It's time to put together the biggest NIL bag in history
That was an excessively pro win last night. Like I said recently, these are the good ol’ days. The Chiefs won the Super Bowl and Bill Self is the greatest college coach by multiple metaphorical miles. UNC, Duke and Kentucky are all in line outside of the club. We are obligated to savor this moment.
Yesterday, I was hanging out in one of my cool and badass group chats and someone brought up the idea that college basketball feels meaningless or rudderless at the moment. I don’t agree, but I can see how it might seem that way to casual fans—it’s hard to keep national stars in college for long, and compared to the “scoring above all else!” approach to the NBA, the college game looks stuck in the mud, style-wise. Scoring is hard, and it really, really looks like it.
These are all things I love about it—I love that it’s an increasingly niche thing that rewards us sickos, bandwagon fans are basically non-existent—and there’s a quiet beauty in the fact that a team like Purdue has a player that’s basically a more efficient Shaq, and that they still kind of suck.
I’m preaching to the converted here, so I won’t belabor the point. This is all building to the idea that…
We must build Gradey Dick the biggest NIL bag in history.
Even though Dick came in with high expectations, particularly as a shooter, he’s blown away even the most optimistic projections. Last night was a revelation—sure, he was making shots, but he also built an arsenal of jab-steps, counters and other savvy tricks to create space. Peter Danyliv U has another summa cum laude graduate!
Dick has shot up NBA Draft boards. Right now, he’s #5 on NBADraft.net, a site put together by NBA scouts that I love because of how Web 1.0 it is. He’s such a lock for the lottery that I cannot imagine he will have to scrimmage or work out at the combine, outside of getting his basic measurements on tape. He’s already represented by Wasserman, one of the biggest agencies in the sports biz. He’s already getting dough from international brands like Adidas and Apple—not exactly LifeWallet.
The leap is inevitable, but I’m asking… what if we could delay it by one year? What would need to happen?
The numbers work against us here. Rookie NBA contracts have taken a (deserved!) leap in recent years. Last year’s #5 pick, Jaden Ivey, makes $7M. Christian Braun, pick #21, makes $2.8M before considering endorsements or other income. I texted friend of the newsletter and god Mike Vernon about how much Gradey would have to get to stay, and he suggested that number would need to be around $5M.
I think that number needs to be closer to $8-$9M to really give him reason to think about it. So yes, a mondo-bag would need to be in store for the Dickman, but mondo-bags have been discussed in college football, even if they did end up following apart!
idk what this company is or does but it looks sweet
Can a college basketball player / basketball program feasibly get there? Let’s put all practicality aside, such as the fact that Gradey has massive incentive to get to the NBA ASAP to get the clock ticking toward contract two, and break this down.
Gradey makes at least six figures this season. So, saying those partnerships are renewed, we got $1M in the bag already.
We’re gonna need some of that sweet, sweet donor write-off money, let’s say we get two million of that. $3 million! Getting there.
Fans and supporters can now directly donate to KU Athletics initiatives, and boy, we’re gonna need to crowdfund this thing. Generally I am fully against regular people subsidizing a revenue-centric endeavor where they don’t gain a cent of the proceeds, but since we’re waiving a bunch of practical and reasonable concerns anyway, let’s yank this one too. Maybe that brings us to… $4M? $4.5? We shouldn’t lean on this too hard.
Crypto is in the 🚽, not gonna be able to scrape up much there. Crypto is so funny.
We’re still really, really short of our $9M goal. We’re going to need exciting new sponsors that are flush with cash… anyone know anybody who is successful???!! Could we get Michael Rubin on the horn? It’d be a publicity bonanza!!!!
Me and my cousin discussed the idea of a Gradey Dick signature shoe… “The Dick.” That would sell! I have no idea what kind of kickback we could generate from that, but I wanted to get that name on the record so we can sue later if they end up using that for something.
We could cash in on one of those gambling app deposit programs… so that’s $2k more right there, once we place some sexy bets.
Listen, this exercise is losing steam, but the point being—it’s going to take something huge and unexpected to keep Dick, who is a Jayhawk lifer and the type of player who could be a massive college star if he stuck around. It’s not gonna happen… but what if it did?
Great win last night, we’re in first place. Jayhawks hold the cards, once again. I love being a Jayhawks fan. Haters in the group chat, I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday.