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Well I am disappointed....
Posted on 4/12/24 at 7:14 am
Posted on 4/12/24 at 7:14 am
Look, I understand that Mark Pope has very strong ties to Kentucky. I understand that he won a championship as a team captain here. I understand that being mad at him is extremely stupid. That I should feel proud that he didn't drag his feet, but instead jumped on the opportunity.
Don't get me wrong, I am happy that he realized how great of an opportunity it is, and my frustration is not with Pope. My frustration is with our administration.
I loved the idea of Scott Drew, and they made him say "no", which is fine. The next call should have been to Billy Donovan. We should have made Billy come to Lexington and say "no", and if that meant having to wait until the NBA season ended then so be it.
We should have called Bruce Pearl and made him say "no". His past does not concern me as the landscape of college recruiting has changed so much. He would have left Auburn for Kentucky.
We should have really kicked the tires on Pitino to see if he would have considered returning and finishing his career in BBN.
We could have done all of those things, and if the answer had been "no" from all of them, then Pope would have still been there.
Instead we went from Drew to Pope with nothing in between. So please understand that I am not upset about Pope, and I wish him nothing but the best in leading the program. I just feel that we could have knocked on a few more doors.
Don't get me wrong, I am happy that he realized how great of an opportunity it is, and my frustration is not with Pope. My frustration is with our administration.
I loved the idea of Scott Drew, and they made him say "no", which is fine. The next call should have been to Billy Donovan. We should have made Billy come to Lexington and say "no", and if that meant having to wait until the NBA season ended then so be it.
We should have called Bruce Pearl and made him say "no". His past does not concern me as the landscape of college recruiting has changed so much. He would have left Auburn for Kentucky.
We should have really kicked the tires on Pitino to see if he would have considered returning and finishing his career in BBN.
We could have done all of those things, and if the answer had been "no" from all of them, then Pope would have still been there.
Instead we went from Drew to Pope with nothing in between. So please understand that I am not upset about Pope, and I wish him nothing but the best in leading the program. I just feel that we could have knocked on a few more doors.
10
Posted on 4/12/24 at 7:21 am to HarlanAlive 23
quote:
I loved the idea of Scott Drew, and they made him say "no", which is fine.
Yep, first choice for everyone.
quote:
We should have made Billy come to Lexington and say "no", and if that meant having to wait until the NBA season ended then so be it.
I'm going to assume here that they talked to Donovan and he really wasn't interested. Had he been interested they would have waited because you could have gotten Pope next week.
quote:
We should have called Bruce Pearl and made him say "no".
No
quote:
We should have really kicked the tires on Pitino to see if he would have considered returning and finishing his career in BBN.
No
quote:
Instead we went from Drew to Pope with nothing in between.
They talked to Hurley, he didn't want to leave the NE. And your point about Donovan is well taken.
With all that said, time will tell. UNC and Duke went this route, and it has worked for them so far.
Posted on 4/12/24 at 7:35 am to HarlanAlive 23
quote:
He would have left Auburn for Kentucky.
I don’t know. That’s far from a given and UK may have not wanted to risk being told “no thanks” by a SEC coach from a lower tier school.
Posted on 4/12/24 at 7:41 am to HarlanAlive 23
Chris Beard said NO!
Posted on 4/12/24 at 7:46 am to HarlanAlive 23
Correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t the 2nd portal window start soon or is that just for football? Perhaps they wanted to make sure they had a coach in time to fill out a roster
Posted on 4/12/24 at 7:59 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
I would have seen if Kelvin Sampson was interested.
Posted on 4/12/24 at 8:46 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
That is a good point, and having that stability will obviously have a major benefit on players potentially entering the program.
From this point on I am going to be 100% on the Mark Pope train.
From this point on I am going to be 100% on the Mark Pope train.
Posted on 4/12/24 at 8:48 am to HarlanAlive 23
quote:Are you telling us Cats fans would've been fine replacing a 65 yr old HC who hasn't made it out of the 1st weekend of the tourney in the last 5 yrs, with another 65 yr old HC who hasn't made it our of the 1st weekend of the tourney in the last 5 yrs?
We should have called Bruce Pearl and made him say "no". His past does not concern me as the landscape of college recruiting has changed so much. He would have left Auburn for Kentucky.
quote:OR they'd have been fine with a 71 yr old rerun HC?
We should have really kicked the tires on Pitino to see if he would have considered returning and finishing his career in BBN.
Posted on 4/12/24 at 8:49 am to HarlanAlive 23
quote:
Pope train
Posted on 4/12/24 at 8:55 am to JackVincennes
He wouldn't be.
Posted on 4/12/24 at 8:59 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
quote:Fall and Spring sports get an additional 15 day window that winter sports (basketball) is not afforded - which seems like another 'NCAA gonna do NCAA things' -
doesn’t the 2nd portal window start soon or is that just for football?
current portal for men's hoops is March 18 2024 to May 1 2024 for D1 players -
https://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Transfer/DIUG_Windows.pdf
football's spring window is May 1 to May 15 2024
baseball's fall window occurred last Dec 1 to Dec 15 2023
Posted on 4/12/24 at 9:01 am to HarlanAlive 23
This was always going to be an extremely tough search for UK. It’s hard enough to convince someone to follow a hall of fame coach. Its even harder to convince them to follow a HOF coach who fans unanimously wanted to be fired following a 3 seeded team.
And I get that there were many reasons UK wanted Cal out besides the tournament early exits. But to an established coach doing great where he is at, all they think about is if they would fire a legend like Calipari after a few years of rough luck, what would they do to me?
And I get that there were many reasons UK wanted Cal out besides the tournament early exits. But to an established coach doing great where he is at, all they think about is if they would fire a legend like Calipari after a few years of rough luck, what would they do to me?
Posted on 4/12/24 at 9:03 am to HarlanAlive 23
I think he’ll do good given time. The fans will just have to do a complete reset and allow it..
Posted on 4/12/24 at 9:05 am to HarlanAlive 23
quote:
That is a good point, and having that stability will obviously have a major benefit on players potentially entering the program.
Im not sure Pope brings stability because a player ir parent needs only to take a quick glance to see the fanbase is fractured over this hire.
Posted on 4/12/24 at 9:07 am to HarlanAlive 23
Posted on 4/12/24 at 9:14 am to HarlanAlive 23
It will be tough on Pope. He will have to build from scratch. He does have support from the money guys and former players. He is our coach now and we need to be patient. He did play six years in the NBA and has a NCAA championship ring. He was roommates at UK with Jeff Sheppard. It will be interesting to see if he can convince anyone to return.
Having said that, I think Barnhart panicked. Strange he could hire a top notch women’s coach but flail on the men’s. Perhaps it is time to find a new AD.
Having said that, I think Barnhart panicked. Strange he could hire a top notch women’s coach but flail on the men’s. Perhaps it is time to find a new AD.
Posted on 4/12/24 at 9:16 am to swinetime
Fan base will love Mark Pope. He has our support.
Barnhart on the other hand….
Barnhart on the other hand….
Posted on 4/12/24 at 9:27 am to Lynxrufus2012
This post was edited on 4/12/24 at 9:28 am
Posted on 4/12/24 at 9:30 am to Pygthagorean Theorem
Fans won’t blame Pope for taking the job.
Posted on 4/12/24 at 9:33 am to Lynxrufus2012
quote:
Perhaps it is time to find a new AD.
It's been that for a while. Should have been fired for the Billy G hire. With that said, he got rid of Cal and saved us $33M, which can now be spent on building up a new team.
Jeff Sheppard said this morning he thought it was a good hire, that Pope is a good X's and O's guy, and if he hires good assistants than can help with recruiting, Kentucky will be fine.
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