Dick Vitale says the quiet part out loud about Kentucky’s $22 million NIL spending

Story by

Story by
Dick Vitale says the quiet part out loud about Kentucky’s $22 million NIL spending

Benjamin Adducchio, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Sun, Mar 8, 2026 ·

2 min read

About Our Ads

Dick Vitale says the quiet part out loud about Kentucky's $22 million NIL spending appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

The Kentucky basketball team spent a lot of money before this college basketball season, to build a championship roster. It hasn't worked out quite as well as Kentucky fans hoped. The Wildcats dropped a game Saturday to Florida, to finish the regular season at 19-12.

College basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale spoke on ESPN's game broadcast Saturday about how it went for Kentucky this year.

"I've done several now Kentucky games… $22 million this team [reportedly has spent] in terms of the NIL for their players. I think in $22 million, they could have put together a better roster than they did. I really do," Vitale said during the broadcast, which was reported by the social media account Awful Announcing.

Kentucky finished the year 10-8 in the SEC. The Wildcats lost their final two games of the season, against the Gators and also Texas A&M.

Kentucky basketball is still projected to go to the NCAA tournament this year

Even though the Wildcats have had their struggles, they are still projected to go to March Madness. Kentucky is a no. 6 seed in the latest ESPN bracketology projection from Joe Lunardi.

This is Mark Pope's second season leading the Wildcats. He took the team to the Sweet 16 in his first year, and hopes for more this campaign.

Pope has stood by his players all season, through thick and thin.

"For us, when we guard, we are actually pretty good. When we guard, we're good. And all facets of that has to be great for us," Pope said to the press following the loss Saturday.

Kentucky's head coach is hoping his team can get hot in the SEC tournament. The tournament starts in the coming days.

"The great thing about the tournament is it's one game. There is only one game. It's one game. We will talk about one game. That's all it is postseason, it's just one game," Pope added. "So we are going to prepare for one game on Wednesday and we are going to put our whole heart and soul into it and that's the only thing that matters to us and that's the beauty of the postseason."

Kentucky will play in the SEC tournament on Wednesday, against LSU.

Mobilize your Website

View Site in Mobile | Classic

Share by: