Yeah, some schools have more NIL money than us, eg Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, and some others (Alabama, LSU, Miami, a few others seem to have plenty of NIL money), but they only have so many roster spots and we should be able to find good players even if recruitment comes down to bidding wars.
Once the universities and conferences can pay players, then we'll be in more trouble. But as of now, UConn's fan base is competitive on the NIL side with most of college basketball.
There is no reason UConn can't be competitive on NIL. Ultimately, it's about local advertising value and willingness of local businesses to pay for that. I think the NCAA will start to crack down on abuse of it.
In situations like Miami's last year, you've got a booster who is just wildly overpaying kids for some promotional stuff, even though a Miami basketball player doesn't move the needle in Miami. Not what NIL intended.
UConn players will be meaningful for advertising for local franchises or businesses. Or national in the case of players with huge social media accounts like Paige. This is the legit, intended use of NIL, not as a way for boosters to game the system. We seem to lack the boosters willing to throw money at them. Eventually, that won't be a problem.
Kansas, Kentucky and Duke probably have both legit local business promotional opportunities
and boosters willing to take a loss and use NIL inappropriately to influence player recruitment. Players at all those schools definitely would have legit promotional and advertising value as well. Some will of course have a national following like Paige. You really don't get a national Gatorade deal because you went to school A vs school B, you mostly get it because
you have that kind of pull on your own.