{"id":95239,"date":"2025-06-13T04:28:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T04:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/95239\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T04:28:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T04:28:11","slug":"20m-roster-no-pocket-watching-for-kentucky-basketball-we-keep-the-hoops-the-hoops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/95239\/","title":{"rendered":"$20M roster? No pocket watching for Kentucky basketball: “We keep the hoops, the hoops.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is the NIL valuation of Kentucky<\/a>\u2018s 2025-26 roster? \u201cIt\u2019s close to $200 million,\u201d<\/a> Mark Pope<\/a> joked back in May. He wouldn\u2019t touch on the specifics with a 10-foot pole, specifically relating to the alleged $20 million<\/a> number floating out there since the Wildcats put a bow on the portal and high school additions \u2014 plus Otega Oweh<\/a>\u2018s return both to the floor and on the payroll, likely with a hefty raise.<\/p>\n

Kentucky will never admit publicly what Oweh made to turn down a likely selection in the NBA Draft to return to Lexington<\/a>, nor will it share details on its expensive portal class<\/a>. Pope will, however, make it clear that this program deserves the best of the best across the board.<\/p>\n

Best roster budget? The winningest tradition in the history of college basketball needs to be in the conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the University of Kentucky. I never forget that. We should be the best at everything,\u201d Pope said. \u201cPut NIL, put the transfer portal on the list. Our job is to go be the best at everything. We\u2019re not shying away from that. It\u2019s important to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

If there is an NIL conversation to be had, especially as it relates to this roster, Oweh belongs in it. Again, we don\u2019t know specifics, but he figures to be Kentucky\u2019s top earner \u2014 and maybe among the richest in the sport next season.<\/p>\n

Things are changing in a hurry with revenue sharing and the new NIL clearinghouse monitoring new deals \u2014 it won\u2019t impact him personally, at least when it comes to agreements made up to this point \u2014 but as he sees it, he\u2019s a fan of the setup.<\/p>\n

\u201cUm \u2014 I mean, they paying us, so that\u2019s a great thing, for sure. I don\u2019t really be keeping up with the settlement stuff like that,\u201d Oweh said Tuesday. <\/a>\u201cAs long as we\u2019re getting paid, that\u2019s good for me. Anything extra, that\u2019s cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more of the same, Oweh entering the college ranks with NIL well underway in 2022, starting at Oklahoma before making his way to UK last offseason. That\u2019s the case for everyone on the Kentucky roster, Florida transfer Denzel Aberdeen joining him as the lone seniors this time around. Deals have gotten more lucrative and players are changing schools like clothes, but the money topic isn\u2019t something he\u2019s heard come up often in college locker rooms \u2014 especially in Lexington.<\/p>\n

It may turn heads for fans, but not necessarily for players. And when it\u2019s talked about, it\u2019s at the dinner table with family members, not teammates inside the basketball facilities. <\/p>\n

\u201cNah (no locker room change), because when I came into college, that\u2019s when NIL started. That\u2019s what I\u2019m used to, really,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, the guys \u2014 I\u2019m a senior now, so the guys after me, it\u2019s gonna be the same with them. This hasn\u2019t really changed anything for me, if I\u2019m being honest. \u2026 <\/p>\n

\u201cThey probably talk about it with their families, yeah, but I feel like that\u2019s something you want to keep to yourself, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does he think about that reported $20 million number for Kentucky? Is it accurate? Well, maybe \u2014 but a lot of schools have expensive payrolls. <\/p>\n

Talent means money.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw that (number). Um, I don\u2019t know. I feel like it could be, you know?\u201d Oweh said. \u201cA lot of other teams, I\u2019m seeing similar things. It could be, I really don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those numbers are everywhere on social media, but Oweh and the Wildcats try to avoid getting caught up in those conversations. Everyone agrees the money is good and they leave it at that \u2014 no pocket watching at the Joe Craft Center and inside the Wildcat Coal Lodge.<\/p>\n

When the ball is tipped, their goals remain the same, whether they\u2019re the highest- or lowest-paid player on the team: win.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I mean, there\u2019s always stuff on social media that you see. You just can\u2019t always believe social media,\u201d the Kentucky star guard said. \u201cBut, if I\u2019m being honest, we really don\u2019t talk about it \u2014 because it\u2019s a weird conversation to have. Like, \u2018Oh, how much you making?\u2019 That\u2019s kind of strange, so we just stay away from that topic. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe keep the hoops, the hoops.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What is the NIL valuation of Kentucky\u2018s 2025-26 roster? \u201cIt\u2019s close to $200 million,\u201d Mark Pope joked back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,4000,231,772,1544,2339],"class_list":{"0":"post-95239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-kentucky-basketball","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-basketball","13":"tag-ncaab","14":"tag-otega-oweh-22-blair-academy"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114674172248206367","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}