Is Pope the worst high school recruiter in Kentucky history?
- Thread starter Son_Of_Saul
- Start date
Moreno and our starting guards and backup in Williams are all slated to return next year along with freshman Hampton coming in. We won't miss these recruits.
He makes tubby look like prime cal.
I know high school recruiter better than this loser of a coach. University heights can our recruit mark poop
With NIL & Portal transfers + 5 in 5 - High School recruiting doesn’t matter as much any more.
Just Look at Central Florida last night with 9 new players.
I’ll take a player from a good mid level program overva head case MacAA all day long.
Just Look at Central Florida last night with 9 new players.
I’ll take a player from a good mid level program overva head case MacAA all day long.
Not the worst, I seem to recall Tuttle and Brummidge really struggling to sway any talented athletes at all.
High-school recruiting has been terrible but im not gonna act like I wouldn't prefer a top five guy over the players we have now.
Popes first portal hall was impressive. He went and got a big thats in the NBA. A athlete in Oweh. A shooter in Brea. Brought Robinson with him. Carr who was a utility knife four. Butler who is a pg I would take on any team any year, a real dog with heart.
The only problem is that year is a one off and happened for unusual circumstances. It won't happen again. Pope whiffs on every top target no matter if its high-school or portal. That's unacceptable and he needs to go.
Popes first portal hall was impressive. He went and got a big thats in the NBA. A athlete in Oweh. A shooter in Brea. Brought Robinson with him. Carr who was a utility knife four. Butler who is a pg I would take on any team any year, a real dog with heart.
The only problem is that year is a one off and happened for unusual circumstances. It won't happen again. Pope whiffs on every top target no matter if its high-school or portal. That's unacceptable and he needs to go.
What Pope has done, or failed to do, will NEVER be duplicated by any coach at a high major men’s CBB program, UK or otherwise, in the future of high school recruiting!
I could have landed at least a couple of those 5 stars myself, with UK’s prestige and resources! If I wasn’t alive and seen it for myself, I would have never believed it was ever a remote possibility.
If we were talking about Kelsey or Oats, or whoever, it would be the longest running joke on this forum, FAR surpassing U6 or UNCheat.
I could have landed at least a couple of those 5 stars myself, with UK’s prestige and resources! If I wasn’t alive and seen it for myself, I would have never believed it was ever a remote possibility.
If we were talking about Kelsey or Oats, or whoever, it would be the longest running joke on this forum, FAR surpassing U6 or UNCheat.
i bet if you dig deep into the archives of rupp rafters there were threads a year ago that listed 4, 5, and 6 guys that were likely to return.....along with HS recruit X, Y, and Z from the 2026 class.
you mean like brandon garrison and mo d? because they werent headcases......
Absolutely not !
1. He got startled late in the cycle. It takes time to build these relationships.
2. Unlike Cal he is getting players that fit his system and want to wear this sacred cloth.
3. This is his first full class and already has one 5 star with another blue chipper ready to sign.
1. He got startled late in the cycle. It takes time to build these relationships.
2. Unlike Cal he is getting players that fit his system and want to wear this sacred cloth.
3. This is his first full class and already has one 5 star with another blue chipper ready to sign.
Hawthorne , mason Williams will prove these Twitter whores wrong. These. Same guys hated those recruits as well. They are like sh#t on new shoes an inconvenience
a yes no poll would instantly identify the sunshine pumpers with their heads in the sand.
That said, absolutely yes. Facts are facts, it's not even debateable.
This is the single most disturbing aspect of Pope's hiring. That even with the resources UK put on the table for him at the get go, whatever it is about him, it just isn't something that connects with those players coming out of high school.
Stein has instantly created a player's atmosphere and players wanting to play for him and his personality is electric. Coming in on year one, and unproven, much like Pope, everyone can recognize why players would want to play for Stein already. Three years in, and Pope is still spinning tires in the mud trying to get top talent.
Pope and the team need to MASSIVELY overacheive and kill it to completely flip the narrative and script around him and the program to lure talent back. It's a position Barney put us in with the announcement that had us all scratching our heads. Pitiful.
That said, absolutely yes. Facts are facts, it's not even debateable.
This is the single most disturbing aspect of Pope's hiring. That even with the resources UK put on the table for him at the get go, whatever it is about him, it just isn't something that connects with those players coming out of high school.
Stein has instantly created a player's atmosphere and players wanting to play for him and his personality is electric. Coming in on year one, and unproven, much like Pope, everyone can recognize why players would want to play for Stein already. Three years in, and Pope is still spinning tires in the mud trying to get top talent.
Pope and the team need to MASSIVELY overacheive and kill it to completely flip the narrative and script around him and the program to lure talent back. It's a position Barney put us in with the announcement that had us all scratching our heads. Pitiful.
The pope pumpers are stuck in the past when it took 4-5 years to turn a program around. But, that was a long time ago! Even back in 2010 Cal turned the program around in a year. Stein as well! Cignetti and May both won championships in year 2.
lol Billy G would like to have a word with you
I want to know how he found talent like them with little time, but he’s had all the time in the world to identify portal guys two years in a row and very few of them fit what he wants to do and how he wants to play.
I think him being kind of unknown helped. Being brand new and players wanting to be a part of the experiment. After a year of seeing his odness in the spotlight it probably exposed him a little. Hes just an odd man and theres no way around that.
The Spray and pray model shows zero element of exclusivity.
There are 7 top 10 kids left, Pope has made an offer to all of them. These kids are all like, you get your UK offer yet? UK still down as finalists for 3.
There are 7 top 10 kids left, Pope has made an offer to all of them. These kids are all like, you get your UK offer yet? UK still down as finalists for 3.
Billy G had issues, but he could recruit. He had some head scratchers (the eight grader), but he also landed Patterson and Orton.
Probably so. You would think it would improve after that first year, but it didn’t and that team seemed to genuinely like him and each other. I can see how it would plummet after last year, those guys hated each other and were not fans of him it seemed.
1000% this ^^^^^ more certainty, in most cases
I think Carr liked him. He really made him feel special at the airport and all that before he committed. I think Butler was extremely mature and didnt mind Pope while absolutely loving the spotlight. Rapping intro to BBMadness. But im not sure about the rest.
I remember Amari basically backing out of his commitment and Pope having to take an emergency flight to go change his mind last minute. Robinson waited till almost the last second to commit. Didn't seem his h3art was set on playing at UK. I remember Kerr not giving a crap about UK or being excited at all when he moved in the lodge. He was getting interviewed and shown attention like all Uk players and he acted too cool for school and was only worried about his golf clubs. Brea was hard to read but man was he a baller.
All in all it seems like Pope cant connect and tries extremely hard to do that. Its forced. He naturally just doesn't relate to these college guys. Like when he push3d the issue with Amari and wheetabix cereal. Everything Pope does just seems he gives it his all which is good but he just doesn't have it naturally.
That's the best way I can describe Pope without getting disrespectful. I wanted him to succeed. Even thought he was about to take off that summer going into year two with a Ferrari. Its fallen off the hinges since then instead. Just seems like a lost kid trying his hardest in a world he doesn't understand.
Kerr was obviously a POS that only cared about a payday and himself. Pope was never qualified to coach here, that is the main issue. He can’t become something he’s not. It’s not a learn on the job type place.
True. He took that UK bag in a split second and rode a spranged ankle all the way into his next year of eligibility.
Ill never for one second think he broke his foot. And if he did he healed in time to come back and help the team but chose not to.
Just look at his federal charges. He was making damn good NIL and he still hustled donors for 2 million dollars fraudulently while he was playing at every school. He could have returned but instead he took the extra year of NIL.
If transfers get limited as proposed in the pending legislation, the portal isn‘t going to have the same impact as now.
Most assuredly. But no one else had the portal to overcome their recruiting misses .
"Does mark pope have the least hair of any UK coach"
He shaves his, Rupp was actually balding.
What a fraud!
There, gave you a new thread idea
He shaves his, Rupp was actually balding.
What a fraud!
There, gave you a new thread idea
Also unlike cal, he isnt landing future nba all stars and winning sec tourney games while having a fun playstyle
These are the kids who were excited to play for KENTUCKY and not Mark Pope. Notice the ones that did not commit (or waited till the very last minute) were recruits who played under Pope at BYU. That is very telling. The book is now out on Pope and he can't get players here. First it was freshmen recruits. Then he started missing on his primary portal targets. Now he has to develop ties in Africa. That is how bad it has gotten: more often than not we cannot even pay kids to play here. Can't end soon enough.
It really is that bad. Just not much else to say or do besides wait until Batt makes a move.
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