Mark Pope aint it

0r1c

Sophomore
Jan 4, 2026
111
197
33
No, he was killed on recruiting this season, and if he signs Momcilovic, he will have had a great recruiting cycle, so what? His religion?
It has nothing to do with his religion, lol. And we disagree on the premise that landing the literal last player available just because everyone else got their players and it happened to work out somehow constitutes a great recruiting cycle. There are many other reasons as well.
 

CGBlue1.0

Sophomore
Jul 3, 2025
116
170
43
I didn't tell him what to post, and where to post, and that he couldn't reply. I said his reply is nonsense, which it is. I don't need to be told by random people on the internet that I can't post my own message. I can.
I don't see where anyone told you that you can't start your own thread, as useless as it may be.
 

NociHTTP

Heisman
Mar 8, 2023
12,686
19,902
113
It has nothing to do with his religion, lol. And we disagree on the premise that landing the literal last player available just because everyone else got their players and it happened to work out somehow constitutes a great recruiting cycle. There are many other reasons as well.
You sound so desperate, and you didn't start this crap until it was really starting to look like Milan was coming here. Let me guess, fan of Cal?
 

UKCowboys

All-American
Oct 14, 2019
4,205
7,526
113
It has nothing to do with his religion, lol. And we disagree on the premise that landing the literal last player available just because everyone else got their players and it happened to work out somehow constitutes a great recruiting cycle. There are many other reasons as well.
That's spin man. In recruiting, all that matters is who shows up day 1. It doesn't matter how
 

0r1c

Sophomore
Jan 4, 2026
111
197
33
That's spin man. In recruiting, all that matters is who shows up day 1. It doesn't matter how
It's not spin. Let's say Pope is a 3/10 recruiter who misses on all of his targets (which has happened) and gets the literal last available player because he has the Kentucky brand and resources behind him. That doesn't solve the issues now or going forward.

I don't just look at things on the surface. The Kentucky head coach should not struggle to land recruits, especially not to this degree. Do I think Kentucky will still get recruits under Pope? Yes. Through luck, the program's brand, or sheer force of resources, Kentucky will still attract talent. But that doesn't mean Pope is good enough at recruiting or that he's succeeding in that area. That's like counting W's and L's and not also looking at the fact you were down by 20 in many of those wins and blown out in many of those losses.
 
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UKCowboys

All-American
Oct 14, 2019
4,205
7,526
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It's not spin. Let's say Pope is a 3/10 recruiter who misses on all of his targets (which has happened) and gets the literal last available player because he has the Kentucky brand and resources behind him. That doesn't solve the issues now or going forward.

I don't just look at things on the surface. The Kentucky head coach should not struggle to land recruits, especially not to this degree. Do I think Kentucky will still get recruits under Pope? Yes. Through luck, the program's brand, or sheer force of resources, Kentucky will still attract talent. But that doesn't mean Pope is good enough at recruiting or that he's succeeding in that area. That's like counting W's and L's and not also looking at the fact you were down by 20 in many of those wins and blown out in many of those losses.
Spin
 

0r1c

Sophomore
Jan 4, 2026
111
197
33
That's not how critical thinking works, or how spin works. I ALSO saw your comment that you are, or at least were, out on Pope after one of his misses on this very board only a few weeks ago. So I would say you are the one spinning, considering you have already publicly said you are out on Pope. I would also argue that completely ignoring everything up until the last minute, when it miraculously "works out," is the real spin.

There is literally a phrase for this: "failing upward." Pope is a horrible recruiter being held up by the brand and resources of Kentucky. The head coach of Kentucky should not have to be hand-held like a toddler by the boosters and the brand.
 
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UKCowboys

All-American
Oct 14, 2019
4,205
7,526
113
That's not how critical thinking works, or how spin works. I ALSO saw your comment that you are, or at least were, out on Pope after one of his misses on this very board only a few weeks ago. So I would say you are the one spinning, considering you have already publicly said you are out on Pope. I would also argue that completely ignoring everything up until the last minute, when it miraculously "works out," is the real spin.

There is literally a phrase for this: "failing upward." Pope is a horrible recruiter being held up by the brand and resources of Kentucky. The head coach of Kentucky should not have to be hand-held like a toddler by the boosters and the brand.
If you go back further, there have been 6,737,918 threads in the last four months calling for Popes head to fire him because he can't recruit, and I have always said the same thing...You can't bash him till you see his final roster
 

0r1c

Sophomore
Jan 4, 2026
111
197
33
If you go back further, there have been 6,737,918 threads in the last four months calling for Popes head to fire him because he can't recruit, and I have always said the same thing...You can't bash him till you see his final roster
Okay then, we just disagree. I don't only look at the cake; I look at how it was made.
 

0r1c

Sophomore
Jan 4, 2026
111
197
33
I just care that it tastes good. Agree to disagree
Right, but that's my whole point. If the kitchen is disgusting, there are rats everywhere, the eggs have salmonella, tons of money and ingredients have been wasted or thrown away and they just randomly threw in ingredients without measuring and 'lucked' into a decent-tasting cake 1 out of 10 times—while being neither professional, consistent, nor repeatable—I just don't understand that psychology. Either way we will know if the cake is at least edible by the end of today.
 
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Jul 17, 2025
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It's not spin. Let's say Pope is a 3/10 recruiter who misses on all of his targets (which has happened) and gets the literal last available player because he has the Kentucky brand and resources behind him. That doesn't solve the issues now or going forward.

I don't just look at things on the surface. The Kentucky head coach should not struggle to land recruits, especially not to this degree. Do I think Kentucky will still get recruits under Pope? Yes. Through luck, the program's brand, or sheer force of resources, Kentucky will still attract talent. But that doesn't mean Pope is good enough at recruiting or that he's succeeding in that area. That's like counting W's and L's and not also looking at the fact you were down by 20 in many of those wins and blown out in many of those losses.
While I hate the blow out losses...a lot. I do give high level credit to the come backs, not demerits.

I value resilience in the face of extreme adversity over front running and I love some front running tip to horn blow outs.

Sure, hole digging blows chunks but being able to climb out of one is invaluable in my eyes. Without that ability in the bag the plan will not likely survive a real punch in the mouth. Something really valuable is being instilled, it has happened too many times.
 
Apr 12, 2026
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Fair enough. Would you list your top 5 or so Kentucky fan experiences? It could be specific games or seasons.
Not a question for me and this wasn’t my favorite season, because it didn’t end in a champion, but 2009-2010 season had to be the coolest time to be a Kentucky fan. Beating UNC, UCONN, IU, UL non conference, Demarcus cousins, call me, John wall dance. The awesome sec championship game. Kentucky was cool again.
 
Apr 12, 2026
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Let's give Pope the chance to prove people wrong. He's getting a year 3 and if he gets mom he has 0 excuses to not win anything that matters once again. Let's see if he can win the sec or sec tourney or make a final four or win it all.
Until someone gets injured, or the refs F’d us, or we are fatigued from playing twice in a week, or a locker room incident happens before the game, or the team losing emotional control too early, or his team being out of character, or whatever else pope can come up with to hold everyone else accountable besides himself.
 
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Doc4UK!

All-Conference
Aug 14, 2003
2,823
1,823
113
Interesting how quickly the Baylor kid committed to Pitino after pulling his name from the draft and we are still waiting. Wish I knew what the reasons might be?
 

Beltieboy1

Redshirt
Mar 1, 2025
3
4
3
He makes the experience of being a Kentucky fan lame. Lukewarm is how I would describe it so far and how i project it to be perpetually.
Go Jimmy Fallon GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
 
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Ednunn

Junior
Mar 8, 2023
199
231
43
Honestly there is no reason that UK shouldn’t have an ultra talented roster, much like Duke or UConn. We have the fan support, we have national attention with every game on ESPN, we have the facilities. UK is a blue blood basketball school with the booster support to raise enough money in NIL. There’s only one reason we don’t have a roster like that and that we are having to break spending recorded to field a top 25 team. It’s Mark Pope and this isn’t sustainable.
Cal had more talent than anyone since Wooden And choked every year.
 
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NociHTTP

Heisman
Mar 8, 2023
12,686
19,902
113
If you go back further, there have been 6,737,918 threads in the last four months calling for Popes head to fire him because he can't recruit, and I have always said the same thing...You can't bash him till you see his final roster
Even that's not enough. An awesome roster could completely bomb, and vice versa.
 

BarefootBeach

Senior
Oct 30, 2025
258
543
93
Interesting how quickly the Baylor kid committed to Pitino after pulling his name from the draft and we are still waiting. Wish I knew what the reasons might be?
Supposedly the kid's agent had been talking to them for weeks. MM and his agent may have been focused on the pro route for who knows how long. How the hell would we know? All pope can do is put his best foot forward and try to get MM on board. The control is from MM/agent/family. For those that think we should strongarm the kid and force a quicker decision, if that backfires and the kid goes elsewhere will you praise pope for the right tactic, or eviscerat him? 😂😂
 

BigBluefoot

All-American
Jul 4, 2025
1,834
6,872
113
Go root for someone else then. We have more than our share of chicken littles and crybabies as it is.
Dude, there are like a whole 4 of you UKAA apologists left on here. Read the room. There are issues with Pope. Demanding everyone else stay in denial is futile, if not insane. I have a better idea. Instead of you trying to run off the fans, maybe you should go find a new board where they pump sunshine 24-7. Wouldn't want you whining and crying about everything poster expressing their opinion here, now would we?
 

Chadrock

All-Conference
Jul 12, 2004
3,045
2,042
103
Well, based on about 15 threads, looks like they just got the guy from ISU…does that change anyone’s op?