Cougars on the air
Pop-Tarts Bowl
No. 12 BYU (11-2) vs. No. 22 Georgia Tech (9-3)
- Saturday, Dec. 27, 1:30 p.m. MST
- Orlando, Florida
- TV: ABC
- Radio: 102.7 FM/1160 AM
If you’re a Kentucky fan trying to make sense of NIL, revenue sharing and JMI, you’re not alone. The athletic director running the whole thing admits it’s “clunky” right now.
From losing ground with high school basketball recruits like Tyran Stokes and Christian Collins, BBN is at all-time high in recruiting anxiety.
In a long sit-down with the Lexington Herald-Leader, Mitch Barnhart tried to explain how Kentucky is operating in this new College Sports Commission / NILGo world. The message was basically this: yes, it’s confusing; no, Kentucky isn’t freelancing; and he believes the structure he’s put in place is actually a strength, not a handicap.
Convincing the fanbase of that isn’t going to be easy without recruits showing up.
Barnhart said the current landscape is really two different eras smashed together: what was done before July 1, and everything that’s been built since the House settlement, the College Sports Commission and NILGo went live.
Different schools had different pre-July 1 spending patterns. That history impacts how much cap space they have now. Some have more room. Some have less. That’s part of why it looks like schools are operating under different rulebooks.
Barnhart’s word for the rollout was “clunky.” There are participation agreements that not every school has signed yet, rules that have to go through courts and attorneys general, and separate 30-day windows for both the House plaintiffs and state AGs before some policies can even be implemented. Some rules are in effect. Others are still in line.
In the middle of all that, Barnhart keeps coming back to the same idea: Kentucky is trying to be “steady,” stay within the “guardrails,” and trust that “progress is being made” as the national framework catches up.
That might not satisfy fans who look around and see other schools clearly pushing those guardrails, but it’s the lane he’s chosen. Pope backed that up by saying they will always “err” on the side of caution when it comes to NIL.
On the actual NIL payouts, Barnhart said all deals now flow through NILGo, and Kentucky has already had “several hundred” go through the system. At the Champions Blue meeting in October, he pegged the average deal around $3,000, with the biggest near $50,000. He said those numbers are still “trending in the same way.”
He pointed to Kentucky volleyball as a prime example of what a “hot market” looks like. A Final Four run has made that roster more visible in Lexington, and as their “notoriety” has grown, so has their NIL value. Barnhart sounded genuinely excited talking about watching those opportunities grow for non-revenue athletes.
For fans who worry Kentucky isn’t doing anything, that’s the counter: NIL deals are happening, they’re in seven figures across the department, and not just in football and men’s basketball.
The question, of course, is whether that level of activity is enough to land and keep the kind of top-end basketball talent BBN expects. So far, the answer to that question seems to be no.
A huge chunk of the interview was essentially a defense of the JMI model that fans hate.
Barnhart’s pitch goes like this: JMI arrives with more than 200 corporate partners already on board and a seasoned sales force generating $35–40 million a year in advertising and sponsorships. That group is now tasked with not just selling Kentucky athletics, but also matching student-athletes with those brands.
From his perspective, that’s an enormous head start. You’ve got a big, experienced sales staff already embedded on campus, already working with companies that “are very, very interested in your program,” and now they can turn that machine toward NIL.
He also made a key point that’s been blurry for fans: JMI isn’t skimming a cut off those NILGo deals. “There’s no fee,” Barnhart said. “We’re fee-free.”
So what’s the trade-off? Marks and flexibility.
If a student-athlete wants to use Kentucky logos and IP in their deals, that path runs through JMI. If they sign with a company that competes with an existing UK sponsor, Barnhart said they’re “certainly” encouraged to give Kentucky partners first crack, but athletes can still go ahead with outside deals they just can’t use the marks.
That is a huge deal. Being able to use the UK brand, and the notoriety that comes with Kentucky basketball is a huge draw for NIL-minded athletes. Not being able to use those can be a deal breaker.
He pointed to cases like Trent Noah, who has hometown relationships he wants to honor, and players who arrive with pre-existing high school NIL deals. The message there was, “We work through it,” even if it’s messy. Noah decided to not opt-in with JMI and has deals all through the commonwealth, you just won’t see the UK logo anywhere.
The flip side is obvious: if you don’t like or trust JMI, you’re going to see this entire structure as restrictive, even if the AD keeps calling it a “really cool” family.
Barnhart didn’t dodge the question about perceived conflicts between UK staff and JMI personnel. He just doesn’t see a problem.
To him, the long-standing ties that span from the Jim Host era to IMG to now 11 years with JMI and a new extension through year 25, are a feature, not a bug. He framed it as a tight-knit group of people who love Kentucky and know the market, not as an insider network that needs to be broken up.
A lot of fan angst comes from the Rachel Newman Baker-Brandon Baker relationship. Rachel is an assistant AD at UK while Brandon is Vice President Partnerships at JMI with the title UK Sports & Campus Marketing. According to JMI, “Brandon’s role is focused on aligning key partners’ marketing objectives with the goals and vision of the university. He directs the team that oversees all key partnerships and renewal business, as well as gameday activations, partner hospitality, and stadium/arena signage.”
“If it was a conflict,” Barnhart essentially argued, why have revenues and rights deals grown so aggressively?
That answer is unlikely to quiet any critics of the relationship between UK and JMI. Some fans hear “family” and “long-term relationships” and immediately think of a closed ecosystem that’s hard to challenge. But Barnhart is clearly not backing away from that model. If anything, he’s doubling down on it as a competitive advantage.
Maybe the most interesting part of the interview was his insistence on keeping revenue-sharing numbers private.
Barnhart pushed back on the idea that it’s about secrecy. He called it “flexibility.”
In his view, there are two separate buckets: revenue sharing and NIL. He thinks fans and some schools have blurred those lines by bragging about a big “NIL” number that’s really a mix of both.
He wants the freedom to slide resources between those buckets depending on the sport, the year and the player. Maybe a high-profile recruit is better served taking more in rev share and less in NIL, or vice versa. Maybe football needs a bigger push one offseason to address a critical position, while basketball doesn’t. Maybe in another year it’s the opposite.
If he puts hard public numbers on what each program gets, he worries he’ll lock himself into boxes that hurt Kentucky competitively and create a circus of fans comparing individual payouts.
He also says there’s a protective piece: he doesn’t want each athlete “pegged” publicly by a dollar figure or constantly compared to teammates.
You can debate whether that explanation is satisfying, or whether transparency would actually help calm the waters, but it’s at least a clear window into his thinking.
For fans it is just Mitch Barnhart saying they have the money, but won’t show a receipt.
Kentucky’s situation is unusual. Both football and men’s basketball are profitable. Most schools can’t say that.
Barnhart admitted that balancing those two in this new world is tricky. Pre-July 1, he says everyone loved the rosters. Post-July 1, the math is just harder across the board, not only at Kentucky.
His bigger picture vision is to use the power of the Kentucky basketball brand to lift everything. If NIL and rev-share decisions are made wisely, he believes success in men’s hoops and football can raise the tide for baseball, women’s basketball, volleyball and everyone else.
That’s the optimistic version. The pessimistic version is what some fans are already feeling: if basketball misses on elite recruits and football falls behind the SEC arms race, nobody gets lifted and everything falls apart.
Barnhart also weighed in on the “general manager” debate that’s hovered over Kentucky basketball.
Will Stein came in and immediately wanted a GM for football. Barnhart was fine with that. For a first-time head coach juggling a new staff, a playoff run and a roster rebuild, he called it “probably a pretty smart decision.”
With Mark Pope, he’s not forcing the issue. Barnhart said he’s going to “lean into” Pope’s preference and give him the flexibility to decide whether he wants that role or not down the line.
Then he slipped in a line that will jump out to fans: “Our talent assessment was fine until we lost a couple games, and then everybody started wondering about our talent assessment, correct?” Well, Mitch that is usually how it works.
In other words: he doesn’t think one rough stretch means the eval process is broken, and he doesn’t believe a GM is some magic fix. But he did leave the door open to adjustments later if Pope decides he wants to structure things differently.
Finally, the obvious question: how much longer does he want to do this?
Barnhart acknowledged the ambassador clause in his contract that would allow him to step aside after December 31 and shift roles. He didn’t commit one way or the other.
He talked instead about loving competition, loving Kentucky and the fact that he and his family came planning to stay 6–8 years and never left. He admitted the job has changed, where it used to be 75% competition and 25% “other stuff,” he thinks those numbers have flipped. Now it’s more about sustaining the enterprise of college sports than just trying to win Saturday.
He also admitted the personal connection piece is harder in an era where 35–40% of the roster turns over every year. Meeting every recruit, knowing every family? That’s tougher now.
But the thrill of competition is still there for him. “The day that changes,” he said, is probably the day someone else should take over.
That’s the backdrop to everything he just laid out: a clunky system, a controversial partnership model, a fanbase demanding top-tier results, and an athletic director who insists Kentucky has “a good plan” for all of it, and says he still wants to be the one fighting to make it work.
South Carolina Upstate Spartans (8-6) at Youngstown State Penguins (7-5, 2-1 Horizon League)
Youngstown, Ohio; Saturday, 1 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Youngstown State hosts South Carolina Upstate after Cris Carroll scored 31 points in Youngstown State’s 80-77 overtime loss to the Robert Morris Colonials.
The Penguins are 4-0 on their home court. Youngstown State scores 80.2 points and has outscored opponents by 10.9 points per game.
The Spartans are 2-5 on the road. South Carolina Upstate is fifth in the Big South scoring 79.6 points per game and is shooting 46.2%.
Youngstown State averages 10.4 made 3-pointers per game, 3.8 more made shots than the 6.6 per game South Carolina Upstate gives up. South Carolina Upstate has shot at a 46.2% rate from the field this season, 3.3 percentage points greater than the 42.9% shooting opponents of Youngstown State have averaged.
TOP PERFORMERS: Carroll averages 3.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Penguins, scoring 16.4 points while shooting 48.6% from beyond the arc. Rich Rolf is averaging 10.8 points over the last 10 games.
Mason Bendinger is scoring 16.1 points per game and averaging 3.1 rebounds for the Spartans. Carmelo Adkins is averaging 1.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Penguins: 6-4, averaging 81.3 points, 33.6 rebounds, 15.2 assists, 9.1 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 49.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.7 points per game.
Spartans: 5-5, averaging 75.4 points, 33.5 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 6.1 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.2 points.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
In a college football world where NIL numbers keep climbing, Arch Manning is going the other way.
Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images
The Texas quarterback has agreed to take a reduced share from the Longhorns’ revenue-sharing pool for the 2026 season, according to Justin Wells of Inside Texas. Manning was entitled to a full portion of the program’s revenue cap but opted to scale it back in an effort to give Texas more flexibility to strengthen its roster.
It is a move that stands out in the current landscape. It is also one Manning can afford to make.
Manning remains one of the most marketable players in college football and has a long list of endorsement deals that will continue to pay handsomely. Even with less money coming directly from the school, he is still expected to earn millions in 2026.
This is not the first time he has shown restraint, either. Manning has consistently been selective with his NIL opportunities since arriving in Austin.
The timing matters. The 2026 season is widely expected to be Manning’s last at Texas before he makes the jump to the NFL. From that perspective, the decision is straightforward. He wants the best possible team around him for one more run at a national championship.
Manning has already demonstrated his commitment to the program. He waited his turn behind Quinn Ewers for two seasons without entertaining a transfer and now is willing to sacrifice a portion of his compensation for the good of the roster.
On the field, the growth showed. After a shaky start in 2025, Manning finished with 2,942 passing yards and 24 touchdowns. Texas rebounded from a 3-2 opening to win six of its final seven games, punctuated by a decisive win over Texas A&M.
It is not a common move. It is a very Arch Manning one.
Ahead of the College Football Playoff opener, Malachi Toney added a notable NIL deal. The Miami wide receiver has inked a partnership with apparel company Hellstar.
Toney is Hellstar’s first NIL athlete, the Los Angeles-based brand said in an Instagram post. He became a crucial part of the Hurricanes’ offense during the regular season, helping lead the program to a College Football Playoff appearance as the last team in the field.
SUBSCRIBE to the On3 NIL and Sports Business Newsletter
It was part of a decorated freshman year for Toney, who’s emerging as one of the top young stars in the sport. Repped by NETWORK, he has a $878,000 On3 NIL Valuation.
“We are so proud to announce our first Hellstar Sports College Athlete NIL signing – Malachi Toney,” Hellstar wrote in its announcement. “We had the privilege to coach @malitoney10 while he was apart of our high school 7 on 7 program, so now seeing him shine on the collegiate level we couldn’t be more proud.
“We will continue to do our part to help these young athletes stay on the right path, and shine their light to the rest of the world. From Liberty City to the stars!”
It’s the latest notable NIL deal for Toney amid his freshman season. He also secured a partnership with Leaf Trading Cards in October.
Through his freshman year at Miami, Malachi Toney emerged as a top target for Carson Beck. He led the Hurricanes with 84 receptions for 970 yards, and his seven touchdown catches put him atop the ACC. Toney also added 89 rushing yards this year, as well as a rushing touchdown against Louisville.
Those numbers helped Toney become an On3 True Freshman All-American this year. In addition, he was a central figure in Miami’s run to the College Football Playoff.
“Toney’s quickness and playmaking instincts make him dangerous after the catch. He accounted for 350 yards after the catch with an average depth of target of 6.6, according to Pro Football Focus,” On3 | Rivals’ Charles Power wrote. “Whether working out of the slot or moving around the formation, the South Florida native has proven nearly impossible to contain. His playmaking ability was pivotal to Miami’s playoff push as he became the focal point of the Hurricanes’ passing attack.
“Given his play as a true freshman, it’s safe to say the Fort Lauderdale American Heritage product will enter next season as one of college football’s premier wide receivers. Toney’s performance as a true freshman is even more impressive considering that he should still be in high school, having reclassified into the 2025 cycle late in the recruiting process.”
Arch Manning is taking a pay cut.
The Texas quarterback agreed to take a reduced share of the team’s revenue-sharing pool “as part of an effort to help the Longhorn football program do whatever it takes to support a 2026 championship run,” according to On3’s Justin Wells.
The savings “could be used on transfer portal talent or as part of retention efforts” for the Longhorns, per Wells.
This season, athletic programs were capped at $20.5 million in revenue-sharing, although that number is likely to increase next season and beyond.

Manning, the nephew of NFL icons Peyton and Eli Manning and the grandson of legendary quarterback Archie, is one of the most marketable athletes in college sports.
On3 currently gives Manning an NIL valuation of $5.3 million, which leads all student-athletes.
Although he is getting less money from Texas, Manning still holds NIL deals with brands like Red Bull, Uber and EA Sports, among others.
However, Manning sometimes struggled in a season that started with Heisman hype and the Longhorns ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Texas finished the season 9-3 and out of the College Football Playoff, a disappointing midseason loss against a poor Florida team all but ended their chances of being in the 12-team field.
Manning’s season was underwhelming as well, throwing for 2,942 yards with 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The news comes after Manning’s father, Cooper Manning, told ESPN earlier this week that his son would return to the Longhorns in 2026 for his junior season despite previously mulling entering the 2026 NFL Draft.
“Arch is playing football at Texas next year,” Cooper said.
Texas finished No. 13 in the end of season rankings and will be on the sidelines for the College Football Playoff, which kicks off on Friday.
Defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa and offensive tackle Andrew Gentry made the biggest splashes in the offseason when they transferred to BYU from Utah and Michigan, respectively, but perhaps the greatest contribution from a transfer not named Bear Bachmeier was made by tight end Carsen Ryan in 2025.
The former American Fork and Timpview star, who began his college career at UCLA before transferring to Utah in 2024 and then BYU in 2025, filled a huge hole at the tight end position and was a big reason why the Cougars’ offense performed so well against all of its opponents except Texas Tech this season.
“Carsen has been everything we expected him to be,” offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said a few weeks ago. “He’s been great.”
Of course, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Ryan will get at least one more chance to do his thing when the No. 12 Cougars (11-2) meet No. 22 Georgia Tech (9-3) in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Dec. 27 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. While some seniors and juniors seemingly headed to the NFL are opting out of bowl games, Ryan said the thought has never crossed his mind.
“I am not in the position to do that, but even if I was, I feel like I would still want to play in this game,” he told the Deseret News on Wednesday. “You never know. Any game could be your last game playing football.
“You are never going to experience playing college football again, most likely. … It’s been such a special time for me in my life. I would be upset with myself if I didn’t play in this game and give myself one more chance to have one more game with my brothers and have fun.”
— BYU tight end Carsen Ryan
“You are never going to experience playing college football again, most likely,” he continued. “I’m never gonna experience that again. It’s been such a special time for me in my life. I would be upset with myself if I didn’t play in this game and give myself one more chance to have one more game with my brothers and have fun.”
Ryan is listed as a redshirt senior on BYU’s roster, but the truth is he is just a senior and has played only four years of college football. Because he played in only five games at UCLA his freshman year (2022) before sustaining a season-ending injury, he has applied for a waiver with the NCAA to get that year of eligibility back.
But he’s not holding his breath, having heard through various channels that the waiver is not likely to be granted.
“I have applied, but I am treating this season like I am training to go full-go to the (NFL) right now.
“That’s the goal right now,” he said. “I don’t know what the outcome of that’s going to be. I haven’t heard a lot of good news about it. I am treating everything like I am going to the league next year.”
Ryan has selected agent Carter Chow — Norm Chow’s son — of Red Envelope Sports to represent him in NIL and NFL draft negotiations and would like nothing more than to put up another outstanding game in Orlando next week.
While some college players have language in their NIL contracts with schools that stipulate they must play in bowl games, Ryan said his contract does not include that. Not that it would matter.
“I have been at places where that is in the (NIL) contract,” he said. “I haven’t heard about that being a thing here at BYU. However, I don’t have any negative thoughts about playing in the bowl game, either. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Ryan said that sentiment applies to all of his teammates; as of Friday, it appeared that BYU would have no bowl game opt-outs, aside from the handful of backups who have announced their intentions to enter the transfer portal when it opens on Jan. 2.
“Everyone is excited, still. We still bring the same energy, same intensity to practice,” he said. “It is not a vacation or a week off for us. It is another serious game that we want to go out there and win.”
Ryan said getting a victory against the ACC foe won’t be easy. Georgia Tech is coming off a close loss — 16-9 — to No. 3 Georgia in Atlanta and has the ACC’s Quarterback of the Year, Haynes King.
“They are a good team. They are good defensively. They have a lot of really good players on that team. They all work together. Everyone does their job. So it’s gonna be a tough game,” he said. “They only lost three games this year, and those losses were to really good teams (North Carolina State, Pitt and Georgia).”
Meanwhile, Ryan turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for BYU, after tight ends Keanu Hill (12), Mata’ava Ta’ase (9) and Ryner Swanson (10) combined for just 31 catches in 2024, for 290 yards.
Ryan is BYU’s third-leading pass-catcher, with 37 receptions for 500 yards and three touchdowns. He’s often wondered what might have been if he had considered BYU two years ago when he was leaving UCLA.
“I have loved it here. Every second I have been here has been fun,” he said. “There have been ups and downs. With football, it has been a good year for me, and the relationships I’ve made with the coaches and players will last forever.
“I wish I could have had more time at this place. I wish I got here sooner,” he continued. “But everything happened for a reason, and I’m grateful for my journey and how I’ve gotten here, and that Kalani and his staff found a place for me here.”
Part of that journey included meeting his fiancee, Jayne Basso, at UCLA. She is finishing up her degree at UCLA this winter. The couple plans to wed in June.
“We are excited to start this whole new chapter of our lives together,” Ryan said.
Updated Dec. 19, 2025, 6:24 p.m. CT
The Texas Tech football team will once again try to load up on talent through the transfer portal after the Red Raiders’ highly successful run through the 2025 college football season.
Last year saw the Red Raiders go hard at top-tier players in the portal, which brought in the likes of David Bailey, Lee Hunter, Terrance Carter Jr. and Brice Pollock. The moves made by head coach Joey McGuire and the NIL funds provided by Cody Campbell pushed Texas Tech to the Big 12 Conference championship and an appearance in the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.
This year’s transfer portal is down to just one window for players to join new teams or leave their current squads. It opens on Jan. 2 and closes again Jan. 16. Players have until Jan. 16 to enter the portal and can pick their new teams at any time after submitting their names.
Keep tabs on all of Texas Tech’s transfer portal activity right here.
This section will be updated when player commitments are announced on social media, by Tech athletics or reported elsewhere.
The final addition of last year’s winter transfer portal cycle was the first to announce his departure on Dec. 11. Upton Bellenfant joined Texas Tech out of Buffalo last year but lost the starting kicker job to Stone Harrington midway through the year. Bellenfant was 6-for-6 on field goals and 14-of-16 on point-after kicks.
On3 reported on Dec. 19 that Dylan Spencer will enter the transfer portal. He is no longer on the Texas Tech roster for the 2025 season after he appeared in just three games, registering a pair of tackles. Showed potential as a true freshman in the 2023 season before he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first preseason practice ahead of the 2024 season.
SoundGear Named Entitlement Sponsor of Spears CARS Tour Southwest Opener
Bowl Projections: ESPN predicts 12-team College Football Playoff bracket, full bowl slate after Week 14
Donny Schatz finds new home for 2026, inks full-time deal with CJB Motorsports – InForum
How Donald Trump became FIFA’s ‘soccer president’ long before World Cup draw
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Release 2026 Indoor Schedule with Opener Slated for December 6 at Home
Black Bear Revises Recording Policies After Rulebook Language Surfaces via Lever
Michael Jordan’s fight against NASCAR heads to court, could shake up motorsports
David Blitzer, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment
JR Motorsports Confirms Death Of NASCAR Veteran Michael Annett At Age 39
Second-Screen Golf Experiences : Player Profiles