Nick Timberlake to Kansas

[TheHorde]

Maybe his parents had an impact.

Well they can enjoy all of those connecting flights to Kansas to watch their son play instead of making a 90 minute car ride to Storrs I guess.

 

[CL82]

Killer. He would have been a great pickup.

Kansas offered 250K and a Hellcat car via NIL. We didn't come close.

How do you know that? Do you have a link?

 

[husky429]

All things were essentially equal basketball-wise... he's 25 and made a financial decision. It's odd now surprising this is to some of you.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

I never thought of Timberlake as a replacement for Hawkins. A replacement for Joey? Sure.

He’s miles better than Joey. Kansas just paid a bag for the kid. North Carolina finished third in his recruitment. He’s really good and would’ve started here.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Dude you are the only person in America trying to convince others that a six figure NIL deal wasn’t a major reason why he chose Kansas. It just was. It’s ok. It’s the game when it comes to transfers who have no NBA futures but are major college contributors. They’re going to get the bag. A few of our main guys are making good money to play basketball at UConn. It’s not cheating anymore. It’s the price of admission to the party. No one is claiming Kansas did anything dirty. They got the guy they wanted by outbidding the other competitors. It’s ok.

Good for Kansas and especially for Timberlake. A guard from Towson is going to make life changing money while playing at an historically great school. Many of us would’ve made the same decision

There's a lot of nuance being missed in what I'm saying. I'm not saying NIL $ isn't a factor. But it's one factor. Is it the deciding one? Only Nick knows. Others include is the team good? Do you like the coach? What is the playing time? Do you like the school? The players? This kid had great options, but does anybody think Temple could have "outbid" UConn for him? If there are kids who are simply making straight money decisions, I don't want them. Want the priority to be winning, being a part of a great team, doing what it takes to win in an unselfish manner. I suspect Hurley feels the same.

There's a post about Andre and Nick saying he'd come to UConn if Andre was staying. That tells me that playing with a pass first PG probably matters to him. He's a catch and shoot player. He's not going to be on ball. Looking at UConn, if Andre and Newton aren't back, it's fair to wonder where those passes are coming from. KU roster is full of holes, except at PG.

 

[CL82]

He’s miles better than Joey.

But not anywhere near Hawkins.

 

[G0UCONN]

How do you know that? Do you have a link?

I went through my personal connection to him in an earlier thread set up when he first entered the portal. Was getting the inside "play by play" throughout the process from Nick.

Bottom line story is:

Luke Murray reached out to him 5 minutes after entering portal. We really wanted him. Murray and Hurley contacted him daily since then.

Top three schools interested that he liked were UNC, KU and UConn.

UNC offered 250K, KU offered 250K plus a Hellcat car, our offer was far far less (not sure how much exactly).

He had a great visit in Storrs, loved the team and coaches, knows it is a great fit, etc. The NIL from us was so low vs. KU (which he also obviously liked) it was a factor.

Meeting on day 2 of visit started with Murray, Hurley and him in room and an empty chair. Suddenly JC comes in to fill the empty chair and help with the pitch. Very impressive.

In the visit he had an exchange with AJax telling him if you promise to be back, I will commit now. AJax couldn't do that. He declared next day or 2.

Came down to two great programs and chose KU. He is a great kid, athlete (Mac McLung like dunker), shooter, team player, and winner. Would have been perfect. Tough loss for us but we will be fine. We are UConn.

 

[FLDawg16]

Meeting on day 2 of visit started with Murray, Hurley and him in room and an empty chair. Suddenly JC comes in to fill the empty chair and help with the pitch.

Man, we even brought in the best coach of all time and it still didn’t seal the deal

 

[NJHoops]

And no one be mad at Andre, he has to do what he’s doing.


(I’m not saying anyone is mad at Dre, I’m just getting ahead of the nonsense)

 

[runner11]

I went through my personal connection to him in an earlier thread set up when he first entered the portal. Was getting the inside "play by play" throughout the process from Nick.

Bottom line story is:

Luke Murray reached out to him 5 minutes after entering portal. We really wanted him. Murray and Hurley contacted him daily since then.

Top three schools interested that he liked were UNC, KU and UConn.

UNC offered 250K, KU offered 250K plus a Hellcat car, our offer was far far less (not sure how much exactly).

He had a great visit in Storrs, loved the team and coaches, knows it is a great fit, etc. The NIL from us was so low vs. KU (which he also obviously liked) it was a factor.

Meeting on day 2 of visit started with Murray, Hurley and him in room and an empty chair. Suddenly JC comes in to fill the empty chair and help with the pitch. Very impressive.

In the visit he had an exchange with AJax telling him if you promise to be back, I will commit now. AJax couldn't do that. He declared next day or 2.

Came down to two great programs and chose KU. He is a great kid, athlete (Mac McLung like dunker), shooter, team player, and winner. Would have been perfect. Tough loss for us but we will be fine. We are UConn.

See, this is why D’Melio pisses me off. We don’t even have a NIL and are losing players because we aren’t competitive. And we have posters posting crap “thank God we have D’Melio’s NIL connections.” The guy is a Nepo Daddy. But the screen printed Joey C shirts and the bar mitzvahs!!@Chief00 is throwing or whatever.

 

[HuskyHawk]

But not anywhere near Hawkins.

Exactly. The right comp, from a role perspective, is Alleyne. Not Joey or Hawkins.

 

[runner11]

And no one be mad at Andre, he has to do what he’s doing.


(I’m not saying anyone is mad at Dre, I’m just getting ahead of the nonsense)

Reading the tea leaves it seems like Hurley is encouraging him to go pro as he knows it’s in Andre’s best interest. The kids is going to make 8 figures if he learns to shoot. Might as well practice that shot full time.

 

[Skiblets]

I went through my personal connection to him in an earlier thread set up when he first entered the portal. Was getting the inside "play by play" throughout the process from Nick.

Bottom line story is:

Luke Murray reached out to him 5 minutes after entering portal. We really wanted him. Murray and Hurley contacted him daily since then.

Top three schools interested that he liked were UNC, KU and UConn.

UNC offered 250K, KU offered 250K plus a Hellcat car, our offer was far far less (not sure how much exactly).

He had a great visit in Storrs, loved the team and coaches, knows it is a great fit, etc. The NIL from us was so low vs. KU (which he also obviously liked) it was a factor.

Meeting on day 2 of visit started with Murray, Hurley and him in room and an empty chair. Suddenly JC comes in to fill the empty chair and help with the pitch. Very impressive.

In the visit he had an exchange with AJax telling him if you promise to be back, I will commit now. AJax couldn't do that. He declared next day or 2.

Came down to two great programs and chose KU. He is a great kid, athlete (Mac McLung like dunker), shooter, team player, and winner. Would have been perfect. Tough loss for us but we will be fine. We are UConn.

Can we all now agree that the schools not being able to control NIL dollars and not being able to ‘offer’ it to players is a complete sham. It’s the reason Villanova hired Dunleavy to act as a GM for chrissakes.

How long until the feds start sniffing around and questioning schools’ not for profit status.

Big time college sports have entered the point of no return. Charlie baker won’t be able to rein this in without national legislative action which will not happen.

Rome is burning people

 

[Karmacop]

Can someone explain to me in a few sentences why UConn doesn't have the NIL money to match other major college basketball programs? Why can't we compete with Kansas, UNC, etc.?

 

[Skiblets]

See, this is why D’Melio pisses me off. We don’t even have a NIL and are losing players because we aren’t competitive. And we have posters posting crap “thank God we have D’Melio’s NIL connections.” The guy is a Nepo Daddy. But the screen printed Joey C shirts and the bar mitzvahs!!@Chief00 is throwing or whatever.

You’re blaming D’melio? Wow. A guy who doesn’t work for UConn but contributes significantly. The BY is crazy but this is next level crazy

 

[G0UCONN]

And no one be mad at Andre, he has to do what he’s doing.


(I’m not saying anyone is mad at Dre, I’m just getting ahead of the nonsense)

I think he gets full credit for being honest. A class kid.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Fact check:

Seems like you have a lot of hate for Matrim, how many times you gonna complain?

 

[metsfan2323]

See, this is why D’Melio pisses me off. We don’t even have a NIL and are losing players because we aren’t competitive. And we have posters posting crap “thank God we have D’Melio’s NIL connections.” The guy is a Nepo Daddy. But the screen printed Joey C shirts and the bar mitzvahs!!@Chief00 is throwing or whatever.

If you are out working D'Melio then more power to you, if not your post is ridiculous. Thank goodness we have a superfan like D'Melio.

 

[CL82]

I went through my personal connection to him in an earlier thread set up when he first entered the portal. Was getting the inside "play by play" throughout the process from Nick.

Bottom line story is:

Luke Murray reached out to him 5 minutes after entering portal. We really wanted him. Murray and Hurley contacted him daily since then.

Top three schools interested that he liked were UNC, KU and UConn.

UNC offered 250K, KU offered 250K plus a Hellcat car, our offer was far far less (not sure how much exactly).

He had a great visit in Storrs, loved the team and coaches, knows it is a great fit, etc. The NIL from us was so low vs. KU (which he also obviously liked) it was a factor.

Meeting on day 2 of visit started with Murray, Hurley and him in room and an empty chair. Suddenly JC comes in to fill the empty chair and help with the pitch. Very impressive.

In the visit he had an exchange with AJax telling him if you promise to be back, I will commit now. AJax couldn't do that. He declared next day or 2.

Came down to two great programs and chose KU. He is a great kid, athlete (Mac McLung like dunker), shooter, team player, and winner. Would have been perfect. Tough loss for us but we will be fine. We are UConn.

Thanks, I had missed the original posts.

 

[CL82]

You’re blaming D’melio? Wow. A guy who doesn’t work for UConn but contributes significantly. The BY is crazy but this is next level crazy

I highly recommend the ignore feature. It makes the board much easier reading.

 

[runner11]

Seems like you have a lot of hate for Matrim, how many times you gonna complain?

The reason I dislike Matrim is the reason I dislike D’Melio. Isn’t he an MLS blogger or something? They are desperate for clout and it is extremely offputting to me.

 

[tuvent08]

At the end of the day, it's hard for me to care that much with the exception of losing out on more kids due to NIL. This isn't some kid choosing L$U in the 1990s or some crappy school for a huge offer. This is an old man choosing Kansas.

We have to eradicate this idea that "he got paid!!!" is somehow some bitter accusation against a player or a program. It's bizarre to read this archaic thinking on occasion in this thread. I mean, there's a reason that Jay Wright is chilling on TNT right now.

 

[willie99]

Can we all now agree that the schools not being able to control NIL dollars and not being able to ‘offer’ it to players is a complete sham. It’s the reason Villanova hired Dunleavy to act as a GM for chrissakes.

How long until the feds start sniffing around and questioning schools’ not for profit status.

Big time college sports have entered the point of no return. Charlie baker won’t be able to rein this in without national legislative action which will not happen.

Rome is burning people

Then you better find a safe place to hide, maybe a new hobby, I don't want too see you get burned

 

[huskiesNhoos]

See, this is why D’Melio pisses me off. We don’t even have a NIL and are losing players because we aren’t competitive. And we have posters posting crap “thank God we have D’Melio’s NIL connections.” The guy is a Nepo Daddy. But the screen printed Joey C shirts and the bar mitzvahs!!@Chief00 is throwing or whatever.

I'm not sure where you came from, but your posts are...just awful

 

[Fatroony5]

The reason I dislike Matrim is the reason I dislike D’Melio. Isn’t he an MLS blogger or something? They are desperate for clout and it is extremely offputting to me.

The dude called so many commitments before they happened. Hawkins, Karaban, Clingan, Alleyne, the list goes on & on.