Kansas basketball is operating in the upper end of the NIL market, and CBS Sports’ latest roster spending report puts the Jayhawks right on the doorstep of the sport’s biggest spenders.
CBS Sports writers Matt Norlander and Isaac Trotter recently laid out the average NIL cost to build a college basketball roster in 2026, and across the 79 Power Five programs plus Gonzaga, that figure landed at $13.5 million. The Big 12 came in just below that mark at $12.7 million, which ranked fourth among the power leagues behind the SEC at $17.3 million, the Big East at $13.6 million and the Big Ten at $12.7 million.
The report breaks roster spending into seven tiers, and Kansas sits in Tier 2, the group just shy of $20 million. Alongside the Jayhawks in that range are Arkansas, Indiana and UConn.
Tier 1, meanwhile, includes programs spending $20 million or more, with Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Texas, Louisville, Tennessee, Texas Tech, St. John’s, Michigan and Florida listed there.
Kansas, though, is described as being extremely close to crossing into that top tier. CBS Sports wrote that if Trey Kaufman-Renn, Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. are eligible for the entire season, KU could reach $20 million later in the year.
The report added: “If Kansas is able to roster Trey Kaufman-Renn AND the Jayhawks get Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. eligible for the entire season, our information suggests KU would hit $20 million later this season, but as of this story's publication, the Jayhawks are an eyelash away and literally as close to Tier 1 as possible. (Kansas also boasts the most expensive freshman in college basketball, No. 1 prospect Tyran Stokes).”
That spending level matches the profile of this Kansas roster. Outside of Stokes, the Jayhawks don’t appear to have a lot of future NBA talent, and the transfers they added were productive but were not ranked inside the top 50 in 247Sports’ 2026 transfer player rankings.
What Kansas does have is depth, and plenty of it. Put together, it’s shaping up as one of the deepest teams in college basketball, and that sort of roster quality comes with a steep price tag. The Jayhawks are paying to win big, and that’s exactly the expectation around this team.
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