Polacek knew and tried to tell our coach

mdluk1

All-Conference
Oct 28, 2007
1,013
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Per KSR, Polacek knew a month ago the stokes had already signed with kansas and tried to tell the UK coaches but they would not take his call. And waiting on stokes caused us to miss on players that WANTED to come. Seriously coach?

Not one of the top targets we recruited and got on campus, committed. WTF Coach?

I am done. Pope needs to be told that barring winning the SEC regular season AND the SECT, plus getting to at least the Elite 8, this is your last season at UK.
 

UKGrad24

All-American
Apr 2, 2024
2,946
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As I’ve said for a while, and another poster here knows this as well. Pope isolates himself from the outside. He’s limited booster access and is turning into something that people he needs don’t really care for. It’s been going on since early in his tenure. Pope isn’t doing himself any favors. The guy is the worse coach we’ve ever had bar none and he couples that with tons of off court mistakes. He’s done after this season anyway like some of us have said for a long time. Easiest thing to see since I’ve been a UK fan. Unbelievable how many missed it.

If ya can’t see this guy isn’t UK material, I wouldn’t make many opinions. More listening.
 

Mossip

All-American
Jul 20, 2007
5,988
5,618
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Pope hasn’t made a single appearance since the tourney and it’s unacceptable. I’m not counting a radio show power point presentation with no callers. Intelligent people know the importance of communication in leadership. Pope is a stubborn fraud who continues to get credit for dropping out of med school for some reason.
 

Padsfs07

All-Conference
Jan 19, 2013
3,667
3,404
108
I would bet anything this is bull. He would've posted it if he knew that. That's the whole point of "premium" information.
 
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coalBucket

Senior
Sep 27, 2008
450
941
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Nat Geo Origins GIF by National Geographic Channel
 

jeffky

All-American
Sep 22, 2017
3,566
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There is absolutely ZERO people to blame except Mark Pope for this horrendous off season. I hope the new AD comes in and hires a good GM day one and tells pope to shove it. He will only have to deal with him for a few more months.
Horrendous 🤔 has the season started yet ?
 

TTTblue24

All-Conference
Feb 1, 2004
3,882
2,756
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The stories that are coming out now are what’s so hard to believe and imagine the ones we don’t hear about, it’s truly unbelievable where we are in this program and did mark do this at byu as well??? If anyone should know how the off the court stuff works at UK, then it should be a former player lol. The boosters and access and being out there for people to see vs hiding and hoping it all goes away……..what a colossal mess.
 

CutNets

Sophomore
Jan 13, 2026
76
173
33
As I’ve said for a while, and another poster here knows this as well. Pope isolates himself from the outside. He’s limited booster access and is turning into something that people he needs don’t really care for. It’s been going on since early in his tenure. Pope isn’t doing himself any favors. The guy is the worse coach we’ve ever had bar none and he couples that with tons of off court mistakes. He’s done after this season anyway like some of us have said for a long time. Easiest thing to see since I’ve been a UK fan. Unbelievable how many missed it.

If ya can’t see this guy isn’t UK material, I wouldn’t make many opinions. More listening.

In listening to Jones last week I was astonished to hear that there was essentially a forbidden-to-contact clause put down by UK brass for Pearl, Oates, and two others. For the life of me I apparently was not aware of this as I always wondered why we let a couple of great coaches just linger out there.
 

BookofMormon

Junior
Mar 27, 2026
311
356
63
Writing is on the wall, he knows it. My guess is he probably wants out, likely seeking counseling on how to endure a last year and then get on his way.

Most importantly is the next coach. If it's not Donovan (who may not want this crazy tank), need to target best up and coming coach who has some thick skin. St Louis guy, if Kansas doesn't grab him - or if Michigan doesn't grab him if Dusty heads to the NBA.
Desperation. A novel idea that he knew would say yes to save face.
 

rick64

Heisman
Jan 25, 2007
24,853
34,411
113
Mitch Barnhart. He has hired THREE basketball coaches for UK. John Calipari, Billy Gillispie, and Mark Pope.
Really good batting avg for baseball, .333, but when 2 of your 3 hires were awful that ain't good for a program like UK. Good riddance Mitch!
 

AllBall

All-American
May 5, 2015
4,769
6,229
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Pope even refused to hire a GM and it's becoming obvious he is very arrogant and thinks he is better than what he is.
He can't even fill out his staff with assistants. Basketball has been operating without a GM and minus an assistant. What could go wrong?

That's a sign of dysfunction and unwillingness to trust. Great leaders surround themselves with talent and delegate responsibility. You can't do it all as the UK basketball coach, especially in this era.
 

preacherfan

All-Conference
Oct 11, 2003
29,077
4,729
113
Per KSR, Polacek knew a month ago the stokes had already signed with kansas and tried to tell the UK coaches but they would not take his call. And waiting on stokes caused us to miss on players that WANTED to come. Seriously coach?

Not one of the top targets we recruited and got on campus, committed. WTF Coach?

I am done. Pope needs to be told that barring winning the SEC regular season AND the SECT, plus getting to at least the Elite 8, this is your last season at UK.
Whether true or not (but I suspect it is), Pope is now in a desperate situation. He gambled on JQ and lost and then he gambled on Stokes and lost. He needs a miracle now.
 

FilsonCat

All-Conference
Apr 5, 2007
3,422
4,096
113
There are a lot of far more connected guys out there than Polachek. If the word was out there at all, it is hard to believe that a higher profile reporter wouldn't have run with this story.
 
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JAC71

All-American
Jun 28, 2015
4,965
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Why isn’t Jacob working as a Kansas insider? No way I will ever pay for info from a rival fan acting as an insider for UK.
 
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mdluk1

All-Conference
Oct 28, 2007
1,013
4,482
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"I beleive anything that makes Pope look bad because it verifies my own opinion and makes me feel all comfy. It could come from the National Enquirer, I don't care. It's true!"

A portion of our fanbase has PDS and it's ruined them. Oh well, their issue.
Do you believe we had 14 of the top 20 recruits on campus and got ZERO of them?

Do you believe stokes did not troll us?

Why would you announce the McBride commit 30 minutes before stokes announced? Either way it went, McBride gets lost in the shuffle.

It feels like it’s a cluster phuck at UK Bb right now.
 

TigerMoving

Heisman
Jul 13, 2014
7,943
21,967
113
I wonder if we even have the money to hire a GM. Maybe that's the issue. Athletics just took out a massive loan from the university and our president is more focused on raising money for our horrific AD's golden parachute. We are an absolute mess from top to bottom.
 
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Mossip

All-American
Jul 20, 2007
5,988
5,618
60
Do you believe we had 14 of the top 20 recruits on campus and got ZERO of them?

Do you believe stokes did not troll us?

Why would you announce the McBride commit 30 minutes before stokes announced? Either way it went, McBride gets lost in the shuffle.

It feels like it’s a cluster phuck at UK Bb right now.
He won’t address a single one of those points. Never seen the guy actually talk hoops.

he’s a lonely weird guy that enjoys gatekeeping rafters…

Edit: holy ish, he replied. TLDR: nothing is ever popes fault
 
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Monday Nitro

All-American
Jul 3, 2025
4,472
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Do you believe we had 14 of the top 20 recruits on campus and got ZERO of them?

Do you believe stokes did not troll us?

Why would you announce the McBride commit 30 minutes before stokes announced? Either way it went, McBride gets lost in the shuffle.

It feels like it’s a cluster phuck at UK Bb right now.
I believe that a lot of people came here and didn't committ because it's all about money and being promised playing time.

I believe Pope probably knew Stokes wasn't coming here but left the door open like most coaches would do.

I believe Pope has to show major improvement in several areas or this is it for him.

Sorry man, I'm not "done" like you and so many other feeble souls.
 

AllBall

All-American
May 5, 2015
4,769
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In listening to Jones last week I was astonished to hear that there was essentially a forbidden-to-contact clause put down by UK brass for Pearl, Oates, and two others. For the life of me I apparently was not aware of this as I always wondered why we let a couple of great coaches just linger out there.
If true the UK brass needs correcting too. In the NIL era everything goes, so why limit your potential candidates for hire based on some minor incidents that happened long ago?
 

TX Wildcat

All-Conference
Apr 12, 2024
1,072
2,318
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I blame Pope, I do. However, if I am the HC for Kentucky MBB and Jacob Polacheck tries to contact me, I too ignore his call.

Hang Up Goodbye GIF by TV Land Classic
 

MegaBlue05

Heisman
Mar 8, 2014
10,966
22,000
66
You think a recruiting guy just held information about the #1 recruit for a month?
Yes.

I am a former news and sports reporter. I covered high school sports in Kentucky for a couple small town newspapers in the 2000s.

If the KSR reporter had this info from one source, that’s not enough to credibly publish. The next thing to do before writing something for publication is to corroborate what the source is telling you. If multiple sources report the same thing, it’s fine to go ahead and put it out there because the info is confirmed by multiple sources.

I have shared unconfirmed info with various officials in my career as Jacob tried to do by calling the UK staff. “I’m hearing __. Is this true?” At best, you get answers. At worst, you get no comment.

The fact this staff has completely shut out local media contacts is both baffling and incredibly stupid.