The Kansas men's basketball players reportedly landed more NIL money during the 2023-24 season than any other NCAA team.
Despite Jayhawks players garnering around $4 million in NIL deals collectively, Kansas had a less than stellar season, getting bounced in the tournament in the Round of 32 by Gonzaga.
The Jayhawks had just three player return from the previous season, adding a number of players from the portal in the offseason. One of those players was Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson, who was one of the most coveted players on the open market in college basketball history.
Kansas topped NIL payroll numbers in MBB for the 2023-24 season, spending more than $4 million in NIL money, sources tell @JTalty.
— 247Sports (@247Sports) April 10, 2024
Inside the NIL approaches of the basketball teams that fared best and worst this season ➡️ (VIP) https://t.co/38D0pi31Om pic.twitter.com/6DHta7cKIj
Jason Belzer, CEO of Student Athlete NIL, told 24/7 Sports that the Median Power 5 collective NIL payroll this season was approximately $750,000. He expects that number to double to $1.5 million next year.
"There are a lot of schools that spent money, including ones that we work with, that didn't make the tournament," Belzer said. "We work with a number of ACC schools that spent well over $1 million that are not playing in the NCAA Tournament."
In addition to Notre Dame and Syracuse, SANIL works with Georgia Tech and Wake Forest out of the ACC. None of the four schools made the tournament this season.
24/7 Sports cited multiple people with knowledge of the space, who said that Kansas topped the NIL payroll numbers this season, positing that Dickinson was a big reason why.
