Horrendous recruiting

Anon726530

Sophomore
Mar 29, 2026
45
141
33
Awful recruiting is what will kill Pope. The on the court coaching and results have been terrible, and Calipari had those exact same seasons. But, our more easily impressed fans stayed involved because “ he has a new batch of superstars for next season”. Being maybe our worst recruiter ever, there is nothing to look forward to if the current season goes bad.
 

JPFisher

Heisman
Jul 24, 2013
6,958
13,657
113
Beating A Dead Horse GIF by 100 gecs
 

TFCat11

Heisman
Mar 25, 2019
6,434
12,011
108
I’ll say this… Rival fan bases have went rather easy on BBN over this, and if this was happening to ANY of their head coaches, there would be multiple 1000 page threads on here, roasting them with reckless abandon and without mercy, for the indefinite foreseeable future!

So, I guess we should be grateful for that.
 

Wildcatmenace

All-Conference
Oct 29, 2025
950
1,460
93
I’ll say this… Rival fan bases have went rather easy on BBN over this, and if this was happening to ANY of their head coaches, there would be multiple 1000 page threads on here, roasting them with reckless abandon and without mercy, for the indefinite foreseeable future!

So, I guess we should be grateful for that.
That’s actually a negative to me, means they see us as irrelevant.
 
Mar 16, 2026
113
267
63
Awful recruiting is what will kill Pope. The on the court coaching and results have been terrible, and Calipari had those exact same seasons. But, our more easily impressed fans stayed involved because “ he has a new batch of superstars for next season”. Being maybe our worst recruiter ever, there is nothing to look forward to if the current season goes bad.
Took u 3 seasons to realize this 😭
 

JPFisher

Heisman
Jul 24, 2013
6,958
13,657
113
That’s actually a negative to me, means they see us as irrelevant.
This board probably has an entire server rack dedicated to louisville, ut, piggie, and various other fanbase's fans accounts that just stir **** on this board. We're not irrelevant, we're actively dealing with ********. 😂

Hence the OP who joined in March just starting this thread.
 

seccats04

Heisman
Dec 6, 2004
14,783
24,348
113
Awful recruiting is what will kill Pope. The on the court coaching and results have been terrible, and Calipari had those exact same seasons. But, our more easily impressed fans stayed involved because “ he has a new batch of superstars for next season”. Being maybe our worst recruiter ever, there is nothing to look forward to if the current season goes bad.
The only thing to look forward to if things go bad, is getting a qualified coach next year. Keep Barney away from the interviews this time.
 

JustBlue

Senior
Mar 29, 2009
329
722
93
Yeah, I don't even care what the top recruits do because I know they aren't coming here. This is true for the majority of the top portal transfers as well. When Pope is gone I'm sure the recruiting horror stories will stsrt trickling out. He's a dork but that can't be the entire reason we can't pay players to come here. Something is really off.

And there will be a whole subset of fans that will say "our talent isn't that bad" and "player x would start almost anywhere". The Perry Stevensons, Ramon Harris', etc. Heard it at the end of the Gillespie tenure. Then Cal's first year when we had elite, UK level talent those players only hit the floor at garbage time. It becomes painfully obvious. Nice guys, represented the University well but not starter material at one of the top three college basketball programs of all time.
 

Omega_X

Junior
Sep 7, 2026
192
306
63
I’ll say this… Rival fan bases have went rather easy on BBN over this, and if this was happening to ANY of their head coaches, there would be multiple 1000 page threads on here, roasting them with reckless abandon and without mercy, for the indefinite foreseeable future!

So, I guess we should be grateful for that.
We have actually reached the point where they no longer care enough about us to make fun of us. We are now firmly sitting right next to Indiana in irrelevancy.
 

3 Putts

All-Conference
Apr 25, 2025
2,043
4,826
112
He’s never been good at this. The biggest mistake was thinking the UK logo would give him superpowers. It did not
Went downhill from the start, hate it for the guy because he loves UK but he failed to realize we’re dealing with a bunch of mercenaries who couldn’t care less about the name on the jersey. This place doesn’t recruit itself anymore, especially when you don’t have a closer at the top. What can you sell here? These kids don’t care about our history. We’re just in shambles man, will take an allstar hire with plenty of money and a history of getting you to the next level. Used to be the top job in bball but coaches no longer have to deal with the pressure placed on them here in the NIL era. Hate it, just not sure what the answer is.
 
May 27, 2007
32,112
25,360
113
Awful recruiting is what will kill Pope. The on the court coaching and results have been terrible, and Calipari had those exact same seasons. But, our more easily impressed fans stayed involved because “ he has a new batch of superstars for next season”. Being maybe our worst recruiter ever, there is nothing to look forward to if the current season goes bad.
Cal took us to four final fours in the first six seasons. That's why fans stuck around with him.
 

The Ganner

All-Conference
Nov 21, 2009
472
1,291
93
And there will be a whole subset of fans that will say "our talent isn't that bad" and "player x would start almost anywhere". The Perry Stevensons, Ramon Harris', etc. Heard it at the end of the Gillespie tenure.
I certainly don't remember that, and I've been a Rafters regular since the Tubby days and was an every-day KSR Listener at the time hearing what call-in fans had to say. We were bemoaning the talent deficit in Tubby's final years, everybody was well aware of the lack of talent in Gillispie's tenure. Porter/Harris/Stevenson were just nonfactors and we prayed that our 2 great players could carry us. Gillispie used to publicly talk about needing "a third scorer."
 

ScWildcat3

All-Conference
Sep 27, 2005
1,663
2,452
113
We don’t have color outside the lines guys in charge. Not sure if Batt is that guy either but I know Barnhart wasn’t. Cal was and it got us players. Pope doesn’t seem to be and it shows. Have to bend rules and be risky to land the basketball kids. They are different than football guys. Basketball recruiting is a dirty business
 

Grevey1975

Sophomore
Mar 23, 2026
43
103
33
I certainly don't remember that, and I've been a Rafters regular since the Tubby days and was an every-day KSR Listener at the time hearing what call-in fans had to say. We were bemoaning the talent deficit in Tubby's final years, everybody was well aware of the lack of talent in Gillispie's tenure. Porter/Harris/Stevenson were just nonfactors and we prayed that our 2 great players could carry us. Gillispie used to publicly talk about needing "a third scorer."
You could say that after the fiasco with Rashaad Carruth (For those of us that remember) that Tubby quit recruiting those type of players because he was getting that elite talent up to that point
 

UKWildcats1987

Heisman
Sep 9, 2021
20,941
37,603
113
We don’t have color outside the lines guys in charge. Not sure if Batt is that guy either but I know Barnhart wasn’t. Cal was and it got us players. Pope doesn’t seem to be and it shows. Have to bend rules and be risky to land the basketball kids. They are different than football guys. Basketball recruiting is a dirty business

Thats why Pitino and Cal succeeded here and elsewhere.

Thats why i dont get people saying we are above hiring Pearl or Oats or Golden. All UK fans care about is winning. And rightfully so. Its a game for entertainment
 

ScWildcat3

All-Conference
Sep 27, 2005
1,663
2,452
113
Thats why Pitino and Cal succeeded here and elsewhere.

Thats why i dont get people saying we are above hiring Pearl or Oats or Golden. All UK fans care about is winning. And rightfully so. Its a game for entertainment
All depends on if Batt is that guy. Barnhart was set in his ways and had the administration behind him im assuming unfortunately
 

jeffky

All-American
Sep 22, 2017
3,995
7,945
113
We had 12 years of the best talent in America before pope got here and got one natty showing for it and the last 6 years was a disaster too . Just saying
 
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Reactions: mhs1964
Mar 13, 2026
729
621
93
Awful recruiting is what will kill Pope. The on the court coaching and results have been terrible, and Calipari had those exact same seasons. But, our more easily impressed fans stayed involved because “ he has a new batch of superstars for next season”. Being maybe our worst recruiter ever, there is nothing to look forward to if the current season goes bad.
I only remember cal finishing outside the top 4, once in the sec. 2010-2023. Damn good résumé!
 

Catastic5

All-Conference
Sep 12, 2026
550
1,376
93
I’ll say this… Rival fan bases have went rather easy on BBN over this, and if this was happening to ANY of their head coaches, there would be multiple 1000 page threads on here, roasting them with reckless abandon and without mercy, for the indefinite foreseeable future!

So, I guess we should be grateful for that.
I mean, they’re pretty ruthless on Twitter and Facebook. And somehow we got BYU and Arkansas fans laughing at us in the comment sections of anything regarding Kentucky. It’s really freaking embarrassing being a Kentucky basketball fan right now. Thank God for football.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Crazy4Blue

UKBB4Ever

All-Conference
Jul 3, 2025
2,404
4,187
113
Went downhill from the start, hate it for the guy because he loves UK but he failed to realize we’re dealing with a bunch of mercenaries who couldn’t care less about the name on the jersey. This place doesn’t recruit itself anymore, especially when you don’t have a closer at the top. What can you sell here? These kids don’t care about our history. We’re just in shambles man, will take an allstar hire with plenty of money and a history of getting you to the next level. Used to be the top job in bball but coaches no longer have to deal with the pressure placed on them here in the NIL era. Hate it, just not sure what the answer is.
Why do the players on other teams play harder than our players? They are getting paid too.
 

ScWildcat3

All-Conference
Sep 27, 2005
1,663
2,452
113
I mean, they’re pretty ruthless on Twitter and Facebook. And somehow we got BYU and Arkansas fans laughing at us in the comment sections of anything regarding Kentucky. It’s really freaking embarrassing being a Kentucky basketball fan right now. Thank God for football.
Embarrassed lol. Are you really that soft? It’s been worse also.
 
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Reactions: BlueVoodoux

UKBB4Ever

All-Conference
Jul 3, 2025
2,404
4,187
113
We had 12 years of the best talent in America before pope got here and got one natty showing for it and the last 6 years was a disaster too . Just saying
The last 6 years a disaster? I would like more of that then. '19-overtime from the FF. '20-won the SEC by 3 games. SEC POY on the roster. Tournament canceled. '21-certified disaster. Also a worldwide pandemic. '22-2 seed. Consensus POY on the roster. '23-down year for sure. 5 seed? '24-3 seed.

The tournament upsets were awful. But UK basketball was on the top of the world. Every recruit named UK even if UK wasn't recruiting them. There was always excitement because UK could win against anyone on the schedule.

I wish it would have been better too. But compared to this mess? Give me that every day.
 

KYFOSSIL

Heisman
Jan 13, 2005
8,803
12,227
62
I’ll say this… Rival fan bases have went rather easy on BBN over this, and if this was happening to ANY of their head coaches, there would be multiple 1000 page threads on here, roasting them with reckless abandon and without mercy, for the indefinite foreseeable future!

So, I guess we should be grateful for that.
Who needs rival fans are own fan base does it
 

KYFOSSIL

Heisman
Jan 13, 2005
8,803
12,227
62
The last 6 years a disaster? I would like more of that then. '19-overtime from the FF. '20-won the SEC by 3 games. SEC POY on the roster. Tournament canceled. '21-certified disaster. Also a worldwide pandemic. '22-2 seed. Consensus POY on the roster. '23-down year for sure. 5 seed? '24-3 seed.

The tournament upsets were awful. But UK basketball was on the top of the world. Every recruit named UK even if UK wasn't recruiting them. There was always excitement because UK could win against anyone on the schedule.

I wish it would have been better too. But compared to this mess? Give me that every day.
You're a moron if you think you came was on top of the basketball world the last five years before Pope
 

philstat

Heisman
Jan 3, 2004
10,968
10,595
56
I mean, there’s no denying we’ve had some minor setbacks in recruiting over the past few years, though Pope knows what he’s doing and he’s looking for his specific type of players, trust in the process.
 
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Reactions: 1473

UKWildcats1987

Heisman
Sep 9, 2021
20,941
37,603
113
We had 12 years of the best talent in America before pope got here and got one natty showing for it and the last 6 years was a disaster too . Just saying

UK has won 4 national titles the past 65 plus years bro. Let's not act like we were dominating the 50 years before cal either titles wise. He should have won another for sure but refs really cheated uk against unc n 2017, Wisconsin n 2015 and both conn games. He still should have won another but im gonna tell the whole story of those games.

And u are saying 2019 elite ot loss and 2020 winning sec by 3 games were disasters? Last 4 seasons sucked for sure but 2019 and 2020 were good seasons overall.

If pope makes an elite 8 this season no one is calling that a disaster.
 

JAC71

All-American
Jun 28, 2015
5,047
9,506
113
Good, college basketball kinda sucks if we are being honest. Time to put those resources to football, way more fun.
I believe that’s why we are stuck with Pope is the money is going to football and I hate that. Kentucky will always be known for basketball and football will have good seasons every now and then but keeping the coach from being poached will be tough
 

bnewt

Heisman
May 29, 2001
8,936
11,143
113
Went downhill from the start, hate it for the guy because he loves UK but he failed to realize we’re dealing with a bunch of mercenaries who couldn’t care less about the name on the jersey. This place doesn’t recruit itself anymore, especially when you don’t have a closer at the top. What can you sell here? These kids don’t care about our history. We’re just in shambles man, will take an allstar hire with plenty of money and a history of getting you to the next level. Used to be the top job in bball but coaches no longer have to deal with the pressure placed on them here in the NIL era. Hate it, just not sure what the answer is.
What "super star" coach would even come to uk?
Should have gotten pearl for 3 or 4 years and been looking all that time.
Gonna take a young, thirsty, energetic coach that lives and breathes the game to bring the fans, money men and players back to the top.
A clone of Rick pitino is needed
 
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