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Men's Basketball

Four Wildcats Discuss NIL At Kentucky, Reveal First Purchases

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It has been nearly two years since the NCAA approved policies to allow players to profit from their name, image, and likeness. In that span, the college landscape has grown closer to professional sports free agency in some ways.

Look at Miami, which has one of the biggest NIL collectives in the country thanks to billionaire booster John Ruiz (under NCAA investigation). They just went to the first Final Four in program history. While programs are trying to build the best teams possible, players are simply capitalizing on their value.

During an interview, four Wildcats – including Some interesting purchases.Some interesting purchases.Wildcats – talked about NIL on the Next Up Podcast with Adam Breneman.

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“It’s been really good for us,” Jacob Toppin said when talking about NIL. “Being at Kentucky, you don’t really have to talk about NIL because you are at Kentucky. Deals are going to come to you.”

Each player was then asked about their first purchase with their NIL money. Here is what each player bought and the related costs:

  • Jacob Toppin: Cadillac CTS ($47,990 – $72,790 MSRP)
  • Brennan Canada: Ford Bronco ($29,215 – $44,655 MSRP)
  • CJ Fredrick: Engagement Ring ($6,000 National average)
  • Lance Ware: Louis Vuitton Bag ($1,100 – $6,000)

Check out the video below.

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Men's Basketball

Kentucky Basketball Has “Pure Hoopers That Love the Game” According to Former Kentucky Guard

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Tyler Ulis coaching Robert Dillingham during GLOBL Jam.
UK Athletics | Chet White

In recent seasons, Kentucky has struggled to find players to make plays when they need it most. That hasn’t always been the case, some examples of players that had the ability to make a play to secure a win include: Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and John Wall among others.

Well speaking of some of the players I just mentioned, former Kentucky guard and current student assistant Tyler Ulis recently joined the Sources Say podcast and talked about how great this team can be this upcoming year.

Ulis calls this year’s team “pure hoopers”.

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“They’re basketball players. Hoopers. Pure hoopers, all of them. And they love the game,” Ulis said. “How me and Devin (Booker) were in the gym, me and Zay (Briscoe), me and Jamal (Murray), that’s what these guys are doing. They all want to get better — scared to fail, scared not to make it. That’s what shows they want to be great.”

As what defines a pure hooper, according to Ulis. “Anyone can make a play, anyone can get in the lane, anyone can knock a shot down,” Ulis said. “We have so many options and so much depth, it’s hard not to have fun with this team.”

With the new roster and additions to the coaching staff, the goal is for Kentucky to make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament this year. As for Ulis, he is excited to see what this year’s team can do.

“I can’t say it enough: I’m extremely excited to see how this goes. We’re deep with a lot of players, and they’re skilled.”

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Men's Basketball

Texas Women’s Basketball Takes A Shot at Kentucky Basketball

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entucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari reacts in the first half against the Providence Friars at Greensboro Coliseum.
© John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this week the Kentucky basketball team caught an unexpected shot. From who? The Texas women’s basketball team. On Tuesday, the Longhorns’ social media team tweeted a video of Drake, a professed Kentucky fan, coming to visit campus and the team.

However the caption is what caught people’s attention, “we don’t have to go to Drake’s house… he comes to ours,” Clearly trying to throw a shot at Kentucky for visiting Drake’s Toronto mansion back in July, during the team’s trip to Canada for GLOBL Jam.

It didn’t take long for the Big Blue Nation to respond, as just 12 minutes later the Tweet’s caption was edited to say “thanks for stopping by🤘”.

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That being said, let’s not act like Drake made a specific trip just to visit the Texas Longhorns, he was in Austin for a stop in his music tour. Not to mention that Drake has attended multiple Kentucky games and events.

Texas will soon be in the SEC, and maybe Drake will be there in Kentucky gear to set the record straight.

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BB Recruiting

Top Kentucky Target Tre Johnson Pushes Decision Date To Spring

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UK Athletics

One of the top players in the class of 2024, Tre Johnson recently made the move to Link Academy in search of high-level competition on a big stage, which is a reason he says is why he will wait until the Spring before making a decision.

The top five guard possesses all of the scoring tools, and is a player that Kentucky really wants. He still has a few visits to take, with Alabama and Arkansas visits coming soon, plus another visit to Kansas, and another visit to Baylor. Johnson previously visited Kentucky back in late January.

Johnson has a final list of Kentucky, Baylor, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, and pro options. The Wildcats are rumored to be a top-three option long with Baylor and Texas. This delay may give Kentucky a better chance. With that said, he is not in a big rush to decide, as he is more focused on getting acclimated to his new home at Link Academy, as well as improving as a player.

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Tre Johnson is one of the best pure scorers in all of high school basketball, and is certainly being prioritized by multiple top schools. Current intel suggests that Baylor and Kentucky are the top contenders, but with him pushing back his decision, there is more time to tell.

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