Did Oakufer enter the portal?

I've put in a pick for Louisville with 2025 Kaden Magwood.

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As far as transfer portal intel, I have nothing new to pass along. Radio silence on my end.

Another high three-star who has turned heads is the Louisville commitment. Mims has long held intrigue as a big, athletic and fluid passer, but he has seemingly taken the next step with his mechanics and consistency this offseason, working like a mature player on the verge of turning more heads as he physically fills out. Mims challenged No. 1 recruit Julian Lewis for positional MVP honors at the Atlanta RCS stop, rarely easy but especially impressive on a cold and wet day in the Peach State.

This Cardinal commitment and even the initial evaluation by Jeff Brohm's staff is aging quite well some six months later. If the rise continues, Mims looks like a strong candidate to become just the second Rivals four-star passer to sign with the program over the last eight cycles (Pierce Clarkson). Other colleges have noticed the rise of the rising-senior, too, as other ACC programs as well as in-state Auburn have inquired more of late.

A one-of-a-kind revolutionary regular-season men's basketball event to be staged later this year in Las Vegas is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, CBS Sports has learned. Its selling point is based on the major factor that has drastically altered college sports over the past three years: name, image and likeness compensation for players.
Games will be played in November under the umbrella of an event dubbed the "Players Era Festival," which will also include live music and other attractions for fans amid the glitz of the Las Vegas Strip during Thanksgiving week. In a college sports first, the event will also include $1 million NIL payouts for eight participating schools. What's more, players involved will have future earnings opportunities through long-term NIL contracts, sources told CBS Sports.
Alabama, Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State and Texas A&M are all on board, sources said. The eighth and final school for the 2024 event will emerge from a small group that is still being deliberated.
The Players Era Festival is not being pitched as a one-year happening, either.
Plans are to double the size of the field, sources told CBS Sports, with 16 teams as the target for 2025 and beyond. Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan, Syracuse and Virginia have all engaged in discussions about potentially playing in 2025. Sources from a few schools in that group told CBS Sports they anticipate playing in the event if it extends beyond 2024 and continues as planned with 16 teams in 2025. If they opt in, they'd be joined by most (if not eventually all) of the schools playing in 2024, many of which have already signed up for a three-year agreement, according to sources.



Event organizers are in the final negotiating stages with MGM Resorts International to hold games at any or all of its three major venues: T-Mobile Arena, MGM Grand Garden Arena and Michelob ULTRA Arena. The tentative schedule is to play games on Nov. 26, 27 and 29, with Thanksgiving an off-day. The 2024 format(s) for the eight teams has not been decided. Organizers are still weighing whether to have a single eight-team tournament bracket or two separate four-team multi-team events (MTEs).
The tournament would be unique in that the NIL collective of each participating school would be paid $1 million. Additional significant NIL opportunities (believed to be in the neighborhood of another $1 million) would be awarded exclusively to the winner or winners of the event, depending on the final bracket format(s). The money would then be distributed to athletes by the collectives. The athletes, while in Las Vegas, would be required to participate in multiple off-the-court activities to earn that NIL money. That quid pro quo agreement for NIL money is a key distinction and at the core of the appeal of the festival. Pay-for-play remains against NCAA rules. However, athletes can be paid for NIL work surrounding the actual games, which is the pitch here.
"If there are events where there's an extraordinary amount of money involved, and there's no donor fatigue involved in this, how do you not play in this?" one coach participating in the Players Era Festival told CBS Sports. "There's not a decision we make that's not NIL-driven. I'll play in the parking lot of Mandalay Bay, just clear the f---ing check."


The basketball-oriented festival is being put on by EverWonder Studio, a production company based in New York. The tournament will be financially backed by RedBird International Media Investments, a subset of RedBird Capital Partners, a multi-billion-dollar investment firm. RedBird IMI is an investment consortium majority funded by the United Arab Emirates. It is headed by former CNN CEO Jeff Zucker. FrontOffice Sports first reported on the event in March. An official announcement should land in the next 10 days, according to a source.
Broadcast rights are yet to be formally secured; the games are expected to be distributed on a streaming service instead of traditional linear television. The event has come under scrutiny and faced backlash from many in the industry because its emergence poses an existential threat to the traditional November/December MTE television model that's become more prominent in college basketball in the past 15 years. Some schools in the 2024 field reneged on previous deals with other MTEs, inviting further discord.
Event organizers have assured all involved that the Players Era Festival will be in line with NCAA rules, sources said.


"We will be very good about making sure this is fully compliant," a source added.

Because the Players Era Festival is aggressively pushing forward in a constantly shifting NIL era of player empowerment — and because it has tens of millions of dollars in private-equity funding — there is skepticism from many in college athletics over its long-term financial viability. Traditionally, even the best MTEs don't have massive profit margins. The highest-profile regular-season events hope to earn $1-2 million in profits. This would also mark a sea change in college basketball due to private equity investments influencing how teams schedule, thus likely affecting how MTEs in the future are operated.
Schools participating, however, see a landscape-altering opportunity at a time when programs are desperate for any fundraising to bolster recruiting prowess and increase their NIL war chests. Consider: many top-end 2024 transfers in the past month have committed to a variety of programs after being promised north of $1 million, sources said.

continued....

https://www.courier-journal.com/sto...-telfair-rick-pitino-jeff-teague/73591916007/

"Even before Telfair bypassed college entirely, Rondo said he called Larry O’Bannon, a Louisville native and Male High School product who played for the Cardinals from 2001-05, and “asked him how it was” at Louisville.

“He gave me this great advice,” Rondo said. “I went down the street (to Kentucky).”

Rondo did not elaborate on what O’Bannon’s advice was, and was not asked a follow-up question about it."

Visiting May 10-12. Friday through Sunday

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I don't know which ranking we use but the Cards are still right around low 80s.

Yesterday probably cost us 5 spots that we just can't afford. Just making the chances of landing in the field tougher. I know,still some time but winning 2 of three from a couple of these teams looking like it just keeps growing in importance.

I wanna preface this post by saying “YES I DO THINK WE NEED MORE DEPTH IN THE FRONTCOURT”. However…Its baffling to me how a big portion of the fan base was on board with giving a bag and starting spot to Quaintance, but kind of dismiss James Scott as just a project. Quaintance is 16 and never played a second of college basketball. At least James Scott has some experience at the college level, and physically and athletically you could argue similar tools. But people are down on Scott being able to make a leap in year 2 it seems. I would trust Scott with a year under Kelsey under his belt and another summer in a college weight room. Once again…Yes we need more depth in the front court. But I really like Scott’s potential, and I think fans could be sleeping on this kid.

Those of us who’ve seen Rich Eisen show, he does a segment called what’s more likely. I thought that I would do it with the upcoming season.

I’ll give 3 options (instead of 2)

Beating @ Notre Dame
Beating @ Clemson
Making it back and winning the ACC Championship Game and make the Playoffs.

The German sportswear company said that sales of the retro-style shoes are “very strong and growing,” helping increase first-quarter growth at the company, which is still trying to find its footing following the dissolution of its lucrative partnership with rapper Ye.

Buoyed by the strength of those shoes, plus higher demand for its running, basketball and soccer shoes, Adidas registered a net profit of about $182 million through the first three months of 2024 — a sharp reversal from the same time period last year when it reported a $26 million loss. Last year, Adidas slumped to a rare annual loss, hit by the fallout from its costly break-up with rapper Ye, sluggish sales in North America and a huge tax bill.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/30/business/adidas-earnings-samba-sales/index.html

The 10-year lucrative Adidas contract with UofL ends in 2028. Very important that Adidas remain healthy and in a position to hopefully extend this deal. The deal is worth $160 million, or $16 million per year, as reported Thursday night after athletics director Tom Jurich revealed the new agreement at a dinner with administrators and boosters.

Both land assistant jobs manning with the buffs and smith with the ucf knights

Reports say she’s transferring to TCU.

-Khani Rooths, 6’8, 4-star from 2024 class. Michigan signee, but reopened recruiting when Howard was fired. Will visit Louisville this weekend.

-Achor Achor, 6’9, Samford transfer. 16.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. 58.6% from the field and 43.5% from beyond the arc. Visiting Auburn. Trilly says Louisville is involved.

-Kasean Pryor, 6-10, USF transfer. 13 points, 7.9 rebounds, 35% from three. Louisville in the mix along with Arkansas & Villanova.

-Coleman Hawkins, 6-10, Illinois transfer. 12 points, 6 rebounds, 37% from three. Going through NBA Draft process, but seems likely to return to college. Matt Norlander said yesterday that Louisville is involved.

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With Boone not having enough credits to go to UK, does he come back here? Does he go to Toledo? In a perfect world, he ditches his agent and comes back here.

So this game usually doesn't carry the weight of the world between these two major programs like it likely will for the Cards tomorrow night.
If we don't think it's a must win I'm fine with that but it helps to continue the momentum swing for the Cards while boosting their RPI. Vandy sitting at 22 in the latest RPI while the Cards are now at 66. Huge game and I'm guessing a resurgent Carson Ligget will be on the bump?