Right there with you. I'll be paying for the rest of my life on my school loans, they'll be fine.
Something is not adding up with the UK/ NIL rumors…
- Thread starter TFCat11
- Start date
Where is the offense that guy from BYU was purported to be implementing?
Experienced but not elite. Pope desperately needs to upgrade his talent.
The whole idea of $22 million seems crazy to me but what's worse is that people brag about it. The truth is, it should not be talked about and doing so is a double edged sword that cuts us both ways.
If we pay stupid money and lose, well, Pope must suck or whatever. If we win, well, who couldn't win with a roster that cost that much? Not only that but, if players actually believe it, it could create chemistry issues and if recruits think it's true, they have to wonder why we don't offer them more to come. Either way, not good.
I almost believe the rumor was started by an opposing team/coach. There are no upsides unless it actually is true, which I bet anything, it's simply not. If it were, we don't miss on any recruit we want.
If we pay stupid money and lose, well, Pope must suck or whatever. If we win, well, who couldn't win with a roster that cost that much? Not only that but, if players actually believe it, it could create chemistry issues and if recruits think it's true, they have to wonder why we don't offer them more to come. Either way, not good.
I almost believe the rumor was started by an opposing team/coach. There are no upsides unless it actually is true, which I bet anything, it's simply not. If it were, we don't miss on any recruit we want.
I understand the point you are making but this isn't a professional team we're talking about. It's a state university and much of the NIL funds are coming from people right here in Kentucky like you and me. We pay for it with increased ticket prices and KFund, products we buy here in state, some of which ends up as NIL money for UK athletes. The players are obviously "paid" at a certain figure when they are recruited so it is very much like a salary at a Kentucky public funded institution. I know NIL is technically different from an actual salary but hope you can understand where I'm coming from on this too.
I really liked the guys on last years team and the obvious love they had for getting to wear our jersey. We have some guys this year that seem to feel the same way so its great to have guys with character and that embrace our traditions.
At the same time if I hear Pope say how beautiful of a human being so and so is one more time Im going to throw up. I think there may be a chance some of these recruits dont want to play for Mr Roger's or be in his neighborhood.
I'm not seeing any players on any advertisements. Only one I have seen or heard is Noah for a bank.
totally agree
with the highest "payroll" there should be some "star" material. Maybe that is JQ, but he will only play half a season if that. Not a very good return on investment, unless he is good enough to get UK to the final four or even better win a championship
have no idea about your financial situation, but Ky is one of the poorest states. There is no way that Ky can compete with other colleges. Duke has all of the "uppity" money, BYU has the church's $, Arkansas has Wal-Mart, Tyson..........Ky has nothing like this and in no way can compete. As much as the fans love UK basketball, we just can't give a portion of our income to spoiled brats that care nothing about the tradition, winning a title or the fans. Maybe they can do like some of the fast food locations and others, "round up" to give to Disabled Vets or Ronald McDonald house. The coal industry used to give a lot of $ to UK, but that industry just barely exists now.
He’s looked like a shell of himself but Otega is obviously the guy that was supposed to be the star:
Averaged 16 PPG as an all second team SEC player on a 3 seed in the tournament coming back as a returning player familiar with the “system”. Senior former top 100 recruit. More points in major conference college basketball returning to UK than anyone since Bogans for UK.
Preseason SEC player of the year.
I mean it looks awful right now. But there was plenty of reason to have him be your star.
The Garrison decision is one that deserves the criticism. Think they took the JQ insurance policy instead of getting a better option.
No one knows when JQ will return, especially not if/when he’ll return to being the real JQ. They didn’t know that in the offseason either. Mark Pope gambling this season on that is definitely something.
Well, Pope did lean into the NIL spending speculation. Would've been better to under sell and over deliver.
Kind of like Tubby and his press
Calipari and the dribble drive. These coaches get here and decide to change their philosophy that got them hired
Oweh at 4 is tragic. He'll never outperform last season's production. The money and pre season accolades seem to have inflated his ego.
Exactly. Sounds like a built in excuse for missing on elite talent.
No way is hell did we pay $22 Million this year in NIL. Who throws out those crazy numbers.
Of course no one REALLY knows, but at the time, the word floating around was BYU was laying down $7-8 million for Dybantsa... to which I believe we bowed out of the bidding war because we were focusing on building a deep roster and spreading the money around.
So the argument can be made. Is it better to spend, say $5-6 million each on 3 generational talent type players, and then fill in the gaps around them with serviceable role players who can be had for $500,000 each? Or do you spread it around and try to build a roster of 10-12 guys who are all pretty good, but none are the elite of the elite.
That would be Ben Roberts from the Lexington Herald Leader. He had to know that throwing out that number would get it shoved down our throats every time we lose. I'd like to punch that guy.
It’s more like
3
2
2
1.5
1
1
1
800k
500k
500k
500k
200k
100k
I’d say no more than 14-15 million total for the roster Max. Everywhere I’ve looked the going rate for AA/All conference players max out around 3 million. 2 million for top line starters. 1 million for average starters, 800k for 6th men types. 300-500k for bench players. We have like what 14 players? Thats a million average per player and that makes way way way more sense to me.
People act like if you spend the most money you will have no losses. It is still a game at the end of the day, and it is also November 13. Good lord why people cant calm down...
We absolutely got outbid for Dent and Wilson and I’m pretty sure Wilkerson as well. Which pisses me off that Pope would pay what it took to get those guys yet almost certainly overpaid for Garrison, Mo, Oweh and possibly more. Lowe would also fit that category but we’d already whiffed on the top pg options and there wasn’t many good ones available so he almost had to overpay for him.
As much as Pope was praised for last years roster build (although he made one big mistake), he deserves just as much criticism for this years roster build. He overpaid numerous players, has the most NIL spent and didn’t get a single star player on the roster.
I don’t care what he prefers. He better start spending on the guys needed to win at the highest level. So far that hasn’t happened.
bottom line is we are paying Oweh and likely JQ like superstars. We dont know if either are capable of that. For the money we paid either we could have likely had one of the elite freshman
I have a bad feeling you’re right. He overpaid more than just Aberdeen as well. What makes me mad is he will overspend on guys like Garrison but then reportedly wouldn’t go higher than $2M for Caleb Wilson. That’s dumb as hell. If you’re going to overspend then overspend on an actual difference maker.
Like 5 or 6 million. Very special case though. Flagg only got like 3 so you know most top flight options rarely surpass that.
since the salaries of all professors appear to be available (public schools in Kentucky):I’m surprised the money from the House deal is not available. However, NIL money will not be known, so not sure if it matters. UK can never outbid some of these players that fund other schools.
Im with ya I think even the BBN chicken little have went overboard more than normal after this loss. However, the whole “they don’t know each other or haven’t learn to play together yet” really no longer works when the other team is as new as you and looks completely more organized. That excuse only worked when Cal/K were the only ones redoing the stable every year.
But the thing is our PG has been out not playing and he’s got an entirely new team. Our starting 5 hasn’t logged minutes together either.
The main issue is the injuries. The team has several guys battling through things. Our PG is hurt 100%, Oweh is hurt, even Aberdeen as battling through some things early. I will evaluate after a few weeks and see when they’ve logged minutes together and aren’t hurt.
tifwiw
A very connected friend of mine... told me the NIL is spread out amongst the players... one player is not making a huge sum... hence, no big money to bring in one star.
again, he is very connected in the UK system...but tifwiw
Ok, I think there is truth to what you’re saying, I don’t like it as an excuse though, especially for OO and Garrison and the returning cast. They should be plug and play by now fitting into the system. Especially as returning players that logged major minutes last year. As an example OO becoming a 3 point shooter last game was 1 of 6. That’s not his game and if he is hurt enough that he isn’t able to play his game or within Pope’s offense he should be sitting out until he is healed up. The game looked better when he was on the bench with Chandler and Aberdeen in together.
But Oweh is hurt. He can’t go 100%. watch the Duke game last season when he’s at full strength He’s had a nagging turf toe injury and I think something else with no proof though. But Oweh is plugged in he literally can’t go at full speed. Now add a new point guard who’s also hurt. You could see they’re rusty and not used to where each other will be. It’s in our minds that all of these teams are just playing 100% perfect but us and it isn’t true.
Guys injuries are injuries. It’s not an excuse. They are starting a step behind. The team is battling through it. I’m praying this doesn’t bleed into the entire season.
Every game matters I won’t make excuses we’ve got record to protect. But I will approach this with some logic.