Should be a fun few weeks in Lexington.
The Kentucky Wildcats are coming off a heartbreaking loss in the Sweet 16 to Tennessee, as Mark Pope’s first season in Lexington has come to an end.
Now, his attention will turn directly to the transfer portal as he looks to fill out his roster for the 2025-26 season.
As college sports have changed, NIL has become a major factor in college basketball, especially when it comes to recruiting. A major question entering this portal recruiting period consistently surrounds how much money each program has to spend.
Thankfully, it sounds like the Cats have a healthy budget to spend this offseason.
According to Pete Nakos of On3, the Cats have a budget of around $8-10 million to spend on the 2025-26 roster.
“Pope could be working with an $8 to $10 million payroll, depending on how much Kentucky allocates to its basketball team in revenue sharing. Kentucky has already proved it is ready to play ball in this year’s transfer portal. Despite losing out to UCLA on New Mexico guard Donovan Dent, the Wildcats were a top contender. Dent’s reported asking price was around the $3 million mark.”
If the Cats’ have $6 million in NIL dollars plus this settlement, it appears that this Kentucky staff could be working with one of the best budgets in the sport.
Should be a fun one, folks.