This exactly. Richie loves to agitate.
Something I noticed about Popes first class
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You know what, I think I'll put more energy into this season and focus on next when it's here.
Bro…if you can’t recruit dudes from San Diego, Dayton and effing Drexel to UK…yeah.
He’s at UK my man. Not BYU. He’s an F recruiting at UK. The brand and the biggest payroll got THIS roster. B+? Jesus.
Sweet. Be happy with S16s. Meanwhile Duke and a few others have figured out how to be elite.
And when Rick’s players ran out, he wasn’t nearly as good. And then got run out.
To be fair, you just dunked on Pope. All those “cliches” are also truths.
Everyone wanted Brea. And many would have wanted Butler but he was on the market for like 5 minutes.
I like Richie, but man. How incessant b1tch1ng about Pope is absurd.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t all three of said players make NBA rosters?! I know 2/3 did. Odd.
Here’s the deal. Pope is NOT gonna recruit to the level of Cal. Matter of fact, nobody we could ever bring to Lexington will now, or ever. Cal is only the best recruiter of all time.
Honestly, I don’t want a roster full of 5 star freshmen. All people did for the last several years of Cal was b1tch and complain that we had to rebuild an entire roster every season, because all of our players went to the draft. They claimed they wanted roster retention. Claimed they wanted experienced rosters. Now they b1tch because we aren’t landing those same 5 star freshmen. Idk, just wild.
Honestly, I don’t want a roster full of 5 star freshmen. All people did for the last several years of Cal was b1tch and complain that we had to rebuild an entire roster every season, because all of our players went to the draft. They claimed they wanted roster retention. Claimed they wanted experienced rosters. Now they b1tch because we aren’t landing those same 5 star freshmen. Idk, just wild.
What does that have to do with recruiting guys from those schools? First year on the job. Before everyone realized he’s a poser.
The question you should be asking is, why do the school names matter? These guys went PRO, yet somehow, they weren’t good enough to be recruited by UK because they played at a mid major?! If anything, it says Pope saw something in these guys that most others didn’t. However, all three of those guys were of high interest to some of the best college basketball programs in the country. IIRC, Brea was down to us, UConn, the cheats and either KU or duke.
I’ll also add this. We beat EIGHT top 15 teams with that roster last year, which tied an all time record. All while battling multiple injuries ALL season. If that’s a “poser” then I wanna know what is authentic?!
Nobody said they weren’t good enough. Recruiting those guys to UK from those schools isn’t a flex. It’s what should happen if the UK coach wants them.
So, we should have taken a bunch of 4/5 star freshmen? Is that what you’re saying. What’s the argument here?!
And while I thought it was time for Calipari to leave i suspected that all the voices purporting that they were finished with one and dones would start complaining if we only recruited three-four year projects. If you keep recruiting over the 2-3 year player they will leave for more playing time elsewhere. I still tend to go with talent approach but you can’t let Duke sign four of the top ten.
I get it. However, they’re not gonna win a title with a bunch of freshmen. Unless they get an AD type of talent.
It’s like Cal used to say about 3-point shooting: Pope don’t have to get ALL of his top targets. He just can’t MISS ‘em all.
Forget year 1, they were all gone when he took the job. But year 2 he missed ‘em all. And so far in year 3, he’s missed ‘em all in the HS class.
Good news is, he still has chance for Year 3.
Eagles Ball thinks Billy Clyde is a great basketball mind. Keep that in mind when entering into a debate with him.
I think the disconnect between me and a lot of the other fans on this topic is about what’s realistic and what isn’t. College recruiting isn’t the same as it was for Kentucky in the early Cal era. Duke is dominating everyone in recruiting and it isn’t close — even Calipari couldn’t keep up. We have to find our own competitive advantage and that’s what I believe Pope is trying to do. I don’t see any of the familiar favorite names getting the bevy of recruits most fans want. Oats? Nope. Beard? Absolutely not. Who you bringing in? You want Sean Miller or Jai Lucas? We have to adjust to the current landscape and know where we can win and where we can’t. If you aren’t going to collect talent, you have to prioritize fit and continuity. You’ll undermine that easily by going after the “best available player” all the time. I wish we could win a national title every year, have the top high school recruiting class, the top portal class and go 40-0 each year but that’s not how it works. I believe I’m looking at things from an honest and consistent perspective and I know the “recruit doomers” believe they are as well — I just disagree.
Exactly! There’s soooooo many programs winning at an elite level that don’t even sign any top HS players. Also, there’s a transfer portal now. Coaches don’t have to exclusively recruit HS players.
And I’m not sure he could have won without Miller, Jones and Lamb. There was a solid nucleus of a team that returned
Pope has no recruits at this point so I can understand some giving him an F for recruiting this season to this point. But I’m not going to judge recruiting by how many OAD freshmen any coach signs. I’ll judge it by how his recruits impact winning.
With high school recruits that’s often not a one year assessment and depends on a coach’s ability see what a kid can become in the future and size up a kid to determine his chances of keeping him long enough to see that development bear winning fruit. Portal recruiting is more important for immediate results, so personally I would judge that aspect of recruiting more on what you got from a guy in year one – especially a senior transfer.
Imagine being a season ticket holder and wanting Pope to fail instead of enjoying every minute of it. Wild.....and sad.
Pretty sure that was the guy on here one night GUARANTEEING that Cade Cunningham was coming. Had sources and everything. So....
I think some got so used to getting 5 stars with Cal that it’s become expected to keep happening. I admit I worry over recruiting but you’re absolutely right. You can build good teams without top high school players.
I don’t doubt it as he was the one that said he knew insiders and that Cal was 100% gone (well before he left. ) He had this place on edge for weeks and then vanished for a while after he was wrong, finally came back and proceeded to attack anyone that called him out. Disgraceful. Im not perfect at all, but I dont pull people’s legs and find sick humor in it. Elaborate troll job?
every top team has a. elite coaching, b. elite recruits or both
uconn - coaching
houston, arizona- both
duke- recruits
It’s not impossible to build good teams without top high school players. I hope we get a top high school player but if we don’t I’m not going to freak out if we get a top portal class including since we should have more guys returning than we normally have next year.
Adolph Rupp came to UK and started winning basketball games. He got the University to invest in the basketball program when most schools weren't. When recruits came to UK they saw better facilities and that everything was first class for the basketball team. Basketball players were big men on campus. At most other schools basketball was an afterthought. Kentucky was one of the few "names" when it came to basketball. Things have changed, there is a lot of money in basketball and everyone is chasing it. Pedigree doesn't matter, $$$$ do. Agents are controlling decisions making every school a contender for players. How much money, will I be featured etc. etc. Everybody's got money, everybody's got facilities.
That team's talent level was criminally underrated. Brea or amari would by far be the most talented player on this year's team. They were just underrated because of the elite one and done guys we were used to.
I think Pope is a good coach. Not great, but good. He desperately needs help managing the roster. He gets that under control, he might have something.