MIRAMAR BEACH, FL. — University of Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart is the second-longest-tenured AD among Power Four schools. He’s seen a lot in Lexington over the last 23 years. But the past year has provided him with an especially unique challenge.
Barnhart is one of 10 ADs on the power conferences and NCAA’s House Settlement Implementation Committee. This committee has put in “10 to 15 years worth of work,” Barnhart told The Courier Journal at SEC spring meetings, in the span of “eight to 12 months.” Its job is to help position college sports for seismic change once the House v. NCAA settlement receives final approval and becomes effective July 1.Everyone is still waiting. Leaders across college sports have been metaphorically holding their breath since April 7.
The House v. NCAA settlement, which received preliminary approval from Judge Claudia Wilken in October, would provide $2.8 billion in back damages to athletes who could not profit off their name, image and likeness between 2016 and Sept. 15, 2024. It would also bring revenue sharing to college sports starting July 1 with a projected cap for 2025-26 of $20.5 million per school.Athletics departments around the nation have operated for months under the assumption that Wilken will approve the agreement. After requesting an amendment to the roster caps portion of the agreement (which the Power Four conferences delivered in the form of an optional grandfathering-in model), the settlement has been in Wilken’s hands since May 16.
As athletics departments around the nation brace for her decision — an approval or denial, the latter of which would destabilize college sports and likely send the lawsuit back to trial — how might UK move forward?
Barnhart declined to discuss what Kentucky would do should Wilken deny the settlement. That kind of “speculation,” Barnhart said, “throws everybody into a bit of chaos, which I don’t think is necessary at this point. Let’s work our plan and see what happens. And if those goals get upended by a different decision, then we’ll adjust as we go.”If the settlement is denied, UK could theoretically pay its athletes directly anyway. The commonwealth passed Senate Bill 3 in March, amending its previous NIL legislation so state universities could legally operate within the House settlement’s proposed revenue-sharing model. Louisville AD Josh Heird told The Courier Journal that U of L would likely move forward with direct payments to athletes regardless of Wilken’s decision.
If the settlement is approved, UK plans to distribute $20.5 million among its varsity sports during the 2025-26 athletics year. Rather than establishing firm percentages for each program, Barnhart said Kentucky will take a less rigid approach to meet each sport’s needs year in and year out
