Bruce Pearl

[Henogee1975]

I don’t understand the obsession with him. He’s old and obnoxious.

He is a good coach and motivator for sure, but he has a lot of baggage.

if he were 40 maybe.

 

[VC99]

I don’t understand the obsession with him. He’s old and obnoxious.

He is a good coach and motivator for sure, but he has a lot of baggage.

if he were 40 maybe.

I've said it before and people didn't like it "Pope was the perfect wrong hire." I think at the time you couldn't have made a worse hire for what UK basketball needs. So, to undo that and erase people's memory and perception of the program after the damage that has been done, we need a HoF coach in here yesterday, even if it's for a short time to properly prepare for a longer term coach after.

 

[BBNinSCar]

There is a whole group of coaches that our fanbase is obsessed with. Pearl and Donovan are at the top of
this list. Hopefully, Kentucky's admin is not as dysfunctional and would never consider these 2 as candidates to replace Pope.
Please no Pearl, Donovan, Pitino, Hurley, Drew, or Lucas.

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

Pearl would have been a good bridge hire (at the time) instead of Pope as we transitioned into a young passionate guy on the rise. Not the answer, but someone to get the program on solid foundation again. He's not the hire now, even though he would crawl on glass to Lexington if you asked him to.

 

[TheDude73]

There should be one single name on the list, and that's Golden. Would he leave FL? Probably not, unless it's for the NBA (and there were rumors last off season of him being courted by an NBA team if I recall correctly).

But that guy should be #1 on everyone's wish list.

 

[Doc4UK!]

Oates will either accept or turn job down but he will be the first to be asked by J Mann. Golden would be my first choice but I do think he will eventually go to the NBA.

 

[Resignmarkpope]

I don’t understand the obsession with him. He’s old and obnoxious.

He is a good coach and motivator for sure, but he has a lot of baggage.

if he were 40 maybe.

Probably because mark pope is the coach. I’ll definitely take him over poope

 

[Carolinawildcats]

I see Pitino and Pearl as short-term fixes while we figure out what our long-term solution would be. Both would offer an immediate spark and success.

 

[TTTblue24]

I was on the Pearl train cause we needed a guy that would embrace the fan base unlike cal who alienated us and tried to talk down to us. Pearl had success and was able to recruit to auburn and had tenn up there until he got in trouble. Now, what he got in trouble for is legal lol but I thought he would be a good bridge to whomever would be next like a young up & comer. Golden or Hurley would definitely have been the dream scenario but those guys are at better programs currently and winning so that’s a hard sale to get them to leave.

KSR gave a list of names yesterday that were absolute no’s cause Mitch and the administration were about to have the swim scandal come out, they needed someone squeaky clean or so they thought.

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

Based on their friendship, Oats will probably be the first call Batt makes. He needs to call Golden obviously, but Golden will probably laugh at him and hang up. I expect Batt to get a lot of this actually.

 

[VC99]

Oates will either accept or turn job down but he will be the first to be asked by J Mann. Golden would be my first choice but I do think he will eventually go to the NBA.

Yea the problem is a school like Michigan with an interim will make a move for Oats and we're probably gonna be stuck pussyfooting around with Pope.

 

[Resignmarkpope]

Yea the problem is a school like Michigan with an interim will make a move for Oats and we're probably gonna be stuck pussyfooting around with Pope.

One word best defines mark pope, it’s loser!

 

[BlueVelvetFog]

Oates will either accept or turn job down but he will be the first to be asked by J Mann. Golden would be my first choice but I do think he will eventually go to the NBA.

J Mann?

 

[KFuqua]

There is a whole group of coaches that our fanbase is obsessed with. Pearl and Donovan are at the top of
this list. Hopefully, Kentucky's admin is not as dysfunctional and would never consider these 2 as candidates to replace Pope.
Please no Pearl, Donovan, Pitino, Hurley, Drew, or Lucas.

I couldn't agree more. None of those should ever be considered.

 

[rivercatinfl]

Being in Pitino and a coaching in waiting for once Rick retires.
sounds crazy but Duke did it.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Based on their friendship, Oats will probably be the first call Batt makes. He needs to call Golden obviously, but Golden will probably laugh at him and hang up. I expect Batt to get a lot of this actually.

I think there are a bunch of coaches who would love the budget we have to recruit with. That’s a huge selling point now.

 

[CUJO_1970]

You know who would have been a good “bridge hire” ?

Rick F’n Pitino that’s who.

 

[kfwa]

Bring in Pearl for 2 years. That isn't an absurd premis with the NIL today. We know a coach can build a contender in 3 months.

If he succeeds great, keep doing it until he doesn't have any gas in the tank, He will be a gatekeeper until we get the coach we want.

He already walked away from coaching so both UK and him are playing with house money at that point. He'd most likely come in on a year to year with little buyout, and he will probably be happy just saying he was the coach of Kentucky on his resume.

obviously I'm projecting alot here but he seems to me to be a perfect short term solution.

 

[TFCat11]

I couldn't agree more. None of those should ever be considered.

Funny how you guys ALWAYS talk about who you don’t want the as the next head coach, but NEVER offer up who you think should be the next head coach…

And I’d bet $5 that neither you nor the poster that you were responding to will do just that!

So, let’s hear it… Who is your guy’s top candidates to replace Pope once his services are over?

 

[Diggers_Matching_Highlighter_rivals62132]

I don’t understand the obsession with him. He’s old and obnoxious.

He is a good coach and motivator for sure, but he has a lot of baggage.

if he were 40 maybe.

Cal and Pitino were not obnoxious?

Pearl would have killed at UK with the resources available.

 

[MidseasonTweak]

There is a whole group of coaches that our fanbase is obsessed with. Pearl and Donovan are at the top of
this list. Hopefully, Kentucky's admin is not as dysfunctional and would never consider these 2 as candidates to replace Pope.
Please no Pearl, Donovan, Pitino, Hurley, Drew, or Lucas.

Whether you like it or not, Donovan is going to be our coach. I believe you will get on board once we start looking like a real basketball team again with him at the helm.

 

[HolySmokes]

Id sure as heck prefer Pearl over Donovan. Give me the character. Give me the one that will bring that extra juice and interact with the fanbase because Pearl loves the spotlight. Most importantly give me the guy who will work that sideline and show unlimited passion for 40 minutes. Pearl would be in a Kentucky Blue Blazer drenched in sweat.

 

[deplion]

Pearl would have been a good bridge hire (at the time) instead of Pope as we transitioned into a young passionate guy on the rise. Not the answer, but someone to get the program on solid foundation again. He's not the hire now, even though he would crawl on glass to Lexington if you asked him to.

I'd still take Pearl for 2 - 4 years.

Have him get us back to respectability and then make our next HoF coach hire.

 

[moses1uk]

No college will touch Pearl . The people yelling for him are uneducated on the subject

 

[Jaime Chitwood]

The Bennies love Pearl beacause he complimented them once and now they believe he likes them.

 

[Blue Jesus]

I don’t understand the obsession with him. He’s old and obnoxious.

He is a good coach and motivator for sure, but he has a lot of baggage.

if he were 40 maybe.

Yeah the idea we should hire a guy who is so old he has already retired is crazy to me, I wish I could set up a filter so I didn't have to read any post that suggests him.

 

[jedwar]

Pearl would have given unmatched passion and energy for 5-7 years. We'd be getting top talent, winning big games and getting to Elite Eights (get there and anything can happen).

 

[Dr.LutherSan]

There should be one single name on the list, and that's Golden. Would he leave FL? Probably not, unless it's for the NBA (and there were rumors last off season of him being courted by an NBA team if I recall correctly).

But that guy should be #1 on everyone's wish list.

The only way he would possibly leave is a SIGNIFICANT pay bump. I don't see any other reason why he would come here.

 

[Snarks]

He was the perfect hire a few years ago when we got Pope. Would he have been a long term solution? No. But, he could have given a great 5 years.

 

[Bluesbrother]

You know who would have been a good “bridge hire” ?

Rick F’n Pitino that’s who.

You're right ... I've thought the very same thing and said so several times on this board.

 

[Beatle Bum]

I don’t understand the obsession with him. He’s old and obnoxious.

He is a good coach and motivator for sure, but he has a lot of baggage.

if he were 40 maybe.

When he was 45-50 I think he was chasing coed at UT. LOL

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

I think there are a bunch of coaches who would love the budget we have to recruit with. That’s a huge selling point now.

I know we have a top tier budget. Not the largest, but up there. But I am still not convinced ours is as large as everyone assumes it to be. We continue to hear about Pope and company having a hard cap. We continue to hear about not getting into bidding wars. We continue to hear about refusing to go over player NIL valuations to land them. We even saw it at the end of the Cal era where he was struggling to get NIL funds here.

The thing for me would be, if I'm a successful coach crushing it at my current location (Golden, Oats, Hurley, Lloyd, etc). If I'm that level of a coach having success with my current budget (and often in a city much more interesting to live in and recruit kids to for some of those coaches), how big would that budget gap between what UK has to offer and what I currently have be for me to uproot and leave a good job for? This isn't the 90's or early 2000's. Players don't need the Blue Blood brand exposure to be on television or show out for scouts anymore. Coaches aren't lining up for Blue Blood job interviews anymore. We just saw UNC struggle to find a coach for weeks and get told no by the same list of coaches most people on here think will immediately come to coach UK.

I'm not saying keep Pope. But before you pull the trigger on firing him, you better have your guy locked down to replace him and be 100% sure he's the right fit. Because this fanbase's standard and added pressure make this a less than desirable job for a lot of coaches. It's part of the deal, and everyone knows it. The spotlight is just brighter here. It scares away guys that could probably coach really well here given the chance. Pope stepped in to be the squeaky clean meat shield for the Athletic Department during the swim suit scandal, likely the only reason he was hired. Mitch rides off into the sunset and Pope has to fall on his sword for accepting his dream job while be laughably unqualified for it. I actually feel sorry for Pope in a way. Nobody wanted to succeed here more than him. You can see it breaking the man that he can't make it work here. It's sad for our program and it's sad for a guy I liked as a player.

I think at the end of the day you have to find a guy with a chip on his shoulder, young, hungry, and ruthless. Anything else is just putting lipstick on this pig at this point.

 

[MaysviileKY]

I know we have a top tier budget. Not the largest, but up there. But I am still not convinced ours is as large as everyone assumes it to be. We continue to hear about Pope and company having a hard cap. We continue to hear about not getting into bidding wars. We continue to hear about refusing to go over player NIL valuations to land them. We even saw it at the end of the Cal era where he was struggling to get NIL funds here.

The thing for me would be, if I'm a successful coach crushing it at my current location (Golden, Oats, Hurley, Lloyd, etc). If I'm that level of a coach having success with my current budget (and often in a city much more interesting to live in and recruit kids to for some of those coaches), how big would that budget gap between what UK has to offer and what I currently have be for me to uproot and leave a good job for? This isn't the 90's or early 2000's. Players don't need the Blue Blood brand exposure to be on television or show out for scouts anymore. Coaches aren't lining up for Blue Blood job interviews anymore. We just saw UNC struggle to find a coach for weeks and get told no by the same list of coaches most people on here think will immediately come to coach UK.

I'm not saying keep Pope. But before you pull the trigger on firing him, you better have your guy locked down to replace him and be 100% sure he's the right fit. Because this fanbase's standard and added pressure make this a less than desirable job for a lot of coaches. It's part of the deal, and everyone knows it. The spotlight is just brighter here. It scares away guys that could probably coach really well here given the chance. Pope stepped in to be the squeaky clean meat shield for the Athletic Department during the swim suit scandal, likely the only reason he was hired. Mitch rides off into the sunset and Pope has to fall on his sword for accepting his dream job while be laughably unqualified for it. I actually feel sorry for Pope in a way. Nobody wanted to succeed here more than him. You can see it breaking the man that he can't make it work here. It's sad for our program and it's sad for a guy I liked as a player.

I think at the end of the day you have to find a guy with a chip on his shoulder, young, hungry, and ruthless. Anything else is just putting lipstick on this pig at this point.

Josh Schertz…career record 453-130 (78%). Only 5 million buy out. Need to make happen!

 

[TarHeelInCharlotte]

Pearl is just a terrible human being

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

Josh Schertz…career record 453-130 (78%). Only 5 million buy out. Need to make happen!

He'd certainly be on my list of initial contact if I was J Batt to gauge interest.

 

[TarHeelInCharlotte]

There should be one single name on the list, and that's Golden. Would he leave FL? Probably not, unless it's for the NBA (and there were rumors last off season of him being courted by an NBA team if I recall correctly).

But that guy should be #1 on everyone's wish list.

He stalked and sexually harassed students at UF. The boosters paid off the girls to make it go away.

Would you really want to expose UK students to that?

 

[Big BlueBeard]

Pearl should’ve been here instead of Pope. Give us 5 yrs or so til a younger coach was hired. Wouldn’t be going thru this horseshit we’re going thru right now if that was the case. But, here we are….

 

[MegaBlue05]

Pearl is just a carnival barking jackass in my opinion. His teams play hard and stupid. Shot selection is usually complete trash.

I have always viewed him as a scumbag no matter where he coached. If he didn’t make the 2019 Final Four his career isn’t super impressive in terms of postseason success. He’s also recruited a nice sample size of punks and turds over the years.

I will remember him more for having a losing record against Clyde and being Cal’s b—ch for a number of years.

He would be an upgrade over Pope, but supporting him would make me feel dirty.

 

[UKCowboys]

I don’t understand the obsession with him. He’s old and obnoxious.

He is a good coach and motivator for sure, but he has a lot of baggage.

if he were 40 maybe.

Because his teams would get after your *** on both ends, he would bring in any kid he wanted with his play style and our budget and he would win, big time. He is old but high energy, he would crush it for a few years and make the job much more attractive than it looks now

 

[BlueSince92]

Pearl would be an absolutely phenomenal coach for us. Anyone who thinks he’s too old has no idea what they’re talking about if they really believe themselves, although most likely they’re only saying that to deal with their own internal emo crap anyway.

Also Pearl would come here in a heartbeat.

So would Rick Pitino, who would be just as good.

Kelvin Sampson is right around that same level and is probably gettable too.

Oats, Donovan, and most of the other names being thrown around would be a ***** to get and wouldn’t ultimately get us where we want to be anyway. Maybe one of those people would get us to the level we were at in the middle years of Tubby’s tenure if we got lucky.

Sure, Golden, May, or Hurley would be great hires. But none of those people would consider coming here. You hire Pitino, Pearl, or Sampson, like that bottom feeder Mitch should have done in 2024, then in three or four years they’ll have the program where a Golden, a Hurley, or even a May will have a reason to want to talk to us. We just have to hope Jason “J” Batt is a little less dense than the sticks in the mud who can’t see that.