Pope is in a hard spot with Freeman. According to Matt they held off on Rancik waiting to get Freeman. Matt said once Rancik signed with Florida St. Kentucky tried all day to get Freeman to commit but wasn't successful. Then due to Freemans agent shopping him around St. Johns came in and beat UK's offer. Mat says the St. Johns folks will be hard to beat money wise as to keep in mind they do not have to fund football, so they have deep pockets solely for basketball. At this point I would call Freeman and match St. Johns offer with the understanding that if he doesn't accept on the spot then we move on. I wouldn't let a past injury prone player hold us hostage for really more money than he is worth. Pope is in a hard spot here as if he meets St. Johns offer and the kid signs here and misses games he will be crucified.
Listening to KSR
- Thread starter BigBlueGuru
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Sounds like a Mark Pope recruitment.
He needs players first. We have suffered thru JQ not even playing so any games feels like a win. Let’s cross that bridge when we get there. Unless there is wind that some new F are entering the last two days we need a guy like him because the market is bare.
Id say we are not going to get him now with St Johns involved. And im sure Pope did whatever he could and may even up the offer but not many are going to compete with Rick. Time to move on to the next option.
Move on. Upping the ante for an injury prone player? No thank you.
This stuff sucks. It’s bs. Should’ve taken Rancik but then people would’ve said we took the safe play etc. I say let him go. Just hope and pray someone enters the portal today
Trouble is all that's left for that position is straight out trash.
You don't get it.
2 days ago...Freeman was the safe play. So what happened??
Sounds like it’s time to circle back to Paulius or give Milan an offer he literally can’t refuse
I think he needs to tell Freeman to go **** himself. Yank the offer, if you had any thoughts of going to $4M, offer it to Moncilovic. Sign McBride and a couple of roll players. If you can sign Stokes and Moncilovic, the rest doesn't matter because you are the favorite for the national title
Incompetency galore from UK basketball these days
I was all about signing Rancik. The folks dogging that kid don't know ball
When the hell will Pope wake up and hire a freaking GM?
I've been tripping about a lot of Pope related things since November or so. Now that we have Zoom, and Wilkins ... I am going to chill and let it play out. Hope we get Moreno back and he learns to rebound with two hands ... I wouldn't mind us getting the little guard from Jackson State if he is still available , as a scoring guard off the bench. Arizona won it in 97 with Davidson and Bennett as the PF and C ...who are those guys? Exactly ... with good guard play and hopefully some Andrew Carr type big, etc ... we will be okay. I think we will be okay. Landing Wilkins seems to have shaken a lot of the ANON negative Nancy's away. I hope.
But that's just acting in frustration. Yeah it's annoying and these kids are entitled divas. But you gotta play the game. You can't just get salty and ragequit.
It's like getting angry while playing a board game then flipping the table over and leaving. It might make you feel better short term but that's it
He did. They're just embarassed to call him the GM because no one knows who the f*ck he is. Some Mormon kid named Keegan.
Next year when he’s back coaching in the WAC.
Nah, thats not true. The kid led them to believe it was a done deal, then once Rancik signed at FSU, he started calling other schools looking for offers. Thats called being bent over. Maybe you will kiss him when he finishes up, but me, I am going for the grab and rip technique
He's not even the most famous Keegan Brown.
If you Google his name, a professional darts player comes up.
If you Google his name, a professional darts player comes up.
He's dug his own grave. He was begged to get one for this upcoming do or die season and now we are missing on a top target. The drop from Freeman to the next PF is huge.
Thanks Pope. Thanks Mitch.
Losing rancik is the worst part, def could have used that kid
How come Pope is always getting bent over? Makes me think he likes it
Time to pull the plug on Freeman. Just my opinion. Can’t pay million(s) for a player that has an injury history. Go another route. Go big on Momcilivic or something. Look for diamonds in the rough.
I was hoping for Rancik. Liked his game. Oh well.
I was hoping for Rancik. Liked his game. Oh well.
With the way this class is shaping up, next season will be the last.
Is it really his decision? I get the feeling that both MB and Pope are against the idea of spending so much money on amateurs, and I agree with them, but you can't have the head coach negotiating money. It's a gray area.
Haven’t they bee trying together him to commit since they started recruiting him? LOL at they tried all day yesterday. Must be nice to make a prediction then come back the next day when it’s wrong and cover for it with nonsense and have people blindly believe you.Also, Freeman just started looking for other offers when Rancik committed to FSU? He hasn’t been looking for offers the entire time he’s been in the portal? None of this passes the common sense test.
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This staff waits too long on guys and end up sacrificing a player they could get.
When Rancik was ready to accept, a call should have been placed to Freeman letting him know we needed a decision. At that point, we had the leverage. Is Freeman healthy likely better? Sure! Is Rancik likely more than serviceable? Sure! We should have told Freeman his max offer then and let him decide on the spot. If he said no or he needed more time, we should have taken Rancik on the spot.
At that point we would have a guy and if Freeman decides later he wants to come, we work it out then. 1 in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.
When Rancik was ready to accept, a call should have been placed to Freeman letting him know we needed a decision. At that point, we had the leverage. Is Freeman healthy likely better? Sure! Is Rancik likely more than serviceable? Sure! We should have told Freeman his max offer then and let him decide on the spot. If he said no or he needed more time, we should have taken Rancik on the spot.
At that point we would have a guy and if Freeman decides later he wants to come, we work it out then. 1 in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.
Woulda been nice to have an GM working on communicating with agents and the like during the season so we could have been better prepared.
On the portals not closed yet, but also there were several players that I put in for the draft. I think Graves is won and I'm not sure.Milan is that much a Fantasy
Yep. Pope botched this
Why do people get mad at players that are trying to get the best deal for themselves? Do you personally like to make the most money you can your family ? Different day and age today. I don’t blame players or agents. It’s part of the game nowadays
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He doesn't seem to learn. When you made the best offer to Freeman and he said I will tell you tomorrow you say no, you tell us today or we give the money to Rancik. That is not giving up on the recruit, that is setting a deadline so you can protect yourself.