'A major player': Mark Stoops, Kentucky football are looking for NIL help

The amateurism model used by the NCAA officially died when name, image, and likeness (NIL) became legal. Once in effect, NIL has become the No. 1 factor in talent acquisition for major college athletics in a short amount of time.

Do you want to sign good players from high school and the transfer portal? You better have ample opportunities available on your campus for players to make money via NIL. That is no different at Kentucky.

KSR’s Matt Jones has gone public on Twitter stating that athletic teams at the University of Kentucky need support. The administration needs to be more aggressive when it comes to operating in the NIL space. Specifically, the football program could be at a disadvantage if UK continues to “proceed with caution”.

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops opened up about where Kentucky stands with NIL during his Monday press conference. The Wildcats have made progress, but help is still needed.

“We’ve worked our way through that. As an administration, as an institution, as a program to find the balance,” Stoops said about adjusting to life with NIL available. “To make sure it’s right, to make sure it’s clean, to make sure it’s legal, fair, ethical, moral. We’ve worked through all of that. Our administration has helped us as a program and all of our student-athletes and coaches to get through some of that.”

“We need support from the community, from the state. It is what it is. If we want to compete at the highest level we gotta have money in the bank. And that’s legal. There’s collectives and we have collectives in place that are supported, that are cleared from our administration, and our place that you’re allowed to put money into.”

Supporters of Kentucky athletics can contact the folks at Athlete Advantage or UK Blue Chips if looking to financially support some of these NIL efforts. Back in July, KSR spoke with Fred Johnson of Athlete Advantage to discuss some FAQs.

However, certain things could be streamlined in this process. Most importantly, Kentucky will need to get companies and some bigger money folks involved to make a true impact. There seem to be some doubts about if the administration is really going all-in on NIL. If that turns out to be true, that likely needs to change moving forward.

The new era of college athletics has arrived and it’s not going away. Like some of its competitors in the SEC, the Wildcats need to be very aggressive in a world now driven by NIL opportunities. Last week, Mississippi State lost its athletic director to Auburn due to what appears to be more NIL funds available on the Plains. However, the Bulldogs quickly fired back with their interim athletic director asking for donations into a specific collective.

Would you look at that? Mississippi State athletic department embracing NIL. pic.twitter.com/yLypf2YMAc

— SixPackSpeak (@sixpackspeak) November 2, 2022

College athletics and the SEC aren’t hiding where they are going. Players want to be compensated, and universities must be able to provide those opportunities. Kentucky needs to be all-in on doing what it can to make sure money is available and that it isn’t getting outbid by the majority of its peers.

“NIL is a major factor. It is. I don’t think I need to expound on that anymore, right? It’s a player. It’s a major player,” Stoops said.