On June 30, EA Sports announced that it is reviving its college basketball series, starting in 2028. While this year’s Kentucky team won’t be in the game, center Reece Potter didn’t mind daydreaming about what the Wildcats would look like if they were included.

“We’d definitely be one of those teams that you’d probably have to ban, I’m gonna be honest with you,” Potter said. “In (EA Sports) College Football (25), there was a couple schools, where everybody was like — ‘You can’t use those teams because they’re too good.’

“I feel like we’d definitely probably be one of them. We’re gonna have all 99s probably, definitely going to be on the X-list, ‘You can’t use Kentucky basketball versus me.’”

Potter transferred to Kentucky this offseason after spending two years at Miami (OH). Potter is a Bluegrass State native and went to Lexington Catholic Academy, which is just a few miles down the road from the University of Kentucky.

Potter averaged 6.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game last season while shooting 46.6% from the field and 36.7% from beyond the arc. Despite Potter’s successful campaign, he isn’t expected to see much action for the Wildcats this season.

Potter’s jokes about the team’s 99 ratings aside, Kentucky loaded up on legitimate talent this offseason. The Wildcats secured the No. 2 class in On3’s 2025 Team Transfer Portal Rankings.

The class includes standouts such as former All-ACC guard Jaland Lowe and projected 2026 lottery draft pick Jayden Quaintance. Moreover, Kentucky is returning a significant portion of its talent from last season.

The ‘Cats only lost two players to the transfer portal last season — neither of which were starters. In contrast, Kentucky is returning 2024 All-SEC Second-Team selection Otega Oweh, along with other contributors: Brandon Garrison, Collin Chandler and Trent Noah.

Kentucky is ranked No. 5 in On3 college basketball expert James Fletcher III’s “way-too-early” 2025-26 rankings. Additionally, the Wildcats are tied with Florida for the third-best odds to win the national championship next season. Simply put, Kentucky will be a handful for any opponent next season.

“We always say we’re the deepest team in the country, one through 15 guys, everybody can probably play anywhere in the country,” Potter said. “Every single day, it’s a challenge. Every single day, everybody is trying to bring it, fighting for spots. Our whole team can go… I feel like that’s what is gonna make us a national championship (team).”

Texas Tech commit Felix Ojo is one of the first big winners in the revenue-sharing world that has now begun in college sports. As part of his commitment to Texas Tech, the five-star offensive tackle recruit agreed to a three-year, $2.3 million revenue-sharing deal with the school, The Athletic reported.

Ojo’s deal is believed to be one of the largest revenue-sharing agreements between a school and a student-athlete since the approval of the House v. NCAA settlement in June, which allowed schools and student-athletes to agree to revenue-sharing deals starting on July 1. The deal will pay Ojo $775,000 per year, according to The Athletic.

When news first broke about Ojo’s commitment, his agent, Derrick Shelby of Prestige Management, told ESPN that the revenue-sharing deal he received was worth $5.1 million. While that figure isn’t fully guaranteed, Ojo’s revenue-sharing deal can climb to that number if there’s a large jump in the cap schools can spend on revenue-sharing deals with student-athletes, The Athletic added in its report. 

Entering the 2025-26 academic year, schools are allowed to spend roughly $20.5 million in revenue-sharing deals per year across all sponsored sports. However, that number is expected to increase on a yearly basis. 

Ojo can’t officially put pen to paper on his revenue-sharing agreement with Texas Tech just yet, though. Recruits can’t sign their revenue-sharing deals with schools until the signing period begins, which is Dec. 3 for FBS football. Student-athletes enrolled for the 2025-26 academic year could begin negotiating revenue-sharing deals with their current schools starting on July 1. 

Still, Ojo will likely become one of the richest players in college football, at least through revenue sharing, when he takes the field in 2026. To put his agreement in perspective, the total potential value of Ojo’s agreement ($5.1 million) would be equal to what a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft would make over the totality of their rookie deal, per Spotrac. Ojo could actually make more on a per-year basis than those players as well, as NFL rookie deals are four years long. 

“Football is a brutal sport, and athletes are not able to play professionally until their graduating class has been in college three years,” Shelby told ESPN of Ojo’s deal. “It was important to be able to secure Felix Ojo’s future and give him and his family some security as he continues to develop into a first-round NFL draft pick.”

Prior to landing Ojo in a rich revenue-sharing deal, Texas Tech has made major financial commitments in obtaining and securing student-athletes as of late in the name, image and likeness (NIL) era. Softball phenom NiJaree Canady has reportedly received two $1 million deals through Texas Tech’s NIL collective, reciting one to transfer from Stanford in 2024 and earning another to remain with the school in June. 

Basketball star JT Toppin also remained at Texas Tech following his All-American season in 2024-25 by reportedly signing a $3 million deal with the school’s NIL collective. That deal has made Toppin one of the most valuable players in all of college sports. 

Texas Tech’s JT Toppin has been one of the biggest beneficiaries in the school’s financial commitment to athletics. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

That spending has also carried into the football program. The Red Raiders spent more than $10 million through their NIL collective to land 21 players in the transfer portal this offseason, according to The Athletic. Its transfer portal class ranked as the second-best this offseason, via 247 Sports. 

Ojo, who also had offers from and visited Michigan, Texas, Florida, Ohio State and others, headlines a 2026 recruiting class that currently ranks 26th in the nation, via 247 Sports. He’s currently 247 Sports’ fifth-best prospect in the Class of 2026 and is the best recruit the program has ever landed, according to the recruiting service. 

Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.

Get more from College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

✕

VIEW

In an offseason full of movement across the college basketball landscape, Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young didn’t just dive into the transfer portal — he went across the ocean.

The headline addition is Neoklis “Neo” Avdalas, a 6’8 guard/wing from Greece who flirted with the NBA Draft before ultimately committing to the Hokies in June. But he’s not the only international piece in the program as the Hokies also added German C Antonio Dorn. With the additions of Avdalas and Dorn, Young and his staff are making it clear: international recruiting is no longer a side project in Blacksburg — it’s a focal point.

And Mike Young is very happy to add both of these players to his team, especially the potential 2026 NBA first round pick Avdalas.

“Thank God we got him,” Young said of Avdalas. “We needed to get him, and we’re fortunate enough to do so.”

Avdalas first appeared on Virginia Tech’s radar back in early April, and that is thanks to a connection between assistant coach Chester Frazier and NBA agent Alex Saratsis, who represents stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo.