Next year will be Mark Pope's 12th season as a college basketball head coach...

Johnny_Jeepers · Mar 14, 2026

...and that will be the season where Pope finally cracks the code to the winning formula (TM).

Coding Software Engineer GIF by Hyper RPG

Coding Artificial Intelligence GIF by Butlerm

The data doesn't lie. He is who he is at this point. This isn't some young spring chicken who is still growing into the job. His ceiling is mediocrity and his floor is basically .500 level basketball against any team with a pulse that isn't elite, or worse.

And we're stuck in the purgatory of mediocrity until he's forced out.

UKGrad24 · Mar 14, 2026

Been saying this non stop. The guy is who he is. “Next hurley”. Doesn’t make sense. Nothing in common. Some of these guys have done 2 things.

1. The Kentucky guy “front of the jersey” anti Calipari has ruined their ability to think straight

2. Forgotten that he’s not young and he’s been doing this a long time. 12 years, no tournaments, no conference titles, averages a really bad mid-low 60’s winning percentage.

He’s without a doubt the worst coach we’ve ever hired at UK and he’s doing the exact same thing here he’s done everywhere, down to his putrid winning %. Mark is not a good coach and he’s not going to be. But somehow he’s going to turn into an elite level winning coach somewhere between year 15-20. It’s called being gaslit and it’s what Barnhart has done to a section of fans.

RunninRichie · Mar 14, 2026

UKGrad24 said:
Been saying this non stop. The guy is who he is. “Next hurley”. Doesn’t make sense. Nothing in common. Some of these guys have done 2 things.

1. The Kentucky guy “front of the jersey” anti Calipari has ruined their ability to think straight

2. Forgotten that he’s not young and he’s been doing this a long time. 12 years, no tournaments, no conference titles, averages a really bad mid-low 60’s winning percentage.

He’s without a doubt the worst coach we’ve ever hired at UK and he’s doing the exact same thing here he’s done everywhere, down to his putrid winning %. Mark is not a good coach and he’s not going to be. But somehow he’s going to turn into an elite level winning coach somewhere between year 15-20. It’s called being gaslit and it’s what Barnhart has done to a section of fans.

#1 is Kfuqua and goandrunisdoneandgone to a T.

philstat · Mar 14, 2026

Yeah, I have to hand it to Mark, he maxed out mediocrity.

UKGrad24 · Mar 14, 2026

RunninRichie said:
#1 is Kfuqua and goandrunisdoneandgone to a T.

Cowtown too for sure. Guy went gaslit city and bought a condo he’s paying on for 20 years lol. I don’t know why it’s hard to look past it all and be objective but some people can be gaslit pretty bad. Hell gaslit city is pretty much the most American place to live in these days.

UKBB4Ever · Mar 14, 2026

UKGrad24 said:
Been saying this non stop. The guy is who he is. “Next hurley”. Doesn’t make sense. Nothing in common. Some of these guys have done 2 things.

1. The Kentucky guy “front of the jersey” anti Calipari has ruined their ability to think straight

2. Forgotten that he’s not young and he’s been doing this a long time. 12 years, no tournaments, no conference titles, averages a really bad mid-low 60’s winning percentage.

He’s without a doubt the worst coach we’ve ever hired at UK and he’s doing the exact same thing here he’s done everywhere, down to his putrid winning %. Mark is not a good coach and he’s not going to be. But somehow he’s going to turn into an elite level winning coach somewhere between year 15-20. It’s called being gaslit and it’s what Barnhart has done to a section of fans.

All of that is true. And it’s worse now. That’s why I think he’s trying to get fired.

As bad as he is and has been it just doesn’t make sense that he would get so much worse unless it’s intentional.

UKGrad24 · Mar 14, 2026

UKBB4Ever said:
All of that is true. And it’s worse now. That’s why I think he’s trying to get fired.

As bad as he is and has been it just doesn’t make sense that he would get so much worse unless it’s intentional.

I’ve wondered the exact same thing. He appears to be sabotaging himself I wouldn’t think his decisions, like not removing coaches and changing up, on court abysmal decisions, very bizarre press conferences, almost certainly must be sabotaging recruiting in some way.

I don’t know, maybe Mark took the job to clear a 20 million dollar check knowing Barnhart would buy his speech and offer the job. I do think he new BYU was probably really do move on him, so maybe he threw this out there to get a check and he pulled it off. I mean he’s bad enough that it seems possible at this point. Think about 20 / 30 million, what would people to for that if they could? It was such a bad hire Barnhart had to go ahead and get out because the bottom is gonna fall and he wouldn’t be able to take the made up job if he waited. He knows things. And we all know how easy Barnhart is to sucker for a contract if you call his narcissistic assss and bow down.

kyjeff1 · Mar 14, 2026

Well, yeah, his numbers don't lie, he's probably not going to succeed here, but the comments about him "being what he's always been" aren’t true. His first year here, he accomplished more than he did at any other point in his career. Then the injuries came and it was halted. Carr was down for a while, Butler's shoulder, then the final nail was Robinson. He got that team to the sweet 16. Not great, but it's better than what our previous coach was doing with loaded rosters.

Then this year, yeah, Pope was careless with the 22 million, but this team doesn’t have close to 12 losses if it has JQ, Kam and Lowe. Name me another team in the history of college basketball that lost 3 key players (all 3 would be/were starters) and lost less than 10 games? The SEC is no joke. You won't find one.

I'm not giving Pope an out here, he does things that make no sense, but he's also pulled some massive wins out his ***.

All I'm saying here is, we should wait and judge him when he has a full roster for a full season. This isn’t a video game, you lose 3 starters, you aren't winning ****, especially in the SEC.

Yeah, the roster was flawed, it definitely wasn’t 1996 level, but it was good enough to be better than last years team. Hopefully Pope learned his lesson.

Pope gets one more year, if he loses 10 games and doesn’t accomplish anything of note, he's out, it's as simple as that. Bombing the crap out of one of our own, makes no sense to me.

UKGrad24 · Mar 14, 2026

kyjeff1 said:
Well, yeah, his numbers don't lie, he's probably not going to succeed here, but the comments about him "being what he's always been" aren’t true. His first year here, he accomplished more than he did at any other point in his career. Then the injuries came and it was halted. Carr was down for a while, Butler's shoulder, then the final nail was Robinson. He got that team to the sweet 16. Not great, but it's better than what our previous coach was doing with loaded rosters.

Then this year, yeah, Pope was careless with the 22 million, but this team doesn’t have close to 12 losses if it has JQ, Kam and Lowe. Name me another team in the history of college basketball that lost 3 key players (all 3 would be/were starters) and lost less than 10 games? The SEC is no joke. You won't find one.

I'm not giving Pope an out here, he does things that make no sense, but he's also pulled some massive wins out his ***.

All I'm saying here is, we should wait and judge him when he has a full roster for a full season. This isn’t a video game, you lose 3 starters, you aren't winning ****, especially in the SEC.

Yeah, the roster was flawed, it definitely wasn’t 1996 level, but it was good enough to be better than last years team. Hopefully Pope learned his lesson.

Pope gets one more year, if he loses 10 games and doesn’t accomplish anything of note, he's out, it's as simple as that. Bombing the crap out of one of our own, makes no sense to me.

Kam isn’t changing anything about this team. We saw that clearly. JQ was never a player at Kentucky, everyone backed off because they knew it. If JQ was going to be a major player he wouldn’t be playing for mark that is a certainty. He’s around 0-25 with players like that. JQ was really bad when he did play anyway. JQ literally doesn’t make sense to add to an injury excuse he’s always been injured.

Lowe isn’t changing anything when it comes to beating Florida, Alabama, making a run in the tournament. He’s not an elite level guard. High volume low % guy. Another one of those on this team and we’d have more problems with guys like MO and Oweh. Lowe is not a passing high level guard. When he played He was had the worst offensive efficiency rating out there.

Mark has never had trouble beating a few good teams. He did this at BYU. Other than the sweet 16 (thanks to NIL money before the JMI contract), Mark is exactly who he has always been. And it’s not changing my guy. I get it, hear 3, he’s gonna get it. But winning to an elite level we know for a fact barring something insane (beyond anything mark can do) he’ll never accomplish that. Who has coached 15-20 years of mediocrity and worse then suddenly because a blue blood worthy elite guy? I’m so ready for this to be over. Mark is embarrassing. I mean man I talk to so many other fan bases in the SEC. He’s really embarrassing I try and not bring anything up around them lol.

kyjeff1 · Mar 14, 2026

UKGrad24 said:
Kam isn’t changing anything about this team. We saw that clearly. JQ was never a player at Kentucky, everyone backed off because they knew it. If JQ was going to be a major player he wouldn’t be playing for mark that is a certainty. He’s around 0-25 with players like that. JQ was really bad when he did play anyway. JQ literally doesn’t make sense to add to an injury excuse he’s always been injured.

Lowe isn’t changing anything when it comes to beating Florida, Alabama, making a run in the tournament. He’s not an elite level guard. High volume low % guy. Another one of those on this team and we’d have more problems with guys like MO and Oweh. Lowe is not a passing high level guard. When he played He was had the worst offensive efficiency rating out there.

Mark has never had trouble beating a few good teams. He did this at BYU. Other than the sweet 16 (thanks to NIL money before the JMI contract), Mark is exactly who he has always been. And it’s not changing my guy. I get it, hear 3, he’s gonna get it. But winning to an elite level we know for a fact barring something insane (beyond anything mark can do) he’ll never accomplish that. Who has coached 15-20 years of mediocrity and worse then suddenly because a blue blood worthy elite guy? I’m so ready for this to be over. Mark is embarrassing. I mean man I talk to so many other fan bases in the SEC. He’s really embarrassing I try and not bring anything up around them lol.

I get it, I'm not going to change your mind. You’re gonna crush the players that are out and say they suck, I disagree. JQ was damn good in an ASU jersey and he was expected to play at least half this season. I wouldn’t have rolled the dice on him, but I understand why Pope did.

Kam was catching fire just hefore his injury, he absolutely would make a huge difference for this team. He's a matchup problem for every team we play. He's our best stretch 4, not debatable.

I don't get the Jaland Lowe hate. Having him in the lineup, puts Aberdeen at the 2 and it keeps Johnson off the court. You can also run a 4 guard lineup and run teams off the floor.

Everyone calls Lowe selfish, but Aberdeen was the definition of selfish until the staff developed him. He literally blew the uNC and Mizzou games all by himself. Lowe never got the chance to develop, DA did.

Just going back to the Saint Johns game, even with a f*cked shoulder, SJ couldn’t guard Lowe and JQ dominated them in the paint. Those 2 players never got the chance to develop here, in my opinion, trashing them is incredibly unfair.

I understand some of the critisisms Pope gets, heck, I have a list of my own, but some of these critisisms are ridiculous and not true.

He gets next year to be great, not just good, he has to be great. If he fails at that, he's out. It's a whole lot easier to get rid of Pope, than it was Cal. Cal had us by the balls, Pope doesn’t.

RunninRichie · Mar 14, 2026

kyjeff1 said:
I get it, I'm not going to change your mind. You’re gonna crush the players that are out and say they suck, I disagree. JQ was damn good in an ASU jersey and he was expected to play at least half this season. I wouldn’t have rolled the dice on him, but I understand why Pope did.

Kam was catching fire just hefore his injury, he absolutely would make a huge difference for this team. He's a matchup problem for every team we play. He's our best stretch 4, not debatable.

I don't get the Jaland Lowe hate. Having him in the lineup, puts Aberdeen at the 2 and it keeps Johnson off the court. You can also run a 4 guard lineup and run teams off the floor.

Everyone calls Lowe selfish, but Aberdeen was the definition of selfish until the staff developed him. He literally blew the uNC and Mizzou games all by himself. Lowe never got the chance to develop, DA did.

Just going back to the Saint Johns game, even with a f*cked shoulder, SJ couldn’t guard Lowe and JQ dominated them in the paint. Those 2 players never got the chance to develop here, in my opinion, trashing them is incredibly unfair.

I understand some of the critisisms Pope gets, heck, I have a list of my own, but some of these critisisms are ridiculous and not true.

He gets next year to be great, not just good, he has to be great. If he fails at that, he's out. It's a whole lot easier to get rid of Pope, than it was Cal. Cal had us by the balls, Pope doesn’t.

How did Lowe play against Gonzaga and Alabama? How about JQ vs Alabama and Bellarmine? That St Johns game is holding up a LOT of weight.

ZMCats · Mar 14, 2026

kyjeff1 said:
Well, yeah, his numbers don't lie, he's probably not going to succeed here, but the comments about him "being what he's always been" aren’t true. His first year here, he accomplished more than he did at any other point in his career. Then the injuries came and it was halted. Carr was down for a while, Butler's shoulder, then the final nail was Robinson. He got that team to the sweet 16. Not great, but it's better than what our previous coach was doing with loaded rosters.

Then this year, yeah, Pope was careless with the 22 million, but this team doesn’t have close to 12 losses if it has JQ, Kam and Lowe. Name me another team in the history of college basketball that lost 3 key players (all 3 would be/were starters) and lost less than 10 games? The SEC is no joke. You won't find one.

I'm not giving Pope an out here, he does things that make no sense, but he's also pulled some massive wins out his ***.

All I'm saying here is, we should wait and judge him when he has a full roster for a full season. This isn’t a video game, you lose 3 starters, you aren't winning ****, especially in the SEC.

Yeah, the roster was flawed, it definitely wasn’t 1996 level, but it was good enough to be better than last years team. Hopefully Pope learned his lesson.

Pope gets one more year, if he loses 10 games and doesn’t accomplish anything of note, he's out, it's as simple as that. Bombing the crap out of one of our own, makes no sense to me.

He definitely losing at least 10 games next year. He has been consistent throughout his head coaching career.

RunninRichie · Mar 14, 2026

kyjeff1 said:
I get it, I'm not going to change your mind. You’re gonna crush the players that are out and say they suck, I disagree. JQ was damn good in an ASU jersey and he was expected to play at least half this season. I wouldn’t have rolled the dice on him, but I understand why Pope did.

Kam was catching fire just hefore his injury, he absolutely would make a huge difference for this team. He's a matchup problem for every team we play. He's our best stretch 4, not debatable.

I don't get the Jaland Lowe hate. Having him in the lineup, puts Aberdeen at the 2 and it keeps Johnson off the court. You can also run a 4 guard lineup and run teams off the floor.

Everyone calls Lowe selfish, but Aberdeen was the definition of selfish until the staff developed him. He literally blew the uNC and Mizzou games all by himself. Lowe never got the chance to develop, DA did.

Just going back to the Saint Johns game, even with a f*cked shoulder, SJ couldn’t guard Lowe and JQ dominated them in the paint. Those 2 players never got the chance to develop here, in my opinion, trashing them is incredibly unfair.

I understand some of the critisisms Pope gets, heck, I have a list of my own, but some of these critisisms are ridiculous and not true.

He gets next year to be great, not just good, he has to be great. If he fails at that, he's out. It's a whole lot easier to get rid of Pope, than it was Cal. Cal had us by the balls, Pope doesn’t.

Also, Kam Williams was not "catching fire". He hit 8 3's against a D2 school. Followed that up with 1-4 from 3 against Alabama, 2-7 against Missouri, 2-3 against MSU, 1-3 against LSU, 0-2 against UT, and 1-2 against Texas. So in 6 games after the Bellarmine game. Kam went 7-21 for 33%. The revisionism on the injuries is hilarious.

Mossip · Mar 14, 2026

Kam Williams is a decent bench piece that caught a heater in a game vs. Eastern Jackoff State and everybody started acting like we lost some elite 3 and D wing.

kyjeff1 · Mar 14, 2026

RunninRichie said:
How did Lowe play against Gonzaga and Alabama? How about JQ vs Alabama and Bellarmine? That St Johns game is holding up a LOT of weight.

Jesus man, how long was that guy out before he was put out on the court? You think a guy that doesn't play for a year should just perform at peak efficiency right away?
The entire team was in an avalanch in both those games, not just JQ.
You guys keep acting like this is a video game and that's crazy to me.
Take any player off the court for a year and that guy is going to suck. You know this, but you're choosing to ignore it.

RunninRichie · Mar 14, 2026

kyjeff1 said:
Jesus man, how long was that guy out before he was put out on the court? You think a guy that doesn't play for a year should just perform at peak efficiency right away?
The entire team was in an avalanch in both those games, not just JQ.
You guys keep acting like this is a video game and that's crazy to me.
Take any player off the court for a year and that guy is going to suck. You know this, but you're choosing to ignore it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't JQ have a great game against St Johns. His first game back from a torn ACL?

kyjeff1 · Mar 14, 2026

ZMCats said:
He definitely losing at least 10 games next year. He has been consistent throughout his head coaching career.

Yup, nobody would be surprised if Pope lost 10+ games next year, but guess what, that will cost him his job.
But the bolded part of your post is 100% false. The guy has his flaws and never should have been offered this job, but you're going to need to show me where in his career that he did anything close to what he did last year.
Give that team a healthy Butler and Robinson and they are a FF threat, easily.

RunninRichie · Mar 14, 2026

kyjeff1 said:
Yup, nobody would be surprised if Pope lost 10+ games next year, but guess what, that will cost him his job.
But the bolded part of your post is 100% false. The guy has his flaws and never should have been offered this job, but you're going to need to show me where in his career that he did anything close to what he did last year.
Give that team a healthy Butler and Robinson and they are a FF threat, easily.

Tom Crean made a final four once.

kyjeff1 · Mar 14, 2026

RunninRichie said:
Also, Kam Williams was not "catching fire". He hit 8 3's against a D2 school. Followed that up with 1-4 from 3 against Alabama, 2-7 against Missouri, 2-3 against MSU, 1-3 against LSU, 0-2 against UT, and 1-2 against Texas. So in 6 games after the Bellarmine game. Kam went 7-21 for 33%. The revisionism on the injuries is hilarious.

So you think "catching fire" is just about how many threes he hit? You're smarter than this.

Kam took over the starting position at the 4, because he was our best 4.

ZMCats · Mar 14, 2026

kyjeff1 said:
Yup, nobody would be surprised if Pope lost 10+ games next year, but guess what, that will cost him his job.
But the bolded part of your post is 100% false. The guy has his flaws and never should have been offered this job, but you're going to need to show me where in his career that he did anything close to what he did last year.
Give that team a healthy Butler and Robinson and they are a FF threat, easily.

Look at his career as head coach with Wins and Losses each season and tell me losing at least 10 games a season isn’t what he has done. Don’t point out the abnormal season

Ukwazoo3 · Mar 14, 2026

I'm sure he will get the Top 5 players in the portal and we will go 40-0.

Mossip · Mar 14, 2026

We’re pushing for a third year because a TULANE transfer was injured. I swear some of you started rooting for this team around 2019 or something. This is gd Kentucky!

UKFootball78 · Mar 14, 2026

UKGrad24 said:
Cowtown too for sure. Guy went gaslit city and bought a condo he’s paying on for 20 years lol. I don’t know why it’s hard to look past it all and be objective but some people can be gaslit pretty bad. Hell gaslit city is pretty much the most American place to live in these days.

You have it had an objective post yet. Your hate for pope skews every post you make

RunninRichie · Mar 14, 2026

kyjeff1 said:
So you think "catching fire" is just about how many threes he hit? You're smarter than this.

Kam took over the starting position at the 4, because he was our best 4.

I assumed you were talking about his 3 point shooting. Typically that's what catching fire means.

kyjeff1 · Mar 14, 2026

RunninRichie said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't JQ have a great game against St Johns. His first game back from a torn ACL?

He's a big body that got some rebounds, a couple blocks and some put backs, that doesn't mean he all the sudden can run up and down the court with 2 high octane teams like Gonzaga and Alabama.

Wait, are you telling me you can't see the difference between St Johns and Alabama and Gonzaga? You do realize dome teams play a half court style woth longer possessions (St Johns) and some teams race up and down the court and try to score a hundred (Gonzaga, Florida, Alabama).

I agree that Pope is not the right guy for this job, but the difference between you and I is, I don't need to make **** up, freak out, or ignore facts to simply say it. I'm also not do weak minded that I refuse to see some positives with Pope. It doesn’t mean you have lower expectations to say Pope did some good things and injuries derailed both seasons.

Mossip · Mar 14, 2026

Bad blah blah. Nobody ever actually counters the content of a @UKGrad24 post, because you can’t argue any of his points. It’s always “you post too much” or “you’re too negative

“

RunninRichie · Mar 14, 2026

kyjeff1 said:
He's a big body that got some rebounds, a couple blocks and some put backs, that doesn't mean he all the sudden can run up and down the court with 2 high octane teams like Gonzaga and Alabama.

Wait, are you telling me you can't see the difference between St Johns and Alabama and Gonzaga? You do realize dome teams play a half court style woth longer possessions (St Johns) and some teams race up and down the court and try to score a hundred (Gonzaga, Florida, Alabama).

I agree that Pope is not the right guy for this job, but the difference between you and I is, I don't need to make **** up, freak out, or ignore facts to simply say it. I'm also not do weak minded that I refuse to see some positives with Pope. It doesn’t mean you have lower expectations to say Pope did some good things and injuries derailed both seasons.

Pope can't recruit, his teams come out flat and get blown out often (happened both seasons). And he gets abused by NIL agents. Also, you claim JQ would have helped us beat Florida. Yet, you said he can't run with high octane teams, like Florida. What? Idk Jeff, you agree he's not the right guy for the job. But we should keep him, because we can't get anyone else? Not following that logic.

Tri-Countycat · Mar 14, 2026

UKGrad24 said:
Kam isn’t changing anything about this team. We saw that clearly. JQ was never a player at Kentucky, everyone backed off because they knew it. If JQ was going to be a major player he wouldn’t be playing for mark that is a certainty. He’s around 0-25 with players like that. JQ was really bad when he did play anyway. JQ literally doesn’t make sense to add to an injury excuse he’s always been injured.

Lowe isn’t changing anything when it comes to beating Florida, Alabama, making a run in the tournament. He’s not an elite level guard. High volume low % guy. Another one of those on this team and we’d have more problems with guys like MO and Oweh. Lowe is not a passing high level guard. When he played He was had the worst offensive efficiency rating out there.

Mark has never had trouble beating a few good teams. He did this at BYU. Other than the sweet 16 (thanks to NIL money before the JMI contract), Mark is exactly who he has always been. And it’s not changing my guy. I get it, hear 3, he’s gonna get it. But winning to an elite level we know for a fact barring something insane (beyond anything mark can do) he’ll never accomplish that. Who has coached 15-20 years of mediocrity and worse then suddenly because a blue blood worthy elite guy? I’m so ready for this to be over. Mark is embarrassing. I mean man I talk to so many other fan bases in the SEC. He’s really embarrassing I try and not bring anything up around them lol.

I’m to the point of thinking that recruiting JQ was Popes built in excuse if things went south. You don’t pay a kid just for a chance he could play less than a year after ACL surgery. This was tactical by Pope. If he plays great, if not, built in excuse with the fan base.

kyjeff1 · Mar 14, 2026

RunninRichie said:
Tom Crean made a final four once.

Not sure what that has to do with you showing me where Pope did anything close to what he did last year at any other point in his career. You’re the one saying he's the same coach he's always been, show me where. Telling me Tom Crean made a FF tells me nothing. Not sure why you posted it.

RunninRichie · Mar 14, 2026

kyjeff1 said:
Not sure what that has to do with you showing me where Pope did anything close to what he did last year at any other point in his career. You’re the one saying he's the sake coach he's always been, show me where. Telling me Tom Crean made a FF tells me nothing. Not sure why you posted it.

I never said that. Point was. Tom Crean made a final four once. And never did again. Means little to say Pope has turned a corner because of an outlier year. He went right back to a 13-14 loss season right after. His average.

Tri-Countycat · Mar 14, 2026

kyjeff1 said:
Yup, nobody would be surprised if Pope lost 10+ games next year, but guess what, that will cost him his job.
But the bolded part of your post is 100% false. The guy has his flaws and never should have been offered this job, but you're going to need to show me where in his career that he did anything close to what he did last year.
Give that team a healthy Butler and Robinson and they are a FF threat, easily.

Even with the injuries. We still had Brea, Almonor, Carr, Williams, Oweh. That is the best roster that Pope has ever had his entire career. Think about that for a minute. In Popes 13 year career that is the best roster of players he could ever put together. It was the UK brand that did that. Which goes back to the main problem with Park Mope. No elite talent will play for him unless UK breaks the bank. That isn’t playing for the name on the front of the jersey or for Mark Pope. It’s players that want the cash.

kyjeff1 · Mar 14, 2026

ZMCats said:
Look at his career as head coach with Wins and Losses each season and tell me losing at least 10 games a season isn’t what he has done. Don’t point out the abnormal season

No, you didn’t answer the question.

Show me where Pope did anything close to what he did last year.

-Show me where he beat a team like Duke
-Show me where he beat the eventual national champion
-Show me where he swept a team anywhere close to a UT
-Show me where he beat Gonzaga on the road
-Show me where he had a team that ended up with Kenpom numbers close to what last years numbers were
-show me where he previously had a 3 seed
-show me where he won an NCAAT game
-Show me where he made it to the Sweet 16 previously

I'll save you the time… .you can't.

KentuckyWildcats74 · Mar 14, 2026

RunninRichie said:
#1 is Kfuqua and goandrunisdoneandgone to a T.

Not that he will end up doing the same, but actually his path and Hurley's are very similar coaching/win wise if you compare them up to this point. Hurley coached for 12 years up until he won those back to back titles and really had done next to nothing. He followed those titles up with a 24-11 season too.

RunninRichie · Mar 14, 2026

KentuckyWildcats74 said:
Not that he will end up doing the same, but actually his path and Hurley's are very similar coaching/win wise if you compare them up to this point. Hurley coached for 12 years up until he won those back to back titles and really had done next to nothing. He followed those titles up with a 24-11 season too.

kyjeff1 · Mar 14, 2026

RunninRichie said:
I assumed you were talking about his 3 point shooting. Typically that's what catching fire means.

Kam was rounding into a complete player that, at his size and length, was houng to be a real problem for everyone he played. He was starting to score from all three levels, rebound and defend.

ZMCats · Mar 14, 2026

kyjeff1 said:
No, you didn’t answer the question.

Show me where Pope did anything close to what he did last year.

-Show me where he beat a team like Duke
-Show me where he beat the eventual national champion
-Show me where he swept a team anywhere close to a UT
-Show me where he beat Gonzaga on the road
-Show me where he had a team that ended up with Kenpom numbers close to what last years numbers were
-show me where he previously had a 3 seed
-show me where he won an NCAAT game
-Show me where he made it to the Sweet 16 previously

I'll save you the time… .you can't.

No, I’m saying he has been consistent in losing at least 10 games a season as a head coach

kyjeff1 · Mar 14, 2026

RunninRichie said:
Pope can't recruit, his teams come out flat and get blown out often (happened both seasons). And he gets abused by NIL agents. Also, you claim JQ would have helped us beat Florida. Yet, you said he can't run with high octane teams, like Florida. What? Idk Jeff, you agree he's not the right guy for the job. But we should keep him, because we can't get anyone else? Not following that logic.

So, you see no difference between the UK team that played Gonzaga and Alabama early in the season and tge team that just played Florida?

The entire team was a mess for the first half of the season, that matters. If we played Gonzaga, or Alabama right now, the results would be much different.

I wouldn’t recommend playing JQ 30 minutes against any of those teams, but against a team like Florida, having JQ in there to rebound, would be a hige benegit, they just kicked our asses on the glass.

ZMCats · Mar 14, 2026

kyjeff1 said:
Kam was rounding into a complete player that, at his size and length, was houng to be a real problem for everyone he played. He was starting to score from all three levels, rebound and defend.

You’re reaching hard

kyjeff1 · Mar 14, 2026

RunninRichie said:
I never said that. Point was. Tom Crean made a final four once. And never did again. Means little to say Pope has turned a corner because of an outlier year. He went right back to a 13-14 loss season right after. His average.

But I'm not saying Pope turned a corner.

kyjeff1 · Mar 14, 2026

Tri-Countycat said:
Even with the injuries. We still had Brea, Almonor, Carr, Williams, Oweh. That is the best roster that Pope has ever had his entire career. Think about that for a minute. In Popes 13 year career that is the best roster of players he could ever put together. It was the UK brand that did that. Which goes back to the main problem with Park Mope. No elite talent will play for him unless UK breaks the bank. That isn’t playing for the name on the front of the jersey or for Mark Pope. It’s players that want the cash.

Sorry, but I can't see Butler, Brea and Robinson fighting very hard to go to SE Utah Valley state school of the deaf, dumb and blind to play hasketball, but you guys are acting like he should have gone to Final 4's while he was there.

He spent a few years at BYU, yeah, BYU ain't UK so again, he was pissing into the wind there too.

Next year will be Mark Pope's 12th season as a college basketball head coach...

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