$500k doesn’t make sense but with the number of people that have reported that number including trustworthy ones like Willie, I believe it. Thinking back to Alirez, wasn’t it rumored that both Iowa AND OSU offered $500k? I know there have been comments about why it always seems like Iowa’s offers are the only ones that get leaked, but in that case it wasn’t.
And as you mention it certainly seems like Starocci has some money to throw around, which I do think is evidence there could be truth to these numbers.