In Reply to: "Other coaches appeared to be able to afford multi high level pla posted by mh on June 03, 2025 at 11:44:25
In Matt Norlander’s piece on NIL budgets in college basketball, he placed UCLA just below the top tier programs, approximately ten programs he identified as leading the way. The gap wasn’t huge; he estimated those top-tier programs were spending around $10 million, with schools like UCLA in the $8 million range. His assessment came early in the offseason, so figures may have shifted since then, but there’s little reason to believe UCLA isn’t at least holding its own in the NIL landscape.
It’s reasonable to assume that a significant portion of that $8 million went toward retaining key returners. Additionally, I wouldn’t be surprised if Booker received a deal close to the $1 million that was reportedly set aside for Aday Mara, especially given how urgent the need was at that position and how quickly UCLA had to pivot.