UConn's Dan Hurley puts a price on being a college basketball contender in NIL era

There's a ton of money going around college athletics nowadays. Some would tell you that this was always the case, but instead of McDonald's bags full of cash or rent-free housing, we're talking about NIL collectives, deals and revenue sharing. The money is flowing, and it's especially true in the transfer portal. Heck, Mark Cuban recently came out and basically admitted that he paid for the right for the Indiana Hoosiers to land Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza in the portal. The same thing is happening in college basketball, where the top programs in the country are shelling out major bucks to land their preferred targets in the portal. Texas Longhorns head coach Sean Miller recently speculated that there are multiple college basketball programs that have spent over $20 million in the portal this offseason. UConn head coach Dan Hurley, who has won two national championships since taking over in 2018, thinks that number is a bit lower. Speaking on "The Field of 68: After Dark," he said he'd start it right around $18 million but admitted that it really depends on what type of depth a program is trying to build. There is a minimum threshold that Hurley believes college hoops programs will have to shell out, though. “Staffs don’t want to look like we’re paying the max. But you’ve got to be spending, I’d imagine, somewhere north of $14 [million] if you want to be in contention to compete at the top of the big league or to try to play deep into the tournament," Hurley said (h/t On3). According to On3, UConn spent somewhere between $8 and $10 million on its roster last season The Huskies are a bit of an anomaly, though, because Hurley has built a consistent national contender that is going to be a draw to recruits and players in the portal no matter what the money looks like. It's "old school" in that sense. Roster retention can also help keep costs down, per Hurley. To that point, UConn is bringing back guards Silas Demary and Braylon Mullins for 2026. Demary averaged 10.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists last season for the Huskies. Mullins averaged 12.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. If Hurley had to go out and get those kinds of players in the portal, UConn would undoubtedly have to up its budget. That's not the case for the Huskies, though, and that's because of the level they operate at. “Now, I think retention, you’re always going to get players. If you run a good program and you’re doing things the right way, you’re going to get a hometown discount on your retention guys," Hurley said. Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!