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UK should be able to afford at least two Ryan Hampton/Caleb Holt-level guys each year.

Son_Of_Saul

Son_Of_Saul

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Looking back, I really wish Pope had prioritized Holt over Stokes. That being said, I think Pope has learned his lesson and it's good to see the changes. He needs to be credited for the Mo Williams hire, and if he lands Crawford, it might be the best assistant coach move UK has made in decades.

Going forward, players in the range of Holt/Ament/Hampton/Maleek Thomas/etc. are going to cost programs $3-4 million each. UK should be able to afford two of those types of guys, and I'm excited to see Pope changing it up by landing guys in that range early.

You figure UK is going to have around $20-$25 million to play with each year going forward. You invest 1/3 of that into two stud recruits ($6-8 million combined). You don't even have to dominate the portal with that type of recruiting. Give me two Ryan Hamptons over one Milan every day of the week. That's not hating on Milan. It's just embracing the reality that if you win in either scenario, winning with some NBA lottery pick cred is infinitely more valuable for the long term.

Glad to see Pope making the necessary changes. He deserves a ton of credit for his willingness to change, something that Calipari was unwilling to do at the end of his UK career.
 
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TFCat11

TFCat11

Heisman
Mar 25, 2019
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I’ve been saying this since the NIL era started! If UK has a combined NIL pot (Rev share/ Private donors) of $20+ million to work with, spend $15-$16 million on high level studs, and use the rest on backups and developmental players, like Arkansas, Duke, and others have been doing.
 
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PeePeePooPoo

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BlueBomb said:
Pope isn't a young man (not that he's old), but he IS a young coach. The dude's still learning. I hate that UK has a coach that is still learning the ropes, so let's hope he learns fast. At least we know he doesn't have a Cal-like ego. So, that's a start.
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He's not a young coach. He has 6 years as an assistant and 11 as a head coach. That's 17 years total of coaching experience.
 
davtay

davtay

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Son_Of_Saul said:
You invest 1/3 of that into two stud recruits ($6-8 million combined). You don't even have to dominate the portal with that type of recruiting. Give me two Ryan Hamptons over one Milan every day of the week.
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Nothing wrong with that. But I believe with high school players it can be more of a gamble than with proven D1 players. Yes, the studs are the difference makers, but remember we recruited 3 five stars in one class who didn't come close to their ranking. Wagner, Edwards and Bradshaw. Two of those were supposed to be "studs". At least with transfer portal you have at minimal seen them against college competition.
 
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Bluegrasskingreboot

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It will vary year to year but I think between retention and traditional recruiting is what you want to actually have be the bones and then use the portal to fill the gaps and replace unexpected departures.

It just seems like being able to be more targeted instead of always trying to fish most of the team out of the portal would reduce the variance and so many bidding war situations while making the vision for players an easier sale.

Also, if there are going to be rule changes that affect the volume of transfers available we might want to be tuned up to build that way and not get caught in a place where the pipeline we depend on is trickling and probably much more expensive on the high end and we have no great answers.
 
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UKJenning

UKJenning

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BlueBomb said:
Pope isn't a young man (not that he's old), but he IS a young coach. The dude's still learning. I hate that UK has a coach that is still learning the ropes, so let's hope he learns fast. At least we know he doesn't have a Cal-like ego. So, that's a start.
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Going into his 12th season as a head coach without any conference regular season or conference tournament titles proves he isn’t a fast learner.
One of only 2 head coaches in the SEC that has never won either. Steven Pearl is the other.

Pope is 1-9 against Oats, Golden, and White combined.
He would need to win 8 straight just to draw to a 50% winning record against that trio.

He needs to somehow land a couple of “Dream Team” caliber rosters.
 
J

jgodek

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UKJenning said:
Going into his 12th season as a head coach without any conference regular season or conference tournament titles proves he isn’t a fast learner.
One of only 2 head coaches in the SEC that has never won either. Steven Pearl is the other.

Pope is 1-9 against Oats, Golden, and White combined.
He would need to win 8 straight just to draw to a 50% winning record against that trio.

He needs to somehow land a couple of “Dream Team” caliber rosters.
Click to expand...
That's a harsh reality - but those coaches really didn't click immediately, either. Golden popped off in year 3 after one bad and one mediocre year at Florida. Oats had a big second year but regressed back to the mean in year three (but he had success with Buffalo that neither Golden or Pope had at previous stops). Pope has a lot to prove, but at least he's finally showing some signs of recruiting ability. Hopefully the results follow.
 
CatinIL

CatinIL

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TigerMoving said:
I definitely agree it seems like Pope has learned some lessons. Getting Milan and Hampton has me pretty optimistic for the future of his tenure now. Mo Williams was a top notch hire and if you bring in Crawford too then he could possibly get us really rolling.
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Let’s hope so.
 
DudahUK

DudahUK

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Jul 23, 2020
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Son_Of_Saul said:
Looking back, I really wish Pope had prioritized Holt over Stokes. That being said, I think Pope has learned his lesson and it's good to see the changes. He needs to be credited for the Mo Williams hire, and if he lands Crawford, it might be the best assistant coach move UK has made in decades.

Going forward, players in the range of Holt/Ament/Hampton/Maleek Thomas/etc. are going to cost programs $3-4 million each. UK should be able to afford two of those types of guys, and I'm excited to see Pope changing it up by landing guys in that range early.

You figure UK is going to have around $20-$25 million to play with each year going forward. You invest 1/3 of that into two stud recruits ($6-8 million combined). You don't even have to dominate the portal with that type of recruiting. Give me two Ryan Hamptons over one Milan every day of the week. That's not hating on Milan. It's just embracing the reality that if you win in either scenario, winning with some NBA lottery pick cred is infinitely more valuable for the long term.

Glad to see Pope making the necessary changes. He deserves a ton of credit for his willingness to change, something that Calipari was unwilling to do at the end of his UK career.
Click to expand...
I agree as well. Get a couple studs and fill out the roster.
 
chroix

chroix

Heisman
Jul 22, 2013
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davtay said:
Nothing wrong with that. But I believe with high school players it can be more of a gamble than with proven D1 players. Yes, the studs are the difference makers, but remember we recruited 3 five stars in one class who didn't come close to their ranking. Wagner, Edwards and Bradshaw. Two of those were supposed to be "studs". At least with transfer portal you have at minimal seen them against college competition.
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Very few, if any, NBA level players are going to stick around for a second year. I like the proven commodity factor you get with the portal as well, but the best talent doesn't need a second year.
 
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*Fox2Monk*

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
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Son_Of_Saul said:
Looking back, I really wish Pope had prioritized Holt over Stokes. That being said, I think Pope has learned his lesson and it's good to see the changes. He needs to be credited for the Mo Williams hire, and if he lands Crawford, it might be the best assistant coach move UK has made in decades.

Going forward, players in the range of Holt/Ament/Hampton/Maleek Thomas/etc. are going to cost programs $3-4 million each. UK should be able to afford two of those types of guys, and I'm excited to see Pope changing it up by landing guys in that range early.

You figure UK is going to have around $20-$25 million to play with each year going forward. You invest 1/3 of that into two stud recruits ($6-8 million combined). You don't even have to dominate the portal with that type of recruiting. Give me two Ryan Hamptons over one Milan every day of the week. That's not hating on Milan. It's just embracing the reality that if you win in either scenario, winning with some NBA lottery pick cred is infinitely more valuable for the long term.

Glad to see Pope making the necessary changes. He deserves a ton of credit for his willingness to change, something that Calipari was unwilling to do at the end of his UK career.
Click to expand...
I think we could have all 3, two stud freshman, a 4 star development piece, and 3-4 top portal options. One Milan level recruit, 2 starters, and a couple backups.
 
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Son_Of_Saul

Son_Of_Saul

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*Fox2Monk* said:
I think we could have all 3, two stud freshman, a 4 star development piece, and 3-4 top portal options. One Milan level recruit, 2 starters, and a couple backups.
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I agree.

$3-4 million for high school stud #1
$3-4 million for high school stud #2
$5-7 million for an elite portal player ($11-15 million total)
$2 million for starter returner ($13-17 million)
$2 million for starter returner ($15-19 million)
That leaves $7 to 10 million for the rest of the roster. I don't see guys like McBride making much more than a million/year. You get three or four of those guys to round out the roster.
 
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G

GoAndRunIsGoneAndDone

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UKJenning said:
Going into his 12th season as a head coach without any conference regular season or conference tournament titles proves he isn’t a fast learner.
One of only 2 head coaches in the SEC that has never won either. Steven Pearl is the other.

Pope is 1-9 against Oats, Golden, and White combined.
He would need to win 8 straight just to draw to a 50% winning record against that trio.

He needs to somehow land a couple of “Dream Team” caliber rosters.
Click to expand...
I don't know our budget and I doubt anyone on here does.
Yes, we SHOULD have a competitive budget but since none of us know our nil budget, nor true nil numbers that players get...why do people say things like this?

I HOPE you're right but I can't say you are or not.
 
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RedwoodHigh

RedwoodHigh

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Nov 18, 2025
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Son_Of_Saul said:
I agree.

$3-4 million for high school stud #1
$3-4 million for high school stud #2
$5-7 million for an elite portal player ($11-15 million total)
$2 million for starter returner ($13-17 million)
$2 million for starter returner ($15-19 million)
That leaves $7 to 10 million for the rest of the roster. I don't see guys like McBride making much more than a million/year. You get three or four of those guys to round out the roster.
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I mostly agree but a coach at KY should never guarantee starter minutes to anyone .
Moreno & Jasper are classic examples of players who got the minutes they earned .
 
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U

UKBB4Ever

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jgodek said:
That's a harsh reality - but those coaches really didn't click immediately, either. Golden popped off in year 3 after one bad and one mediocre year at Florida. Oats had a big second year but regressed back to the mean in year three (but he had success with Buffalo that neither Golden or Pope had at previous stops). Pope has a lot to prove, but at least he's finally showing some signs of recruiting ability. Hopefully the results follow.
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None of those coaches had teams that just no show or quit like Pope has. year one just as bad as year two. He's never won anything anywhere because he is not a good coach.

His teams are not prepared. His teams are not in condition. His teams don't play defense or rebound. And they don't improve.

That's not changing over a summer. Pope's aberration year was 2025. He will never get to another sweet sixteen in his career. Not here, not anywhere else.

People can believe in the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus too. Doesn't make them real. Wanting pope to become a good coach will not make it happen.
 
*Fox2Monk*

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
46,381
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Son_Of_Saul said:
I agree.

$3-4 million for high school stud #1
$3-4 million for high school stud #2
$5-7 million for an elite portal player ($11-15 million total)
$2 million for starter returner ($13-17 million)
$2 million for starter returner ($15-19 million)
That leaves $7 to 10 million for the rest of the roster. I don't see guys like McBride making much more than a million/year. You get three or four of those guys to round out the roster.
Click to expand...
I think $25 million is about what it will take to field championship level teams these days unless you have freshman who way over achieve or a new guy who signed way less than market value.
 
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MichaelGray

MichaelGray

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Son_Of_Saul said:
I agree.

$3-4 million for high school stud #1
$3-4 million for high school stud #2
$5-7 million for an elite portal player ($11-15 million total)
$2 million for starter returner ($13-17 million)
$2 million for starter returner ($15-19 million)
That leaves $7 to 10 million for the rest of the roster. I don't see guys like McBride making much more than a million/year. You get three or four of those guys to round out the roster.
Click to expand...
That's a lot of dough from coal lol 🤣🤣
 
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