It was a disasterclass for Mark Pope and the Kentucky basketball program on Tuesday. Tyran Stokes’ commitment to Kansas was a big part of that, but it was more so everything surrounding his polarizing decision to turn down the Wildcats as a Nike athlete in favor of the adidas-affiliated Jayhawks.
Why was Pope liking tweets about the No. 1 recruit in the country uniting a divided fanbase when all of the intel leading up to the announcement suggested KU was the likely choice? Why did Mo Williams respond to Stokes on Twitter about going public with his decision on ESPN’s Inside the NBA — and likely committing an NCAA violation in the process? Why did UK think it was a good PR move to announce Justin McBride’s signing 30 minutes before the biggest recruiting decision for the program in over a decade, completely taking the shine away from his addition as a massive impact piece off the bench for the Wildcats? Did you even remember McBride committed to Kentucky through the chaos of Stokes’ move to Lawrence? You should, because he’s worth the attention, despite the poorly calculated rollout on UK’s part
Stokes commitment to Kansas is by far Pope’s worst recruiting miss to date, considering his investment in the top-ranked prospect and who he could have landed had he pivoted when the writing was on the wall. 16 of the top 30 prospects visited with the Wildcats and 22 total — not including the brother of a redshirt freshman and the son of an assistant coach — received offers. Zero committed. Do you have a real chance with at least one or two if you read the room that, if you have to offer the kid’s high school coach and mentor, while armed with a historic bag of cash and Nike’s help, he might just not be into you? Odds are good.
https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/so-where-does-kentucky-go-from-here/
Why was Pope liking tweets about the No. 1 recruit in the country uniting a divided fanbase when all of the intel leading up to the announcement suggested KU was the likely choice? Why did Mo Williams respond to Stokes on Twitter about going public with his decision on ESPN’s Inside the NBA — and likely committing an NCAA violation in the process? Why did UK think it was a good PR move to announce Justin McBride’s signing 30 minutes before the biggest recruiting decision for the program in over a decade, completely taking the shine away from his addition as a massive impact piece off the bench for the Wildcats? Did you even remember McBride committed to Kentucky through the chaos of Stokes’ move to Lawrence? You should, because he’s worth the attention, despite the poorly calculated rollout on UK’s part
Stokes commitment to Kansas is by far Pope’s worst recruiting miss to date, considering his investment in the top-ranked prospect and who he could have landed had he pivoted when the writing was on the wall. 16 of the top 30 prospects visited with the Wildcats and 22 total — not including the brother of a redshirt freshman and the son of an assistant coach — received offers. Zero committed. Do you have a real chance with at least one or two if you read the room that, if you have to offer the kid’s high school coach and mentor, while armed with a historic bag of cash and Nike’s help, he might just not be into you? Odds are good.
https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/so-where-does-kentucky-go-from-here/
