United kingdom Athletics Affirms Commitment to Student-Athletes By means of The Kentucky Highway
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The College of Kentucky Athletics Section has intensified its motivation to furnishing finest-in-class activities and chances for college student-athletes by The Kentucky Road, which describes the incomparable developmental practical experience furnished for student-athletes for the duration of their time as Wildcats.
Now anticipating coming legislation enabling benefits from name, picture and likeness, Kentucky Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart is redoubling his attempts to place college student athletes initially. Uk Athletics is constructing upon its higher education-athletics foremost suite of advantages featuring opportunities to enrich every single college student-athlete’s individual manufacturer.
Positive aspects contain, but are not constrained to:
- 
- Delivering industry-main assistance for leveraging unique social media existence by instruction, opportunity and info-backed insights.
- Extended scholarships right until a bachelor’s degree is reached.
- Fiscal education.



The Kentucky Road improved suite of benefits particularly for British isles student-athletes will be curated by bringing together methods available via the College of Kentucky’s entire world-class tutorial and pupil-enhancement pros along with the ideal external distributors.
Kentucky athletics has a verified track record of increasing student-athlete monetary alternatives just after their enjoying times at British isles, no matter if by way of encouraging build athletes to excel in the world’s most effective specialist athletics leagues, write-up-eligibility scholarship and networking possibilities, career placement programs and lucrative touring alternatives where Kentucky alumni interact with the most effective admirers in school sports activities: the Big Blue Nation.
“We think steadfastly in the transformative electrical power of the college or university athletics practical experience,” Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart mentioned. “We also feel it is our obligation to tailor that encounter to meet up with the needs of young folks in get to empower them to reach their dreams. By taking The Kentucky Street for four several years, our student-athletes will be supplied the tools and encounters they have to have to prepare for the 40 a long time to follow.”
The Kentucky Highway system will proceed to posture scholar-athletes for personal and skilled growth outdoors of the classroom and athletics services.


United kingdom will construct on current innovations these types of as prioritizing 1st-access shipping and delivery of persuasive media articles to college student-athletes immediately to their smartphones. United kingdom will also continue on improving arms-on education and learning geared towards maximizing personalized branding leverage in addition to business enterprise and monetary literacy programs.
“I have been privileged that British isles has been open up with me due to the fact I to start with arrived on campus about enhancing my encounter and giving me with the vital content material and education to mature my brand name,” two-time Southeastern Meeting Women’s Basketball Participant of the Calendar year Rhyne Howard explained. “On prime of media and brand training sessions, we acquire electronic written content continually prior to and following online games for us to share. They have also created and sought my input in building and sustaining RhyneHoward.com and the #CrownHer campaign to improve my exposure.
“Our application also has its very own imaginative director and she’s presented me suggestions on some emblem function and other branding property I have labored on as a digital media and style major. I’m excited to see how we create even a lot more alternatives this forthcoming year by means of The Kentucky Highway.”


Positive aspects for Recent Student Athletes
Model Defense, Enhancement, and Engagement

Kentucky has been an sector leader in partnerships with content material distribution platforms INFLCR and OpenDorse, just about every of which has been instrumental in giving scholar-athletes, coaches, team and influential alumni immediate accessibility to images and films. British isles has also cultivated interactions with social media platform associates such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, all of which deliver British isles pupil-athletes with access to sector improvements and insights.
For years now, Kentucky’s Manufacturer and Material division has adopted a “pupil-athletes very first” approach that prioritizes offering content to the University’s greatest messengers: the scholar-athletes, and then amplifying their voices by means of office and workforce accounts.
“I feel it was really crucial to have pictures and movies despatched to your cell phone suitable following video games and it was quite practical for us to post additional and develop our makes,” Tyler Herro, now with the NBA’s Miami Heat, reported of Uk Athletics’ partnership with INFLCR..
Kentucky student-athletes advantage from unparalleled alternatives that go along with competing on 1 of the greatest levels in higher education athletics. Wildcats have included hundreds of millions of followers on own social media accounts. In 2020, Kentucky athletics social channels generated far more than 1 billion impressions, when group and specific accounts prompted millions of engagements.
“For persons that only see us with a facemask on and shoulder pads, there is certainly more to that. There is certainly far more to that when we consider that off, when we are at our house, we’re out executing what we like to do,” Kentucky football alumnus Kash Daniel said. “Becoming a lot more than an athlete and acquiring that out to people to let them see that ‘Hey, he is not just a football participant,’ you know that genuinely indicates a ton to me.”
British isles is properly-positioned to give student-athletes with enhanced assistance to gain even more from their personal manufacturers through facts-backed insights and strategic pondering.
“Kentucky athletics personnel and partnerships with platforms like INFLCR served my social media a great deal,” reported PJ Washington, now a star ahead on the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. “Articles was just prepared for me and I can deliver that to whoever I want, submit them wherever I want, and say whatever I want so it was unquestionably a beneficial instrument.”
Economic Training
In 2019, Kentucky partnered with Empower3d and Michael Haddix to style a multi-stage curriculum to prepare student-athletes for upcoming aspirations ranging from playing professional sports activities to coming into the job workforce. The initial these types of software in the nation, The Kentucky Road economical education and learning initiative’s modern programming is made to permit learners to realize finances by way of gamification, actual-world scenarios, and competitors. In addition to educating Wildcats on the fundamentals of private finance, individuals learned how to start proficiently networking with the a must have relationships presented to them at Kentucky and how to better put together for their future phase in life working with the accessible applications to their advantage.
“Throughout my time at Kentucky we had obtain to unparalleled methods,” All-The usa and two-time SEC Volleyball Player of the Yr Leah Edmond reported. “No matter whether it was tutorial, monetary schooling, media information or just the accessibility to romance-building belongings throughout a host of fields, The Kentucky Highway was actually transformational for my vocation on and off the courtroom.”
Rewards for Previous StudentAthletes
Life span Scholarships

“The Kentucky Street” is UK’s holistic approach to delivering on its promise of a entire world-class pupil-athlete expertise. As part of this knowledge, student-athletes who leave the university in great standing will receive a scholarship in the volume of their athletics scholarship for tuition and charges until they have earned a British isles bachelor’s diploma.
As the quantity of university student-athletes leaving United kingdom for options in experienced athletics boosts, United kingdom Athletics is organized to meet up with the academic wants of these college students following their athletics professions are concluded.
—

The on line household of The Kentucky Highway is TheKentuckyRoad.com, a first-of-its-form electronic system that inspires possible university student-athletes to visualize their future at Uk. That upcoming involves a established of possibilities that will problem them to mature into leaders prepared for a life time of results, both equally through and soon after higher education. The Kentucky Street electronic system illustrates that by means of story-pushed multimedia content material and an interactive roadmap working experience.