Three things Pope had to do this off season

Dead Cat Bounce

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1.Moreno coming back and withdrawing from the draft. Check.
2.Landing Milan Momcilovic after losing Stokes. Check
3. Getting Jamal Crawford to fill the last assistant coaching vacancy. Check,
I thought I read somewhere that some or at least one of the assistants' contracts expires this summer. I hope Pope will continue to strengthen his staff wherever the opportunity presents itself.
 
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UKgrad22

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I thought I read somewhere that some or at least one of the assistants' contracts expires this summer. I hope Pope will continue to strengthen his staff wherever the opportunity presents itself.
If I’m not mistaken, I think it’s Mark Fox who’s contract expires this summer
 
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CB3UK

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3. Getting Jamal Crawford to fill the last assistant coaching vacancy. Check

 

LineSkiCat14

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I would have liked to see either a high profile freshman OR actually proving he can go recruit a coveted transfer EARLY in the process. Getting Mom was nice but it was 1. After a lot of rosters were complete and 2. We clearly were forced to outspend to land him at any cost. And im still kind of bewildered how we didnt land a single freshman recruit. Hes gonna have to eventually sprinkle in freshmen

So I like getting MM back, and landing MM, just would have liked to have seen a bigger splash in April/May.
 
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TeamAmerica

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Mark checks all the boxes. Gonna be hete a long time. Of course less than a week ago he was a miserable failure who needed to head back to Utah Valley State. Bunch of bipolar clowns. You'll be ready to FARRRRRR him again the first time he loses 2 in a row.
Thats because he had a terrible season. If he has one like it again this year they will be ready to buy that bus ticket back to Utah Valley again. He hasn't lost a game this year, so optimism is high, but he needs to show he can Coach.
 

KyKevin

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Thats because he had a terrible season. If he has one like it again this year they will be ready to buy that bus ticket back to Utah Valley again. He hasn't lost a game this year, so optimism is high, but he needs to show he can Coach.



But if he goes past sweet sixteen, and shows he can coach, he will get his fourth year. Kind of like the glass half full or half empty.
 

TeamAmerica

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But if he goes past sweet sixteen, and shows he can coach, he will get his fourth year. Kind of like the glass half full or half empty.
Without a doubt. How could you fire a coach for only making an elite 8? If he makes the round of 32 I don't see how you fire him. You going to get rid of a Coach who has won games in the tournament 3 years in a row? Doesn't he have some type of rollover clause in his contact?
 

TeamAmerica

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Without a doubt. How could you fire a coach for only making an elite 8? If he makes the round of 32 I don't see how you fire him. You going to get rid of a Coach who has won games in the tournament 3 years in a row? Doesn't he have some type of rollover clause in his contact?
Never mind. I answered my own question.
Yes. Mark Pope’s contract includes an automatic rollover (extension) clause stating that whenever the Kentucky men's basketball team advances to the Sweet 16 (or further) in the NCAA tournament, his contract Term is automatically extended by one additional Contract Year. [1]
 

sefus12

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I would have liked to see either a high profile freshman OR actually proving he can go recruit a coveted transfer EARLY in the process. Getting Mom was nice but it was 1. After a lot of rosters were complete and 2. We clearly were forced to outspend to land him at any cost. And im still kind of bewildered how we didnt land a single freshman recruit. Hes gonna have to eventually sprinkle in freshmen

So I like getting MM back, and landing MM, just would have liked to have seen a bigger splash in April/May.
1) Do you know what we paid for Mom? Do you know that Pope hadn’t been in contact with his people and that he was a real possibility the entire time if he didn’t go to the draft? 2). What the hell does it matter when someone signs with us as long as they sign with us?

I have no idea if Pope will succeed or not, but it feels like some of you folks are simply looking for any reason at all to not give Pope credit for what he did this offseason, even if it means constantly moving the goal posts.
 
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LineSkiCat14

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1) Do you know what we paid for Mom? Do you know that Pope hadn’t been in contact with his people and that he was a real possibility the entire time if he didn’t go to the draft? 2). What the hell does it matter when someone signs with us as long as they sign with us?

I have no idea if Pope will succeed or not, but it feels like some of you folks are simply looking for any reason at all to not give Pope credit for what he did this offseason, even if it means constantly moving the goal posts.

1. I'm seeing reports we paid over $6mil. That's quite a bit. 2. It matters because a lot of teams already had rosters set. Kentucky still had VERY large holes to fill, we weren't looking like a top25 team before Mom. So, Kentucky had the most money, and they had a desperate need for him. I don't think Pope showed us some master class in recruiting. He did land Mom in the end, so he has that.

I've never moved the goal posts. I'm not going to throw Pope a ticker tape parade because he "got Moreno to come back" or got Mom. This is STILL not a top10 roster, and we don't have a single incoming recruit. So it's hard for me to really give this man his flowers when we thought last years team looked even BETTER than this team, and they went on to poorly coached and managed all year.