Travis Branham crystal ball Kentucky

GoAndRunIsGoneAndDone

All-Conference
Dec 12, 2023
929
1,138
93
Odd that no one ever mentions we have a 7 footer thst shoots 40% from three. I'd say there are time he should see a few minutes. At 17 years old I just don't see this youngster get very many minutes in yhe tough SEC.
...and he is only 7-1/2 weeks into being 17. It's hard to imagine a kid that was 16, just 7-8 weeks ago , going against sec opponents. If he does it well...color me impressed, then. From what I can tell, he may well be the youngest player ever in major college basketball.
 
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Buckwheat Otay Is Dead

All-Conference
May 30, 2008
803
1,083
93
Don't worry just yesterday Pilgrim said "all bets are off and he wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the day Kusturica was committed" and now he is saying "everyone calm down kentucky is still in the mix" Love going from commitment watch -> in the mix.
Kentucky has always be in the mix. 14.5 Cali tax will hurt recruiting in California schools
 
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theKybluedude

All-Conference
Jul 2, 2025
755
1,664
93
I posted on this extensively before and I can only assume you are playing dumb on this topic. I'll copy and paste from my older posts.

Tom Izzo 33-28 54.1% after 2 seasons at MSU

Dean Smith 23-15 60.5% after 2 seasons at UNCheat

Billy Donovan 27-32 45.8% after 2 seasons at UF

Coach K 27-30 47.4% after 2 seasons at Puke

Nolan Richardson 31-30 50.8% after 2 at Arkansas

Danny Hurley 35-29 54.7% after 2 seasons at UConn

Todd Golden 40-29 58% after 2 seasons at UF

Scott Drew 17-40 30% after 2 seasons at Baylor

Tony Bennett 31-31 50% after 2 seasons at Virginia

Jay Wright 34-29 54% after 2 seasons at Villanova

Jim Calhoun 29-33 46.8% after 2 seasons at UConn

Gary Williams 35-26 57.4% after 2 seasons at Maryland

Lute Olson 31-27 53.4% after 2 seasons at Arizona

That's a few National Championship coaches (13 of 22) since 1991 (accounting for 21 titles) with a worse record their first 2 seasons at the schools that they won it at than Pope's first 2 seasons at UK.

Someone then asked about the jobs previous to the one's where they won a title. This was then provided.


Smith and Izzo held no previous job.

Donovan 63.6% at Marshall

Hurley 63.2% at Wagner
57.9% at RI

Coach K 55.3% at Army

Todd Golden 61.3% at SF

Drew 64.5% at Valpo

Tony Bennett 67.6% Wash St

Jay Wright 58.9% at Hofstra

Jim Calhoun 64.4% Northeastern

Nolan Richardson 76.3% Tulsa

Gary Williams 63.2% American, 62.8% BC, 59% Ohio St
That’s awesome work. Sure shows that patience is needed. UK bball is a huge undertaking and CMP is getting his arms around it. Injuries didn’t help .

Can say this new group has a great vibe. I like all the players. I think they are gonna be real good
 

Cowtown Cat

Heisman
Aug 23, 2015
24,269
55,223
100
Pope has perhaps the biggest budget in the NIL era. That changes the game completely. And renders these old comparisons obsolete imo. The guys you listed may have been in rebuilds or just needed more time to turn things around with their HS recruiting. With the biggest budget and the impact of the portal, Pope is in a completely different situation where results are expected immediately.
The key word here is PERHAPS. Wild, I know. Lmao
 

oldcat52

Freshman
May 7, 2024
41
57
18
Sorry I'm last to this conversation, but is there any word when his commitment date is projected to be? If this has already been discussed, please understand that i didn't want to read 22 pages,
 
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Anon668007

All-Conference
Mar 31, 2026
1,653
3,251
113
Sorry I'm last to this conversation, but is there any word when his commitment date is projected to be? If this has already been discussed, please understand that i didn't want to read 22 pages,
At this point, no one knows. He was rumored to be committing before U17 but it didn’t happen. I guess Cronin can’t close either.
 

TFCat11

Heisman
Mar 25, 2019
6,268
11,567
108
If I’m NK’s agent, I’m having him wait until next season to go to college, because most team’s NIL will be re-set, and he will get the most money possible, which means, Duke, Arkansas etc. will most likely end up securing his services, although I’d love for Pope to close the deal before the agent figures that out.
 

TFCat11

Heisman
Mar 25, 2019
6,268
11,567
108
So much for the self ban 🤣
Reading comprehension is not your forte 😂 Better go back and read that again there Pal… I said…”Show me where the “NBA”, not JQ’s own insiders, said there was recommendations (plural) that he should get further “evaluations/ treatments” (paraphrasing) on that perfectly fine knee!

Of course JQ is going to avoid playing for as long as possible! I said he would pull that crap before the college season was even over!
 
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Lameguy

Junior
Mar 20, 2026
164
329
63
Which would lead to an even more engaging question... With ALL the talent Calipari has had over multiple seasons, how many championships SHOULD he have by now? In 2015 he actually had one of the most talented (top to bottom) teams in recent history.
2009, 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2017 in my opinion. He was out coached in those years and got beat by inferior teams. 3 of those years a particular referee screwed them
 

The Nightman2

All-Conference
Nov 30, 2019
1,162
1,490
113
Reading comprehension is not your forte 😂 Better go back and read that again there Pal… I said…”Show me where the “NBA”, not JQ’s own insiders, said there was recommendations (plural) that he should get further “evaluations/ treatments” (paraphrasing) on that perfectly fine knee!

Of course JQ is going to avoid playing for as long as possible! I said he would pull that crap before the college season was even over!
Lmao the Nets team doctor recommended it. What do you imagine the Spurs team doctor said 🤔 Those aren't JQ insiders lmao. Keep being a clown , Rafters would be boring if we didnt have your dumb takes. Glad you didnt keep your word
 

BluWildcatz

Redshirt
Jun 16, 2026
33
39
18
Reading comprehension is not your forte 😂 Better go back and read that again there Pal… I said…”Show me where the “NBA”, not JQ’s own insiders, said there was recommendations (plural) that he should get further “evaluations/ treatments” (paraphrasing) on that perfectly fine knee!

Of course JQ is going to avoid playing for as long as possible! I said he would pull that crap before the college season was even over!
sci-fi signs GIF
 

KYFOSSIL

Heisman
Jan 13, 2005
8,310
11,404
62
Who knew that asking a simple question would trigger such a response. If you find that "insufferable", how do you make it through the actual stresses of real life, sir?
You've eased up a bit saw but yeah over the last year or so you've constantly just put the team and coach down and it gets old and you decide you need to use a large font to do it. You still have a lot of good points and have been one of the better posters here for quite a while, but the constant nagging is getting old
 

Anon1768287303

Sophomore
Jan 13, 2026
80
109
33
2009, 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2017 in my opinion. He was out coached in those years and got beat by inferior teams. 3 of those years a particular referee screwed them
I agree with your assessment for the most part although it took a couple strokes of luck to get as far as they did in 2014.But 2015 should have been a slam dunk. And that goes to the obvious conclusion that a team loaded with top young talent is no guarantee for success unless you have solid coaching and some advanced maturity in some of that young talent. That's why I don't particularly care how much talent Cal assembles at any school.
 

BookofMormon

Senior
Mar 27, 2026
588
757
93
2009, 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2017 in my opinion. He was out coached in those years and got beat by inferior teams. 3 of those years a particular referee screwed them
It's also hard when you are relying on freshmen every year - it's not just about talent, it's also about maturity, reps. Scheyer couldn't win it with the prospect of the decade and NBA ROY runner up on the same roster.

And he just keeps on doing it. Scheyer is making adjustments - even he went out and got a transfer to be his top scorer this year. Do you think Calipari would ever do that - not in a million years.
 
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MaysviileKY

Senior
Jul 17, 2025
438
537
93
If I’m NK’s agent, I’m having him wait until next season to go to college, because most team’s NIL will be re-set, and he will get the most money possible, which means, Duke, Arkansas etc. will most likely end up securing his services, although I’d love for Pope to close the deal before the agent figures that out.
If he can get 4-5 this year + lock in 5-6 for next year, that would be 9-11 total. Doubt he’d get that in 1 year if he decides to hold off until next year.