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The Case FOR Mark Pope

@Rockhill2025

@Rockhill2025

Sophomore
Aug 28, 2025
36
110
33
1. 5 wins against top 10 teams last season
2. Made Sweet Sixteen Last year
3. Has put together a tournament team with the injuries from key players
4. Hasn't had a complete season with a healthy roster.


Does Mark Pope have a chance of being a long tenured coach at Kentucky?

Let's discuss why he can
 
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SECHonk

Junior
Jan 3, 2014
1,203
260
63
Yes yes yes!!! This team is on the verge of a magical run that will make our early troubles a distant memory...much to the chagrin of the Fellowship of the Miserable
 
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Bowfreak.

All-Conference
Mar 26, 2009
1,718
2,764
66
I hope that soon all these trolls get banned.

Enjoy your laughs everyone. UK will refuse to stay down. You may even get another year of laughs but after that they will hire the right coach and everyone will hate UK again because they will be back on top.
 
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USARMYWILDCAT

All-Conference
Jan 11, 2016
546
1,153
93
I think it’s still up in the air. Next year is going to be a pivotal year for Mark Pope and his coaching career at Kentucky. He doesn’t have to make a final four next year but he can’t have double digit losses either. His biggest issue he’s gonna have to fix his recruiting. If he doesn’t fix that, he’s gonna be in the unemployment line.
 
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OGtruebluewildcat

Senior
Aug 4, 2025
388
506
93
The case for Pope is we all wanted change.

We wanted more stability via a core crew of guys returning for 3-4 years.

We all wanted less OAD drama and every year starting over and having to watch Cal spoon feed and hand hold a new crop of kids.

It’s not been 2 complete seasons yet. Change doesn’t mean immediate success.

We want Chandler, Noah, Moreno, Johnson, Garrison next year. Dudes who have come up together in the same system for a couple seasons.
 
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Eight_Banners

Eight_Banners

Junior
Feb 22, 2016
140
219
43
Take away the conversation about roster costs financially, and this isn't even a discussion. He built a contender in his first season with ZERO returning players.

Aggravating:
If he signed Quaintance for a half season only, that's a huge problem.

Mitigating:
If Quaintance comes back

Aggravating:
Getting down by doubled digits so frequently, and losing several games by double digits. Especially disastrous was the Gonzaga game.

Mitigating:
Good coaches don't bring teams back into games, and even to the point of victory, the way Pope has this year.

Pope's future lies in this off-season. Key players must return, and he has to land the two best shooters in the portal, assuming two good ones show up there.

I don't care how good of a coach you are, you aren't winning in the SEC without the best players.
 
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MegaBlue05

MegaBlue05

Heisman
Mar 8, 2014
10,740
21,047
66
If I am being positive, I like the offense we run when we run it correctly. I think he does a good job setting up scoring plays out of timeouts. He loves the school, is proud to have played here and tries to instill that pride in his players.

Areas to improve:
Obviously recruiting/talent evaluation
Defensive scheme
Defensive rebounding
Substitution patterns/minute distribution (Pope wants to be like Pitino and play 10-12 guys, but if the talent dropoff after the 7th man is pronounced, it’s hard to do effectively)

It all boils down to next season. Maybe he learns from the mistakes of the first two years and builds a team that is typical UK level good. Maybe it’s more of the same or worse. If it’s the former, he’ll get more time. If it’s the latter, we’ll probably move on in 2027.

I have no issue with last season. I had fun and thought he got the most out of what he had to work with both in the portal season and with the injuries we had to key guys.

This season has been a major bust, but it’s not nearly as bad as it could’ve been. This team isn’t 2009, 2013 or 2021 level bad. It’s just 2006, 2007, 2008, 2023 level mediocre.
 
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Bleedin Blue in Ohio

Senior
Feb 3, 2013
436
918
93
USARMYWILDCAT said:
I think it’s still up in the air. Next year is going to be a pivotal year for Mark Pope and his coaching career of Kentucky. He doesn’t have to make a final four next year but he can’t have double digit losses either. His biggest issue he’s gonna have to fix his recruiting. If he doesn’t fix that, he’s gonna be in the unemployment line.
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I agree. His first year he did a great job but ultimately injuries derailed that season, but it was fun. With some huge wins. This season again was derailed by injuries, and it has been a grind with some horrendous loses along the way. I do think Pope did a decent job of picking up the pieces of what could have been a lost season see 2013 and 2021 and found a way to change the team into something that allowed it to be competitive in the SEC with a few really nice wins. Next year they MUST stay injury free. Cannot be snake bit 3 years in a row and they need to be in continuation for the SEC Championship and be seen as a contender come March in the NCAA. Another 10-loss season and it will be time to go into a different direction.
 
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Beatle Bum

Heisman
Sep 1, 2002
41,464
63,301
113
TommyMansky said:
I thought last year was very positive considering the roster rebuild and how tough the league was.

This year just feels different.
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Pope is in to analysis. I think there is a difference between last year and this. My hope is that he is analyzing his process and learning what works for him and what does not.

He had a head of the snake PG last year that applied immense pressure on and off the ball. And, he had a big who was an exceptional passer. While I think Andrew Carr would get us a couple more wins this year, I think those two players (PG and C) are the main differences. I love AD and think he has really grown as a PG, I just think he would be a menace at 2G if we had a Butler by his side. I do not know if there are many bigs like Williams, but if your put him in the middle and Butler at PG, I think this team would be a contender.

Moreno has been awesome as a young developing 5. I just think he needs to improve his ball skills and get stronger. That said, I do not know if he is ideal for Pope’s offense.
 
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Artlaibesghost

Artlaibesghost

All-Conference
Nov 30, 2022
923
1,795
93
Pope did great job his first year. This year he just killed himself overhyping his team this summer. His talk of driving a Ferrari inflated the fan base expectations, already sky high. His back up point guard bolted before the season started and his starter at the point got hurt. He was screwed at that point. He gambled on JQ and lost. Jelavick, Jasper and Noah underperformed all season ans Williams broke his foot just as he appeared to be finding his rythem here. Coupled by not signing a single Top 100 recruit( something that still astounds me) has increased fans alarm. Finally he has been abysmal in his handling of the media, often looking distraught and down right unstable at times. He is NOT good at public speaking in high stress situations. Going into year 3 there are many questions that should have been answered this year that have not. I hope he pulls it together but frankly I don't think he will. Time will tell.
 
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Monday Nitro

Monday Nitro

All-American
Jul 3, 2025
4,034
6,880
112
SECHonk said:
Yes yes yes!!! This team is on the verge of a magical run that will make our early troubles a distant memory...much to the chagrin of the Fellowship of the Miserable
Click to expand...
Everybody has figured you out, Philstat. You’re a broken record with all the sarcasm. Creepy!
 
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C

CatBlueBlood

Sophomore
Feb 18, 2026
81
172
33
On the positive side, Pope is a good man who bleeds blue like the rest of his. That said, if you look at his prior time as a head coach, his record was unremarkable. He averaged 12 losses a year and had no NCAA wins. It looks likely that Pope will lose 14 games this season. It's understandable that the basketball world was shocked when UK offered him the head coaching job. He was not viewed as a hot coaching prospect and for good reason. Pope is an average, journeyman coach. If he had a high ceiling, he would have shown it by now.
 
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UKGrad24

UKGrad24

All-American
Apr 2, 2024
2,808
6,779
100
This is the issue, stop looking for things you want and be objective. The program needs objectivity we don’t need to shift through a pile of **** for a piece of sweet corn. Positivity is for your personal life and something to look for in other ways. This is Kentucky basketball be objective. Positivity doesn’t add wins and it doesn’t make us relevant.

Mark was not qualified to be an assistant coach here. Those are facts. He’s not winning to an elite level at all, he’s not recruiting well, he’s never been elite in any sense. He’s doing this year what he’s always done. He’s been a head coach for 12 years. His record isn’t just mid, it’s Low- mid. So I’ll be positive when he turns into something he’s never been. Elite.
 
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JakeKx

JakeKx

All-Conference
Oct 5, 2023
718
1,248
92
The only thing that matters here are national championships. We’re just delaying the inevitable. Better to move on asap and get the coach that can do it.
 
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Legionofdoom96

Senior
Feb 21, 2026
364
411
63
@Rockhill2025 said:
1. 5 wins against top 10 teams last season
2. Made Sweet Sixteen Last year
3. Has put together a tournament team with the injuries from key players
4. Hasn't had a complete season with a healthy roster.


Does Mark Pope have a chance of being a long tenured coach at Kentucky?

Let's discuss why he can
Click to expand...
He's a Mormon. He doesn't drink. He won the title in 96. Yeah that's it boys
 
kfwa

kfwa

Senior
Oct 12, 2014
402
743
93
the challenge is that a even a deep tourney run doesn't make up for the regular season. He is going to get another season but the real question is, what does he have to do next season to keep the job?
 
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Anon1762656614

Sophomore
Nov 8, 2025
86
181
33
JakeKx said:
The only thing that matters here are national championships. We’re just delaying the inevitable. Better to move on asap and get the coach that can do it.
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According to your logic Hurley and Golden should have been fired after their first two seasons at UConn and Florida. Their first two seasons at UK probably would not have looked much different.
 
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Kywildcat_nation28

Kywildcat_nation28

All-Conference
Jan 28, 2014
2,417
2,790
113
@Rockhill2025 said:
1. 5 wins against top 10 teams last season
2. Made Sweet Sixteen Last year
3. Has put together a tournament team with the injuries from key players
4. Hasn't had a complete season with a healthy roster.


Does Mark Pope have a chance of being a long tenured coach at Kentucky?

Let's discuss why he can
Click to expand...
Yeah if you don't want to win a championship
 
K

kyhankypanky

All-American
Mar 21, 2004
4,333
7,505
113
The Marks brothers (get it?) brought comedy to us all and made our two key programs laughingstocks. Moved on from one; hopefully, the other isn’t too far behind.
 
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