What if?


  • Banned

    What if @jaybate-1-0 is right? What if the shoe companies are affecting recruiting? So he made an error in what teams play in what conferences? The point still has value. Something is going on? KU at the very least is #4 in hoops schools, yet we are getting slaughtered in the top talent declaring. Kentucky can not win their Conference and lose in the first round and still have the #1 class the next year. Duke is pulling some serious talent even though they claim as the hardest school to get into. UNC is just picking and choosing, as I think Old Roy does care. So what gives?



  • The University of Texas at Austin on Friday extended its apparel contract with Nike. The new deal — 15 years, $250 million — is the biggest in the history of college sports, school officials say.

    If jaybate were on to something wouldn’t UT be killing everyone in recruiting?







  • @Statmachine That only has to do with merchandise sold.

    Is a player worth higher TV ratings if he plays for Texas or Kentucky? Does UT sell as much basketball specific apparel as UK?

    It isn’t about the merch contracts, it is about selling the most amount of merch as a whole.



  • They why wouldn’t you flood UT with the best basketball players you could and increase merch sales where you are investing the most money?



  • Here is a fairly recent list of contracts. If you look at the top 10, 4 are UA, 3 Adidas and 3 Nike. If you look at he top 15, 7 are Adidas and 4 each UA and Nike. KU is #12…imagine what KU would get if it had a football team…I mean one tha wins consistently and contends nationally like the basketball team does.

    Having said that, a big component is exposure and small market KU will never be able to compete with huge market UCLA, the OSU, Texas or Norte Dame.



  • I’m convinced, put us on the east coast and we’re gold.



  • @Statmachine UT might not sell basketball specific gear. And their attendance to basketball games has been less than stellar even during great seasons.

    Kentucky doubles Texas in attendance at basketball games. Texas only averages 12k in a 16.6k stadium

    UK averages 23.3k in a 23.5k stadium. So UK probably sells much more basketball gear. And gets the ESPN press. And is in a better sports time-zone.

    A lot more to think about than just who sells the most gear.



  • @Kcmatt7 Let me get this straight. You invest 30 million at UK because they sell more basketball gear. You invest 250 million at UT because why? If I am not mistaken shoes and apparel for basketball and football look about the same. Fans purchase shoes and T’s for the most part. I do not go out and get basketball shoes or a football jersey to wear out to the local watering hole. Sales are sales and obviously UT’s market is way bigger if a contract size is any indication of the market?



  • @Statmachine You have two stores.

    Store A is on the Vegas strip and will outsell your other store 100% of the time. Even in a down year, it will outsell your other store. The coldest of winters wouldn’t keep enough people away from Vegas for Store B to outsell Store A.

    Store B is in a pretty solid location as well. But not the Vegas strip. In very good year (national championship/Final Four) it can make close to as much as your Vegas store, but in a bad year it may very well lose money.

    You can either send your best employees to Store A or Store B. In this scenario, wouldn’t you send your employees to Store B? So that way the store performs very well and you make more money? Because you know that Store A is going to sell that much anyways, regardless of how the employees perform.

    UK needs to be good at basketball for Nike to be profitable. UT doesn’t. Especially with UK getting a lot more highly rated nationally televised games getting Nike 10X the exposure for their future pros that they hope to sell signature shoes of and profit off of in the long-term.



  • Okay I still don’t buy it. If I were UT and I am not BUT if I were I would say to NIKE “if you don’t send me the best employees I sign with another supplier.” If the shoe companies were really running the show then UT would have the best “employees” or they would sign with UA or Adidas and muscle them for better recruits. They would have more leverage than UK.



  • @Kcmatt7 your theory only works if the shoe companies hold all of the cards. UT must be the best market to get the biggest contract in the history of college sports. Therefore UT has major leverage and could take its business elsewhere if the shoe companies didn’t facilitate them in every way possible. I would believe Josh Jackson was abducted by aliens and has an anal probe before I believe the shoe company “conspiracy theory”.



  • @Statmachine I get what you are saying.

    I don’t think the Shoe company thing runs as deep as Jaybate. But I believe in it to an extent for sure.

    Nike isn’t going to be mad that Kevin Durant chooses UT over UK. But they are going to give UK anything and everything they need support-wise to ensure that UK never stops producing a profit. Just like Adidas does with KU.



  • I did read that 90% of the ESPN top 50-60 kids talk to agents and that agents are paying players and families. Its not a far stretch from there to assume that agents are getting money from shady programs to make funds available if a kid chooses a specific school. Is Nike involved? I don’t know but anything is possible?



  • @Statmachine

    Shoe companies would get in a world it trouble if they are found paying HS kids. At one time Nike used to pay people like Myron Piggie to run shady AAU teams and funnel money to athletes but a lot of that is now illegal and the shoe companies funnel money through guys like Wide World Wes and keep their distance. I have no doubt that players talk to agents but they would take a huge risk if they get money upfront; I am sure some do but probably not prevalent.

    Many of the top players play in more than one brand a Summer League and the allegiance to just one brand is fading. I have heard a number of top recruits state that a program’s brand contract is not a factor in selecting where to play; I believe there was one prospect that said he had a brand preference and he quickly backpedaled. I believe Wiggins and Jackson played for Nike teams and yet they ended up at KU.


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