whatever reason

Believe the deal was for nearly half a billion. I haven’t combed through it, not even going to. Someone might know it can look but the Learfield (VolNetwork) deal, I was told, wasn’t as high. Not sure though maybe someone knows. After what a beat told me I just don’t want to get into it. I believe it’s a problem and will until it’s not either way.

 

[Anon573848]

You don't HAVE to use the in house NIL. But it is heavily de-incentivized not to, in many ways that have been discussed at length. Pay is one of those differences:

If you do an ad for a UK NIL partner, you get paid, end of story, no hurdles or hoops to jump through. It's nice and easy because that's the route they want you to take.

If you want to do an ad for an outside company, there are delays: delays on getting these deals approved through the NILGo process, and more importantly, delays on receiving payment (volleyball players on the team now have had to wait months for $20 checks).

It's just an extra pain in the *ss that players don't want to deal with.

We’ve always had an in house NIL and it’s not any more deincentivized than it’s ever been. It just allows you to use the logo now. You have to have a licensing agreement like you always have before.

You have no idea what you’re talking about. What delays are there to deals outside of BBNIL Suite that weren’t there before? What are the new delays and hurdles? What do you have to back up this BS claim? Deals were always cleared by UK as they still are now to make sure there are no violations of NCAA rules or state laws. It’s just you people pushing a false narrative that hurts the program because you’re controlled by propaganda.

 

[Catlogic1552]

I know asking for clarity on vague rumors that can be used to negatively recruit against UK is very upsetting to most of you. It’s just weird that so many of you are into pushing this narrative with no substance to back it up.

I’m 100% convinced this is a burner account representing JMI and/or Barnhart.
Same thing happened on X when the fans started questioning recruiting and JMI’s involvement.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

ahhh so that's why you post so much on here, lol jk jk

This is exactly the kind of faulty logic I expect here lol.

Premise: Anything that has a beginning has a cause.

Conclusion: Therefore, the earth is flat.

Like…whaaaaaa???

Love it. Thanks for the satire

 

[Ky_Bred_Cat]

I’m 100% convinced this is a burner account representing JMI and/or Barnhart.
Same thing happened on X when the fans started questioning recruiting and JMI’s involvement.

It's probably that Verbal person. He or she has their hands full glossing over this suspect deal.

 

[Anon573848]

A few things I would LOVE to know about the JMI situation (perhaps Verbal could share?):

1. How much more $$/year are Mitch and Eli bringing home because of the JMI deal?

2. Is there a complete list of all 200 UK NIL partners? That information seems difficult to obtain for whatever reason

If only there were a way to do basic research, gather information, then base your opinion on that actual information.

1. There’s nothing in the publicly available for everyone to see contract of individuals at UK making anymore money, so ai guess you can make up any number you want.

2. I’m sure there is, you have the same google that I have. Look it up and see for yourself. A lot of factual information