I wouldn’t be surprised if this whole thing has a Nexus between Barney and the Louisville A.D.. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Barney were you know catering to Louisville a little bit, but not challenging them with big hires at the end of his tenure because he knows Kentucky’s a big state and he’s gonna potentially need those Louisville folks the hiring for a job up there you know their boosters and stuff. I mean, they’re the only people in the state that will be interested. And they might pay Barnhardt just to stick around Lexington as a constant reminder of the massive failure we become. Mitch Barnhart is the worst thing to happen to to university of Kentucky and I’m gonna take it to step further he’s not the worst thing to happen to the state but he’s one of the worst. There have been a lot of Kentuckians have passed on hoping their last year alive. They were see Kentucky breakout of the funk.. Mitch Barnhart doesn’t care about that he never did. Kentucky basketball has always been for the state.. that’s why we have a facility that’s off campus and that’s the size of an nba venue. The problem is that these clowns who were hired Eli Mitch Barnhardt, especially he didn’t get the memo that it belongs to the state. It’s not the athletic department. It’s not just the university of Kentucky.. I know so many stinking people who went to eastern or went to xavier or went to freaking western Kentucky never ever step foot on campus for a class and they are massive donors.
Pope is really bad but he can’t be THIS bad. JMI
- Thread starter Wunky
- Start date
If he makes the Sweet 16 he will be back for year 4. Maybe even the round of 32.
From what I have been told and understand it by those in the media, the NIL “deal” isn’t the issue it’s the player or agent looking to sign with other companies outside of those JMI controls. They want or try to get the player to use their companies vs the agent wanting to be able to sign deals with anyone. Idk how much of a problem this is but could be the agent pushing to go somewhere else so he or she doesn’t have to deal with JMI and “their” companies.
Yes, that is why Girls basketball recruiting is an all time high. That is why Football has a top 16 class. We can make excuses all we want. We are Kentucky! We should not have to hire someone's Dad to get a kid to sign especially when the kid is not in the top 100 recruits. We should not have to sign a kid's brother to get the a kid to return. Not every kid is getting millions cash. We struggle to sign anyone. We are stealing Radford and Jacksonville State's recruits. There is always an excuse if you want to find one. JMI is not the basketball programs problem. JMI is not why Louisville killed us. JMI is not why Gonzaga ran us out of Nashville, JMI is not why we have lost to Alabama every time we have played them the last two years. Oh wait that was the injury excuse. Come on guys! Wake up and let's get this clown out of Lexington
At least our administration didn't rush to sign a long term deal before finding out if it was a good working relationship.
The next AD should lawyer up to void or amend the contract. I'm sure if u dig deep enough there's some shady dealings for it to be signed through 2040.
That is stupid. I feel like the only way he can be back for year four, is a final 4+.
It all depends on the AD
We have seen Pope recruit much better than this. I’m not saying he was incredible, but he had a 5 star and high 4 star last year. We saw him fly to LA and lock up Butler in 24 hours. My point is, he has gone from hitting some doubles to striking out every time.
That said, I think it’s 95%+ Pope, for these reasons:
-No GM. I know not all schools have them but closing an agent is very different than closing a parent. No real GM would’ve approved 22 Mil for last years team. And it probably would take a real GM to explain the JMI deal to agents. You know, the little things like MONEY.
-Coaching Staff. If you’re gonna let someone go (or see them run away), you gotta have someone great on deck. This is UK. And recruiting has to be the top skill of at least one assistant coach. A vacancy this time of year is unacceptable.
-Less NIL money…that obviously makes a difference and is a result of Popes first two years. I don’t think his style of play is affecting the players as much as the donors checkbooks. Pat Kelsey doesn’t show anything that would excite anyone…other than money and being put in a headlock.
That said, I think it’s 95%+ Pope, for these reasons:
-No GM. I know not all schools have them but closing an agent is very different than closing a parent. No real GM would’ve approved 22 Mil for last years team. And it probably would take a real GM to explain the JMI deal to agents. You know, the little things like MONEY.
-Coaching Staff. If you’re gonna let someone go (or see them run away), you gotta have someone great on deck. This is UK. And recruiting has to be the top skill of at least one assistant coach. A vacancy this time of year is unacceptable.
-Less NIL money…that obviously makes a difference and is a result of Popes first two years. I don’t think his style of play is affecting the players as much as the donors checkbooks. Pat Kelsey doesn’t show anything that would excite anyone…other than money and being put in a headlock.
Excellent sum.ation of the JMI problem but also you are wasting your breathe on RR. Most of these idiots are so locked in on coach hate that they will refuse to be bored by actual facts. Pope is not a strong recruiter but folks are going to be in for a rude awakening when a new coach has to deal with the same issues from JMI. I hope our n new AD can figure out a way to break the contract.
As I have said repeatedly, Mitch Barnhart is the worst thing to ever happen here. The absolute worst. The guy is a full blown narcissist who’s obsessed with his image of self righteousness being plastered all over the university. He’s as corrupt as they come and has no idea at the same time. He was ran out of Kentucky over both hiring Pope and the JMI deal.
Calipari was not having any issue recruiting with JMI. The exact classes you see at Arkansas would’ve been and were the same classes you see signed here. But Calipari has leverage.
I don’t know how many times it must be said. This is a risk / leverage business. Mark pope has NO LEVERAGE and he’s all risk. Then you’ve got JMI, who creates more risk. For Kentucky to recruit with this JMI deal, you MUST HAVE a coach who has leverage and who can work the business side with JMI. Mark Pope CANNOT DO THAT. He’s winning and recruiting just like he has at every stop he’s been at. This is who he is.
Calipari was not having any issue recruiting with JMI. The exact classes you see at Arkansas would’ve been and were the same classes you see signed here. But Calipari has leverage.
I don’t know how many times it must be said. This is a risk / leverage business. Mark pope has NO LEVERAGE and he’s all risk. Then you’ve got JMI, who creates more risk. For Kentucky to recruit with this JMI deal, you MUST HAVE a coach who has leverage and who can work the business side with JMI. Mark Pope CANNOT DO THAT. He’s winning and recruiting just like he has at every stop he’s been at. This is who he is.
we have had an open coaching position for weeks and nobody wants it.....is that a JMI issue as well?
no one wants to play or work for pope. the word is out and now we are just a toxic program. everyone is staying away.
no one wants to play or work for pope. the word is out and now we are just a toxic program. everyone is staying away.
This was my thought. It cant all be Pope. There's something else going on because even at BYU he seemingly recruited fine, considering their resources and brand.
It almost seems like as the first few NIL years have passed, recruits and agents are learning better about what they can get, what they cant. And it seems they are now keen to what sort of "deal" JMI is offering. Even if its not a big factor, JMI still has a hand in this. Pope is a good enough coach, with a ton of resources at his disposal, for the recruiting to be this bad.
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But he was pretty much an unknown then that talked a good game.
Everyone knows now it was just talk.
pope flew all the way to israel for what reason.... chewed up time and resources for what? to try to land a guy that isnt that good and has little upside, only for him to go to a rival conference school?
thats not a JMI issue...thats a pope has no idea what he is doing issue. he has no clue how to manage a program of this size and scale. its like putting a startup CEO at a fortune 500 company. disaster waiting to happen....and we are seeing the results now.
thats not a JMI issue...thats a pope has no idea what he is doing issue. he has no clue how to manage a program of this size and scale. its like putting a startup CEO at a fortune 500 company. disaster waiting to happen....and we are seeing the results now.
It feels like maybe MB and whoever else from UK that was involved in the JMI deal arrogantly put too much stock in the UK tradition and brand assuming the name would carry the day and naming right restrictions, of any kind unique to the overall market, would be overlooked by the high earning recruits. And Pope is out there doing the same thing while selling our name to the same targets. Maybe sheer arrogance is why we have the JMI deal and in the end JMI restrictions are why we can't land the top tier players.
In summary: Mitch showed up to the JMI negotiating table with his blue tinted glasses on and Pope is out there passing out blue Kool Aid to recruits. And they are being taken advantage of all the way around.
In summary: Mitch showed up to the JMI negotiating table with his blue tinted glasses on and Pope is out there passing out blue Kool Aid to recruits. And they are being taken advantage of all the way around.
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One thing we can be sure of...the JMI shill will be here to insult everyone in 3, 2, 1....
Yep! And by the way that should be an assistant flying comercially to check someone like that out. And if he’s a star, then the HC gets involved. I mean no one had even heard of him.
If nothing else, the length of time is Ridiculous. On a deal that long, there is no win-win. one side wins the lottery and the other gets hosed.
Pope should step down prior to next season. UK needs to be working on a negotiated settlement in the background. You cant compete with this roster in big boy college bball.
My exact hope. These Pope haters can’t even see Calipari killing recruiting at Arkansas. He was getting sloppy seconds and leftovers here. One year at Arkansas and he recruited the freshman of the year and another top draft pick. This year, difference makers again. Here he was sending guys to the Gleague. His last 4 years since NIL were disasters. Ironically his best player here his last 4 years was though to be a 4 year legacy Reed Shepard. Barnhart destroyed Kentucky basketball with his reluctance to accept NIL. I don’t believe any coach could succeed here. Replacing Pope won’t change that. We have that reputation with Agents. The reason kids don’t want to come is the way we structure deals. Money is everything. Especially for the agents.
The nil state law that Mitch and others lobbied for contains a requirement that nil deals cannot contain anything adverse to any university partner. That language is intentionally ambiguous so the school and jmi can veto anything they want.
Mitch lobbied for that. We know it was mitch because it mirrored what he put in place at uk nil compliance.
The craziest part of all is the law wasn't necessary at all. The ncaa already reversed the policy. State law wasn't even needed. All it did was benefit the school thanks to Mitch.
JMI was not in effect when Calipari was here, but Mitch was. He would not allow collectives till Cals last year. Cal complained loudly and that led to him and Barnhart not even speaking when he left. His classes were terrible. Skinny, high rated flops. Boston, Edward’s, TyTy, all Gleauge busts. The ones no one else wanted.
Do you think Pope can make a second sweet 16? Come on man. If he makes a sweet 16, its shear luck and draw. I guess you were happy with 10 loss tubby
Even if JMI isn’t the main issue, maybe you should read up on the JMI situation and when some major changes came about.
But Calipari was not having trouble recruiting, those players were just overrated. Duke wanted Boston, Edward’s was wanted by everyone. There’s a difference in “can’t get them at all” and “gets the dudes but they don’t live up to ranking”.
Players knew about JMI when they were coming. It didn’t stop Calipari. He would have still had the top classes an was still bringing in the top classes. His first class at Arkansas were all signed to play at Kentucky.
This is a risk / leverage business and Pope has no leverage at all. Then you add some issues with JMI, and it’s just a no go. You can’t recruit if you have zero leverage this day and age. Calipari was getting past the issues with JMI, Pope cannot. If JMI is going to remain, you have to have a coach who can sell it and gives the players a reason to want to play here. Pope with no history, a bad resume, non relatable, and JMI = exactly what you’re seeing.
Do I think he can-no. I think they will be lucky to make the tournament with what they have now.
Fair. Sorry for being a little rude in my last comment.
The expanded JMI contract was signed in 2025. That is when all this apparently changed so it wouldn't have affected Cal.
JMI was originally signed in 2014, before NIL. The expanded contract was signed in 2025. Isn't that when Mitch sold the farm?
things pope screwed up this offseason:
- not having 1 or 2 guys already locked in before the portal open -- like tenn had with harris. so many schools do this now
- getting caught off guard by chandler and not being prepared to keep him
- screwing up the rob wright visit
- not knowing that everyone in freeman's camp wanted him at st johns but thinking you can get him anyways
- being totally clueless on stokes and pinning the entire off season around him
- wasting time in israel
Correct. The same logo restriction and not adverse to existing partners restrictions were both in existence then. The only difference is the logo part was via jmi and the school did the vetting on the partner interest.
Now the compliance part is basically under jmi, but only thanks to Mitch pushing that unnecessary restriction into state law.
Btw for anyone that remembers i warned about all of this on the rivals board way back to Mitch having that ridiculous restriction in place in the nil compliance review.
For starters, there are more than twice as many high school football players than basketball players. Plenty of elite guys are talking to Stein and staff. They may not sign a ton but plenty have reciprocated. Over 1,000,000 kids play high school football. You think only 50 out of 1,000,000 is elite? Thats 0.00005% We are getting kids in the top 300 visiting and committing.
So JMI only has negatively effected us since 2025, and it’s written in the contract, let’s **** mark pope, and help the other teams. Got it. And I guess JMI was with BYU the previous years and that’s why BYU is now excelling in recruiting and pope got no one there as well.
CRZ4UK See what I meam. Facts change nothing with these folks.
That’s exactly what I said.
That’s not elite recruiting though. We compete for a top 30 class in football. Getting a top 25 is outstanding for us.
Basketball is completely different. We Expect to be in the top 5 or we are upset.
It’s just a fact.
We swim in different waters and have different expectations.
People keep saying Stein is Killing recruiting so we don’t have an NIL problem.
Will Stein isn’t killing recruiting. Texas, Georgia, OSU and Oregon are and others are.
We will end up 25-30th. That isn’t landing top recruits or Portal targets. That’s doing good for us.
You should watch more news. BYU had the Jazz owner decide to go all in on NIL because they let him pick the coach. It’s his buddy. That’s why they got Dysbanta. Money. How did that new coach do with his buddies money?? Awful. Same as our roster. That money didn’t buy them more wins than Pope. We will see how long he supports his buddy with fast tournament exits and a 10 loss season.
Also, it’s not only JMI. Mitch has fought NIL tooth and nail every step of the way. Calipari was recruiting like crap under Barnhart NIL. He’s killing it at Arkansas with theirs. Nothing matter to you Pope haters though.
I'll agree with how you're stating it now. Although, I want a playoff contending team in football as well.
I do think we'll have a top 15-20 recruiting class for football this year (2027) and hopefully higher in the future.
The fact that BB is struggling to find "good" players is just so so sad.
Momentum can lead you to great heights or it can drag you into the gates of Hell.
Pope is in the latter of the two right now and I don't know how he can stop that train.
Calipari was recruiting the top players. Calipari was getting top classes every season. The players just were t as good as advertised. His last recruiting class had TWO TOP 5 PLAYERS