If Popes time gets cut short here...

UKBB4Ever

All-Conference
Jul 3, 2025
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No player that thinks he is headed to the NBA is going to play for a system coach.

Tubby didn’t get those guys once it was known he was lying about changing his system. Izzo doesn’t get those guys.

Bennett didn’t get those guys at UVA.

Dybansta would not have gone to BYU had Pope stayed.

Those players are going to go to a pro style offense.

Doesn’t matter if they are not really NBA bound. If they believe they are they are not going to a system.
 

anon1774151098

All-Conference
Apr 10, 2024
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And everyone else he was linked too as well as “favored” for. Don’t forget Yaxel, and Holt, Saunders, Pierre, Lewis(who may be no help to be fair, but at least a PG), Foulgarias, Thomas, Demary, Bol Bowan, etc..
A lot of Dam misses there they all saw what it was gonna be I bet they’re glad they chose different places
 

UKAlum84

All-Conference
Aug 4, 2022
1,587
1,186
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Why did Travis Perry leave for Ole Miss?

i do not know why but seeing how the season is going....a kentucky boy leaving UK is just mind boggling.
 

BlueBlood96Cat

All-Conference
Jan 5, 2022
2,679
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Why did Travis Perry leave for Ole Miss?

i do not know why but seeing how the season is going....a kentucky boy leaving UK is just mind boggling.
Players wanna play for a coach they respect. They don’t wanna have a 9 man rotation. They wanna play for somebody they look up to. Players don’t look at Pope as somebody they can put trust in. It’s simple. Pope doesn’t have connections or doesn’t know how to use them. People like Cal are way bigger people than just a ball coach. Players now the real.
 
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20MRoster

All-Conference
Nov 16, 2018
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Players wanna play for a coach they respect. They don’t wanna have a 9 man rotation. They wanna play for somebody they look up to. Players don’t look at Pope as somebody they can put trust in. It’s simple. Pope doesn’t have connections or doesn’t know how to use them. People like Cal are way bigger people than just a ball coach. Players now the real.
This is the truth. Recruiting is a people business. Respect and connections are the only thing that matters. Calipari recruited an NBA lottery pick to freaking UMASS (and then went to a Final Four w/ him). Good recruiters will recruit anywhere, and the inverse is true. Pope at Duke would not get the same rosters despite the unlimited funding they have.
 

Anon1759768907

All-Conference
Oct 6, 2025
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Something in Pope’s closing argument to recruits has them running for the hills. You’d think he would recognize and adjust but apparently not since we have a big fat 0 committed for next year.
he tells them "we see you as a good 2 year guy here"
 

UKCowboys

Heisman
Oct 14, 2019
5,531
10,553
113
Pope isn't going anywhere. That is the one thing that is going to be funny to watch anyway, all the folks bailing out and calling for the coaches head when he is in absolutely no danger this year or even next
 

JustBlue

Senior
Mar 29, 2009
333
732
93
Something in Pope’s closing argument to recruits has them running for the hills. You’d think he would recognize and adjust but apparently not since we have a big fat 0 committed for next year.

I think Pope really, really wants to recreate the 96 team but it is almost impossible to get star players to buy into a 10 or 11 man team. He can preach "I did it and won a championship" but other coaches are going to bury him on his substitution patterns. If I was recruiting against him I would tell a player that "sure, you can make 2 million for playing 20 mins but you are never going to get into a rhythm, you are going to get frequently subbed and you will never be able to showcase the player you can be. And that will cost you millions at the next level. So recruits don't want any part of it. So Pope decided "who will buy into this? I got it - the 6th and 7th guys on good rosters!" But he isn't factoring in that they might not be starters for some reason other than his outdated view of seniority (i.e. starting Garrison when it is painfully obvious Moreno is a much better player) and they just won't blossom into stars.

JB
 

One2Three

All-Conference
Nov 15, 2025
784
1,841
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Pope isn't going anywhere. That is the one thing that is going to be funny to watch anyway, all the folks bailing out and calling for the coaches head when he is in absolutely no danger this year or even next
Why are you even on this board? You seem to hate Kentucky fans more than you like Kentucky basketball.
 
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ifer1116

Junior
Aug 22, 2025
101
249
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Unless your Chris Lofton.

Great player, some how TN got him.
Because Tubby had already signed Rondo, Bradley and Crawford at guard in the same class. Hindsight is 20/20, obviously looking back you would have wanted Loften, and many of us, including me, still wanted him. I’m not sure what the scholarship limitations may have been at the time. But he was not as highly rated as any of those 3 guards. Plus, he wouldn’t have had the same opportunity to shine at UK under Tubby that he did at UT. It sucks he wasn’t at UK though. He was such a great shooter and Tubby didn’t always have enough of those.
 
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Woodrow24

Heisman
Dec 21, 2015
6,537
15,796
78
Pope isn't going anywhere. That is the one thing that is going to be funny to watch anyway, all the folks bailing out and calling for the coaches head when he is in absolutely no danger this year or even next
You have no idea what you’re talking about. If he has a bad season after spending 22 million dollars he will definitely be on the hot seat. At the pace you’re going with talking trash like a Louisville fan, you wont last long on this board. That will be a good thing.
 

SledDogs

Redshirt
Apr 9, 2024
14
20
3
No one wanted high school players when Cal left now we are crying he can’t recruit? The problem with building through the portal is if you get the wrong combo of kids and personalities it doesn’t work. Look at Kansas the past few years and UCONN last year and now St John’s this year.
 

Farsight Clone

All-American
Aug 30, 2025
3,057
6,085
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No player that thinks he is headed to the NBA is going to play for a system coach.

Tubby didn’t get those guys once it was known he was lying about changing his system. Izzo doesn’t get those guys.

Bennett didn’t get those guys at UVA.

Dybansta would not have gone to BYU had Pope stayed.

Those players are going to go to a pro style offense.

Doesn’t matter if they are not really NBA bound. If they believe they are they are not going to a system.
That's why Pope has to do a loose system and incorporate the 4 spread or 5 motion offense which allows more freedom.
 

JustBlue

Senior
Mar 29, 2009
333
732
93
I think the problem with Pope is that he is waaaaay too Kentucky first and that is just not resonating with out of state recruits at all. Cal was so on the other side as being too player first that it looks like Pope is over correcting.

JB
 
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UKCowboys

Heisman
Oct 14, 2019
5,531
10,553
113
You have no idea what you’re talking about. If he has a bad season after spending 22 million dollars he will definitely be on the hot seat. At the pace you’re going with talking trash like a Louisville fan, you wont last long on this board. That will be a good thing.
Im talking trash? Thats comical. Really. I say pretty much the same stuff consistently...we have a good coach, he's doing a good job, our team will be fine when healthy and early season losses while banged up aren't the end of the world. If anyone shouldn't last long on this board it should be you and all the other folks who unfairly trash the coach and kids on the team. This is a UK board, its supposed to be a place for folks who love the Cats, not a place to come and call for a second year coach with a year one sweet 16 to be fired 8 games in, dog out the kids as being trash, and insult posters who actually support the team. If you want to rip the coach and team, go over to the Cards board, you'll find a lot of like minded people
 

UKCowboys

Heisman
Oct 14, 2019
5,531
10,553
113
Why are you even on this board? You seem to hate Kentucky fans more than you like Kentucky basketball.
I love Kentucky basketball and UK fans. The folks I get into it with arent fans. When you spend the entire day ripping the coach and kids and not post one positive thing, it makes you a troll
 

Woodrow24

Heisman
Dec 21, 2015
6,537
15,796
78
Im talking trash? Thats comical. Really. I say pretty much the same stuff consistently...we have a good coach, he's doing a good job, our team will be fine when healthy and early season losses while banged up aren't the end of the world. If anyone shouldn't last long on this board it should be you and all the other folks who unfairly trash the coach and kids on the team. This is a UK board, its supposed to be a place for folks who love the Cats, not a place to come and call for a second year coach with a year one sweet 16 to be fired 8 games in, dog out the kids as being trash, and insult posters who actually support the team. If you want to rip the coach and team, go over to the Cards board, you'll find a lot of like minded people
✌️ putting you on ignore with the rest of the trolls
 

sk73

All-Conference
Feb 16, 2013
3,249
3,348
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because pope recruited them to play in a system or be a backup

other schools offered a star role, which is why they went there
It cant be that simple. Every coach has a method or, system, they want to utilize. Dan Hurley has a system that has been consistent for several years for example. I cannot tell you the system being used at UK right now. I know there are times that our team looks good but I can't pinpoint a true system that is used. It usually seems to be individual creativity. Both our Offense and Defense in unrecognizable to me as a system. I am sure both will improve. We do have several good players so again, we will improve... I will keep that belief.
 

MegaBlue05

Heisman
Mar 8, 2014
11,230
22,962
66
Pope isn't going anywhere. That is the one thing that is going to be funny to watch anyway, all the folks bailing out and calling for the coaches head when he is in absolutely no danger this year or even next

if this season goes south like it’s looking, and next year is similar or worse, there won’t be a year 4.

But agree he’s not getting fired after this season and certainly isn’t getting fired midseason, so the people expecting that are showing themselves to be morons.
 
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