🏀 KuBuckets Archive

When an asset, good, or raw material gets sharply more valuable, exploiters are tempted to grab control of it.

You can have a painting hang in your house you bought cheap from a talented young artist that burglars pass by. But if the young artist turned out to be Picasso, insure the sucker and buy a home security system because news travels fast among knowledgeable thieves and the weasels they use to collect target info on.

Imagine how much more valuable KU BASKETBALL became, when Louisville signed that $40+ Million dollar adidas contract! KU's old shoe contract, which was big in its time, is just sitting there waiting to be renegotiated. Some operators have to eyeing the fees they could be cutting out of that renegotiation.

But KU Basketball value is not like the value of an ounce of gold. It isn't traded on a market at one variable price, and it isn't one item. KU basketball is like a container not for sale holding many items that are for sale, or that can be managed for fees, if one can shoulder, or sneak, in and get control of either the container, or some of the things in it.

Consider the agent fees for representing KU's players once they leave KU for professional basketball at one level or another.

Some one indicated recently that Nick Collison had made something like $240 million in salary in his now long career mostly as an NBA back up. An agent probably gets a percentage fee for negotiating those contracts for Nick, plus a percentage fee for what ever endorsement deals Nick got. I have no idea what the percentages would be, but let's say they are between an investment banker's 2% and a real estate broker's 6%. Nice.

And of course there are attorney, accounting, and financial management fees and others. Nice.

Historically, KU basketball has generated a few Nicks and a lot of lesser Nicks. Imagine if KU basketball could generate 5 to 10 Nicks per season? Maybe even 1 to 2 double or triple Nicks per season. Recall Nick was only a journeyman, never a star as a pro. Imagine if KU could join the 9-10 draft choice stack class with UK and Duke!

Imagine how tempting it would be to HIGHJACK control of KU basketball away from a Chancellor, an AD, and/or a basketball coach that wouldn't play ball with connecting you to the stream of Nicks, double Nicks, and triple Nicks that could come through KU each year with the "right relationships."

Moving from a 3-5 draft choice roster to a 9-10 draft choice roster, is, as UK and Duke indicate, feasible with the "right relationships."

Then think about increases in KU related and player related shoes, shirts and souvenirs at KU and beyond, during the players's KU career and for many years after. Sweet!

Bill Self could have won 100% of his games and 10 national titles and the big operators and exploiters would STILL be looking to run him out and get their guy in!

In fact, the more Self wins, the more chance there is to take this thing to the "next level" with the "right relationships" and the more pressure and temptation there are to HIGHJACK the program away from Bill, Sheahon and Bernadette.

Think how many operators there must be out there right now trying to find a way--ANY WAY--to force Self out and get THEIR guy in!

Money, money, money!!

@jaybate-1.0

HCBS has won 83% of his games DESPITE Adidas. I'm ready for Phil Knight to personally drive the Brinks truck(s) up Naismith Drive to AFH.

Should he back right up to the Booth Family Hall of Fame with heli's overhead? Or be more subtle going through the parking stucture to the North w/out heli's?

@jaybate-1.0

"Uh, yes, Jaybate... you have a call on line one from the Creative Artists Agency. The man says his name is World Wide Wes."

I see the day coming. Some kind of uber agent clawing in with lots of shoe money behind him. This kind of reads like the story around WWW and UK we recently read. I believe there is some truth in that story... along with a lot of projected conspiracy theory.

Or what about something like the CCNY point shaving scandal reappearing in a slightly different form? What about organized crime stepping in to throw a few games?

What kind of security and protection is in place to monitor game officials? Right. None. As we are thinking about this right now, there could be a ref or two meeting with Vinnie in New Jersey. Who would know?

I'm thankful that calls can be overturned on deflections in the last couple of minutes of the game and overtime... however... games can still easily be doctored by refs.

Think about how much money a ref can make by going on the payroll of some big crime boss?

1950-51 was really the last time cheating has gone on in this sport? Are you kidding me?

@jaybate-1.0
Boy JB, you sure know how to throw water over a nice sand castle! I hear you, actually nobody spoke as in spelled it out loud as you just did, but it's just too darn loud & hurts my eyes & ears! You spoiled that image of once pure innocent sport where boys in college play game of basketball for extra curricular activities!!! Indeed it has become BIG business. And money attracts the unattractive who darkens this once innocent sport we so love. Thanks for the enlightenment. Urgh :)

I wonder if the stuff IU professor emeritus Murray Sperber documented in "College Sports Inc." going on as late as 1990 ever got resolved by the NCAA?

@jaybate-1.0

I am not sure where you got the $240 million in career salary for Collison but his lifetime salary is closer to $50 according to every source I have found including this site t ↗hat seems to be the most often cited source for this type of information.

Also, as per this source ↗: "Sports agents generally receive between 4 and 10% of the athlete's playing contract, and 10 to 20% of the athlete's endorsement contract, although these figures vary. NFL agents are not permitted to receive more than 3%, and NBA agents not more than 4%, of their client's playing contracts."

@JayHawkFanToo

I got it from faulty memory that's where. :-)

Thanks for augmenting.

Assuming UK stays at 10 draft choices each season, an agent that represented most of the UK draft choices in coming years would make a pretty good living.

@jaybate-1.0 said:

I got it from faulty memory that's where.

Your candor is splendid.

@jaybate-1.0

I know the feeling. mine is staring to slip...

@Blown

Your vocabulary is splendid!

@VailHawk well, awwweee shucks, Vail. That was kind!