When he was hired the national media was praising what a big deal it was to steal him away from Drew and Baylor was said to be really upset about the loss. Guy got Keyonte George,Ja'Kobe Walter,VJ Edgecombe and Langston Love but he got here and couldn't land a walkon
What happened to Alvin Brooks?
- Thread starter cornbreadnmilk
- Start date
Calipari and K could be Pope’s assistant coaches, and they would meet the same fate!
Pope is literally that bad at the recruiting game! Even UK’s immense reputation, $$$, and resources are no match for the Whiffmeister.
Pope is literally that bad at the recruiting game! Even UK’s immense reputation, $$$, and resources are no match for the Whiffmeister.
What's the common denominator here? It's Mark Pope.
Pope is currently toxic to recruiting and team building. Something big has to take place during this off-season. It's put-up or shut-up time.
Pope is currently toxic to recruiting and team building. Something big has to take place during this off-season. It's put-up or shut-up time.
It seemed like he could get the guys to the table and Pope/JMI couldn't close it. Imagine if we had him with Pearl, Lloyd, Golden, Oats or May
Yeah I mean...we've all heard Mark Pope talk. It shouldn't exactly be surprising that he struggles with recruiting.
If I'm a recruit, I'm looking for real, tangible, material things:
- what my role will be
- what my minutes will look like
- the salary and benefits
- how this will impact my future earnings
- what Mark Pope can give me that other coaches can't, from a development standpoint
Just my uneducated observations
Not to pile on but it all comes back to Mark. Assistants can get them to the table but it's a closing issue imo.
We have 100% different opinions on this. Of course no one really knows. You just have to interpret the information you read and results.
Everyone Knows for a fact Mitch drug his feet on NIL. Calipari complained, Stoops complained.
Both money sports programs went into a death spiral once NIL came in. Of course Mitch tells you we don’t have a problem but, Caliparis last classes after NIL came in were void of all talent. He got some 5* but they were skinny, frail Flops. Boston, TyTy, Edward’s , Askew. All flops. Reed and Rob. Two 4 Stars were his highest drafted guys once NIL hit. He wasn’t getting top talent. He assembled his best team by far this year after leaving for Arkansas. He Recruited freshman of the year. He wasn’t doing that here. Most will say he got a jumpstart with the move. I think he has better NIL there. Better support from his administration.
Stoops began his nosedive in 2021 as NIL came in as well ending in being fired. Two years after his Pony Up comment.
See I don’t believe any coach can succeed under Mitch’s NIL model. At Baylor Brooks was an ace recruiter for Scott Drew. Drew hasn’t done anything for 3 years. Didn’t make the tournament this year. Yet, Brooks recruited well for him. Here, Brooks couldn’t land a cold fish. Just my opinion but it’s not our coaches. Or recruiters. It’s our administrators and how we do NIL. Agents have publicly complained, recruits were ready to sign then backed out once NIL negotiations began.
for the record, I don’t believe any of that 22 million roster crap. People added together all the two year contracts we issued. Pope had clauses that either party could get out. Lowe was given a two year deal. We didn’t pick up the year 2 option. I truly believe someone added all our 2 year deals together and put that number out.
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We made the final cut on nearly every elite prospect/recruit, just couldn't close.
100% this.
People keep posting thread after thread about "We should have kept Orlando Antigua." Alvin Brooks got really good recruits at freaking Baylor. He now has one of the highest NIL budgets in the country, and he can't get ANYONE?!
It's not an assistant issue. Brooks didn't break it. Antigua won't fix it. Pope's personality isn't getting it done with recruits.
Someone said one time, "Based on our current results, Antigua couldn't have done any worse."
This is the same as me saying "I can't land a super model because of my haircut. I don't currently have a super model. So a different hair cut can't do any worse." At the end of the day, I can have all the good looks and best hair cut in the world, but super models just don't like my personality.
I just can't look at Alvin Brooks landing VJ Edgecombe at Baylor--then see Alvin Brooks can't land ANYONE here--and decide it was an Alvin Brooks problem. That conclusion isn't one I draw.
Brooks went to a bigger brand with more money. He started recruiting worse. Did he just get lazy? Did he just start to suck at what he was previously good at?
Or is he swimming upstream against Mark Pope's lack of closing ability?
Something about this thread just made me realize that Pope has only gotten 5 high school kids in his time here. Four were in state and that’s probably the only reason they came. The other we had to hire his dad.
JFC what are we doing here?
As for Brooks, we take him from Baylor only for Baylor to beat us out for Tounde Yessoufou who was a UK lean at one point. Landing that kid would have completely changed the outlook on this season.
JFC what are we doing here?
As for Brooks, we take him from Baylor only for Baylor to beat us out for Tounde Yessoufou who was a UK lean at one point. Landing that kid would have completely changed the outlook on this season.
Or upstream against Barnharts NIL program? We just don't know. There is definitely a problem here and it hasn't just affected Pope. Calipari and Stoops both crashed here since NIL. Calipari now seems to recruit fine. Thats where i draw my conclusion it isnt Pope. It affected all 3 coaches. Calipari couldn't recruit here either since NIL. Cal is a pretty good recruiter. We got high RANKED classes, but they were left overs. Not elite freshman. They the left for the G league or two way contracts. Calipari recruited the national freshman of the year in his first year at Arkansas. His other freshman was elite too. Brooks was a master recruiter before he came here. But everyone blames Pope. Seems deeper to me.
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We got only so many high school kids because we were more focused on portal guys not hs guys. When you have 11 potential returning players it's hard to recruit playing time. We got the same losers on here calling names though, under anonymous names.
The freshmen class last year was best it has been and the championship teams didn't have tons of freshmen on it.
The freshmen class last year was best it has been and the championship teams didn't have tons of freshmen on it.
Coach Pope tried hard to get some of those freshman you saying any different is a lie or you are misinformed. I’m just not going to blame anyone for what happened and why they picked somewhere else. I have no clue and only thing we can do is guess
If a coach does it right you can build a hell of a team out of the portal and if we get the right guys we could have good ball team. I think that’s the best way to go except we gotta get a few high school players to stay and learn the system for continuity. Gotta balence it out right. This freshman class is one of the best I can think of in a while and that’s why it hurts so bad we missed
Yeah went after them is one thing he don't lie and don't make fake promises though. That's what kids want
Brooks and Hart were landing recruits at Baylor and USC before they were paired with Pope.
They weren’t the problem.
Surprisingly, Jack Pilgrim said it wasn't the assistants but moreso Pope. They would establish a relationship and make a connection but Pope couldn't close.
Pope has a control problem. He doesn't delegate responsibilities to those around him like a true leader. You can't perform all the duties a program like UK requires. You must trust your staff. Unfortunately, I don't think he relinquished enough control for them to land recruits.
Jack Pilgrim alluded to this. He said relationships and connections were made by assistants but Pope couldn't close the deal.
The Athletic Department should bring in a specialist to teach Mark Pope how to talk to people like a regular human being.
How to talk to recruits.
How to talk to agents.
How to talk to parents.
How to talk to the media.
It sounds basic, but he's failing on all fronts and comes off like a weirdo. And I'm sure it's not natural to him and he feels it too. That's why it seems like the assistants keep him away from the recruits until the end of the process.
How to talk to recruits.
How to talk to agents.
How to talk to parents.
How to talk to the media.
It sounds basic, but he's failing on all fronts and comes off like a weirdo. And I'm sure it's not natural to him and he feels it too. That's why it seems like the assistants keep him away from the recruits until the end of the process.
