I definitely wasn't excited when it looked like Drew was our next coach, but was completely perplexed when Pope was hired. Neither should have been finalists for this job.
Comparison: Mark Pope vs Scott Drew over the past two (2) seasons
- Thread starter megablue
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Drew would have been better here because he can recruit. Still probably not good enough, but I would take him over Pope.
Not me. While I wouldn't lobby for Pearl I think he would have been great here.
Hurley is a savant. And knows how to teach it. Thats the thing…theres so much you gotta master as a coach. It’s not good enough to just know the game. You gotta master the psychological aspect too. How to teach it. To get guys to understand. to buy in. how to motivate.
Then theres recruiting and all the psychology in that too.
I think Pope has all the X’s and O’s knowledge. I suspect hes just not a very good teacher and doesn’t know how to talk to young adults as a 50+ year old. His demeanor and personality just seems to put a lot of them off.
Barnhardt should have never been in charge of that hire. It’s obvious he did little to no research. Lazy lazy lazy. Should have been looking into it for years as it became obvious Cals tenure here was on life support as early as 2021 and maybe even sooner with the supposed UCLA smoke.
That dude has every aspect of it down. He's a General (dad was parole officer & a dictator of HS coaching) but brings some sense of humor and humility to it, and gives his kids the full sense he'd go to war for them. He does a ton of interviews so I've watched a few - he's a mad genius. The sport is in his bloodlines. He runs a program comprehensively. He's also a phenomenal communicator. You watch his practices, and there is a ton of drills. He has these drills where the entire team is dribbling one handed with a glove on, in unison. It's like a Navy Seal power hour. Then he gets kids like Karaban, who was with him for 4 years, crying on his way out because he doesn't want to go saying Hurley changed his life. That guy also isn't a cranky douche like Calhoun was, he is plugged in and friends with every coach out there and an ambassador for the sport.
What blows my mind is how much Hurley's brother stinks at coaching.
If you want to pass up on that for some funny faces he makes, then go for it. You're a effen buffoon. Impossible to copycat the guy, but should learn as much as possible. He feels like a more modern Izzo.
I do think Scheyer is going to figure it out sooner or later. What I like about him is that he does keep his cool, diplomatic yet you can sense he cares deeply. He's a bit corporate starch. That guy hasn't figured out his template yet, but once he does given the talent he brings in, you better watch out.
Two me, Duke and UConn, gap, then you have some program like Florida, Illinois, Arizona, MSU that are next tranche. Hard to know what Golden is as of yet as he's had his entire frontcourt intact for this 3 year run.
Crystal clear that Mitch Barnhart was absolutely clueless at his job.
Drew has a Natty something Pope hasn't sniffed.Scott Drew was seriously considered for, if not actually offered, the Kentucky job before Mark Pope.
Drew has a .636 all-time winning percentage as a head coach, versus Pope with .632, so essentially the same for their careers.
It is interesting to note how their records compare during the last two (2) seasons.
Mark Pope:
2024-25: 24-12, 10-8, T-6th, S16
2025-26: 22-14, 10-8, T-7th, R32
Overall: 46-26, 20-16
Scott Drew:
2024-25: 20-15, 10-10, T-7th, R32
2025-26: 17-17, 6-12, T-13th, CBC Semi-Final
Overall: 37-32, 16-22
Mark Pope - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Scott Drew - Wikipedia
Covid Natty with zero fans in the stands and most of the players thinking about anything but basketball.
Good coaches with x and o knowledge have their team prepared to play at tipoff. They dont get down double digits a crap ton.
They have their teams prepared and mentally tough, the opposition scouted, game plans and adjustments set in advance.
You can keep Hurley. It’s too much fun to hate that jerk off. I can’t imagine having to support him.
I don't know who the legitimate options were for UK when Pope was hired. But I think the decision should have been made by consulting people with a deep understanding of the coaching talent out there, particularly at the mid-major level. If this is Pope's last season, I really hope a detailed comprehensive well-thought-out effort is put into the next hire.
Still, being able to force Calipari out without having to pay the $40M buyout was a godsend in my opinion. And I say that as a fan who liked Calipari personally and as a PR figurehead of the basketball program. However, I think most who know the history of CBB coaching hires (probably football too) understand that when a change is made after a long tenure it seems the first hire often doesn’t pan out.
So, maybe Pope doesn’t pan out, but we’re at the very least further away from a situation where the coach was not focused on competing for championships and in fact sacrificed those chances for other (selfish?) goals. So, if Pope fails, I’m still glad we had him rather than Calipari for the last two years and I’ll view it as just an unfortunate step in the process to get a coach whose primary goal is to win – including non-conference, conference, conference tournament and NCAA tournament – not build a legacy of how many freshmen OAD kids were drafted after playing one-year for him.
Still, being able to force Calipari out without having to pay the $40M buyout was a godsend in my opinion. And I say that as a fan who liked Calipari personally and as a PR figurehead of the basketball program. However, I think most who know the history of CBB coaching hires (probably football too) understand that when a change is made after a long tenure it seems the first hire often doesn’t pan out.
So, maybe Pope doesn’t pan out, but we’re at the very least further away from a situation where the coach was not focused on competing for championships and in fact sacrificed those chances for other (selfish?) goals. So, if Pope fails, I’m still glad we had him rather than Calipari for the last two years and I’ll view it as just an unfortunate step in the process to get a coach whose primary goal is to win – including non-conference, conference, conference tournament and NCAA tournament – not build a legacy of how many freshmen OAD kids were drafted after playing one-year for him.
The admin would have a search firm signed up prospecting and building a short list.
You support the nonsense that is Mark Pope, it doesn’t matter one bit what you claim to have wanted if what we have seen the past 2 years is ok with you.
The evidence of Pitino being a scumbag did not exist when he was here. I wanted nothing to do with him at UK after what went on at U6.
Schertz has won at a 65.1% clip in the MVC and A10 and we have fans clamoring for him as if he would be a homerun hire?
I have no problem with Hurley and he has proven to be a great coach. That said his usual behavior would get him ejected from every game here. You can't really use Pope's age as the reason he supposedly can't relate to college kids given that Hurley is 53 himself.
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After 11 seasons as a head coach Drew was 198-149 57%. It was his 19th season that he won his title. I'm not about to claim Pope is destined to win one but he has 8 more years before you can definitively say Drew got one sooner.
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Shertz took over 2 awful programs and revived them with brilliant offensive strategy. He was 32-7 in 2024, his last season at Indiana St, runner up in the NIT and MVC coach of the year.
Last year, in his 2nd season at St Louis, he went 29-6 and won the A10.
If you’re watching basketball, you can’t not see that Josh Shertz is winning big everywhere he goes.
You're not telling me anything I'm not aware of. I'm not claiming he doesn't show any promise but I'll not act like he is a can't miss homerun hire because he has 2 good seasons out of five against weak competition.
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Then you hate just to hate. I didnt want Pope, if you go back to his hire date on the board you'll see me saying it was a terrible move. I also said I wanted him fired after last season. But we kept him, so what I am not going to do is cry like a little school girl 24/7/365 about the guy
Here is his Wikipedia page and head coaching record. I did not realize he was 51 years old. That really surprised me ...
Josh Schertz - Wikipedia
This constant gaslighting by the Popesters is making this forum unbearable.
Let's face it. We're screwed, and nothing's gonna change that. UK admin is corrupt from the top down and even a Burger Boy roster wouldn't overcome Pope's coaching disabilities.
The constant drumbeat of "You're a dumb, bad fan if you don't drink the Popestown Kool-Aid" is hackneyed and exhausting.
"Maybe you should leave then" - yeah I bet a bunch of people are leaving or have already left. This place is a boneyard.
Enjoy the ashes of your victory.
Let's face it. We're screwed, and nothing's gonna change that. UK admin is corrupt from the top down and even a Burger Boy roster wouldn't overcome Pope's coaching disabilities.
The constant drumbeat of "You're a dumb, bad fan if you don't drink the Popestown Kool-Aid" is hackneyed and exhausting.
"Maybe you should leave then" - yeah I bet a bunch of people are leaving or have already left. This place is a boneyard.
Enjoy the ashes of your victory.
Nobody wants this job. Drew turned it down, Oats removed himself from consideration, and Donovan wouldn't talk to anyone until it wouod have been too late. This fanbase is feral. Coaches at pretty much every D1 school are paid a Brinx truck full, why deal with us if you're getting rich anyway? Also, NIL changed everything. Green backs outrank Blue Bloods.
Shertz has had 2 bad seasons in his coaching career. The first season at Indiana St and the first season at St. Louis. He turned both these down trodden programs into conference champions in the next season. He is the best coach available in the country, IMO.Here is his Wikipedia page and head coaching record. I did not realize he was 51 years old. That really surprised me ...
Josh Schertz - Wikipedia
“The constant drumbeat of "You're a dumb, bad fan if you don't drink the Popestown Kool-Aid" is hackneyed and exhausting.”
I’ve never seen anything even close to this posted on this site. If you believe this site is unbearable because of a handful of posters that actually support Pope (because that’s truly all there really is) and not the massive amount of folks that come on here and beetch and moan every day then I’m not sure you actually read this forum.
Pearl would have killed it here.
Nobody is ignoring that. What you aren't understanding is, he simply caught lightning in a bottle, other than a 2 season span, he has been mediocre at best.
A little late stage, but he's definitely done a lot in his 5 years of HC'ing. He doesn't strike me as a UK guy.
Take a look at what Hodgson has done at South Florida.
Schertz is a lot like McCollum, coached for a number of years in D2.
The advantage of Hodgson will be that he has D1 assisting in the SEC. If he can show success at PC, he'd be prime. So then the question becomes, do you pull the trigger on a guy like Schertz, or wait a year and risk it for a guy like Hodgson.
I’ve been on the Schertz bandwagon for a while. I would expect him to be a candidate at Kansas in the offseason.
He could be the basketball equivalent of Kurt Cignetti. Their career trajectories are very similar. We should look for a coach that has won everywhere.
I agree with that. Hodgson has done that too. Arkansas, South Florida and now he'll do it at PC.
This is what Hurley had, high school, low D1, mid major to UConn. It's a track that often translates.
I'm surprised UNC didn't entertain Schertz.
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