Kentucky basketball spent massive NIL money on one player on the 2025-26 roster

The college basketball landscape has changed a ton as players are now able to make money for their name, image, and likeness. Since this has become legal, the money these players are making has skyrocketed every season.

Fox Sports just put out an article listing the ten college players with the highest NIL evaluations, and one of them is a Kentucky Wildcat. That player is Jayden Quaintance, who, according to this article, is the sixth highest-paid player in college hoops with a NIL evaluation of 1.9 million dollars.

Here is what Fox Sports had to say about the NIL evaluation for the Wildcats center, "Quaintance is the youngest player on this list. Even though he won’t turn 18 until July, Quaintance already has a year of college hoops experience, playing at Arizona State this past season. After being named to the Big 12’s All-Defensive and All-Freshman teams, Quaintance entered the portal and landed at Kentucky. While he has a pair of reported deals with PSD Underwear and Panini America, Quaintance likely cashed in on Kentucky’s growing NIL budget, too. Kentucky is rumored to be one of the three-highest NIL spenders in college basketball for the 2025-26 season, helping Mark Pope land a talented transfer portal class. Quaintance, who is also ranked No. 26 in On3’s most valuable college athletes list, is rehabbing from an ACL tear, but he’s hopeful to be back on the court early next season as he seeks to be a top pick in the 2026 draft."

The only thing surprising about this list is not seeing Otega Oweh listed as he was reportedly bringing in a ton of NIL money after deciding to pull out of the NBA Draft.

Quaintance is deserving of every penny he is getting in NIL money as he is going to be one of the best bigs in college hoops, and he is listed as a projected top five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.