Rippey

20MRoster

All-Conference
Nov 16, 2018
878
1,627
88
Any 5 star with serious pro aspirations would be much better off on Duke's bench than playing for Pope. Pope's best (and probably ONLY) hope now is to hammer that 30-50 range (guys like Hawthorne) and try to find a Herro, SGA, Booker. Couple of posters said this yesterday.

Unfortunately, there's no evidence Pope has any acumen in the type of player evaluation needed to consistently succeed at a Final Four level with the above model.
 

yoshukai

Heisman
Dec 21, 2002
29,793
42,244
102
Could we pluck him somehow. Foster, Boozer now Blackwell. They also have Howard coming in. It appears to be a crowded backcourt and doesn’t look like he will start. I know it’s wishful thinking but, it would be nice.
Even if we were to ”flip” him , both our guard commitments would leave. That’s the way it works for Mark Pope .

Besides , guard play isn’t what is going to lose us 15+ games next year. It appears to be our front court .
 

Smeegs

All-Conference
Nov 19, 2025
659
1,871
93
Read an article where Foster and Rippey would be the starting backcourt.
Then I guess they’ll be starting a three guard lineup, because there’s no way Blackwell’s going there to come off the bench. Nor can I see Cayden Boozer accepting mere 4th guard minutes.

It ain’t gonna be easy keeping all four of those guys happy with playing time.
 
Oct 23, 2025
320
405
63
Could we pluck him somehow. Foster, Boozer now Blackwell. They also have Howard coming in. It appears to be a crowded backcourt and doesn’t look like he will start. I know it’s wishful thinking but, it would be nice.
His dad was really excited about the Blackwell news. Sounds like he's fine with his son sitting on the bench.
 
Oct 23, 2025
320
405
63
Then I guess they’ll be starting a three guard lineup, because there’s no way Blackwell’s going there to come off the bench. Nor can I see Cayden Boozer accepting mere 4th guard minutes.

It ain’t gonna be easy keeping all four of those guys happy with playing time.
You think Dame Sarr and Bryce Howard will both be on the bench?
 
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Padsfs07

All-Conference
Jan 19, 2013
3,613
3,331
108
Then I guess they’ll be starting a three guard lineup, because there’s no way Blackwell’s going there to come off the bench. Nor can I see Cayden Boozer accepting mere 4th guard minutes.

It ain’t gonna be easy keeping all four of those guys happy with playing time.


Dame Sarr and Bryson Howard (top 12 recruit) also at the 3.
 

Reggie Noble

Junior
Jul 5, 2025
176
237
43
Then I guess they’ll be starting a three guard lineup, because there’s no way Blackwell’s going there to come off the bench. Nor can I see Cayden Boozer accepting mere 4th guard minutes.

It ain’t gonna be easy keeping all four of those guys happy with playing time.
Dame Sarr not coming of the bench either, which would have to happen in a three guard offense. Imo.
 

RedwoodHigh

Senior
Nov 18, 2025
593
831
93
Then I guess they’ll be starting a three guard lineup, because there’s no way Blackwell’s going there to come off the bench. Nor can I see Cayden Boozer accepting mere 4th guard minutes.

It ain’t gonna be easy keeping all four of those guys happy with playing time.
But many on this board wanted Ky to recruit former starters & 4-5 stars as “BENCH PIECES”.
Duke understands injuries & fouls better than Pope & Co. We played a 3 guard starting lineup for most of the SEC season. Kam considers himself a guard & Stokes wants to be “point forward “.
Winning 30 games keeps everyone Happy- Rippey staying at Duke will help him become a lotto pick in 2028.
I Still Hate Christian Laetner💩🖤
 

brooke0402

Freshman
Jul 29, 2002
47
60
18
Then I guess they’ll be starting a three guard lineup, because there’s no way Blackwell’s going there to come off the bench. Nor can I see Cayden Boozer accepting mere 4th guard minutes.

It ain’t gonna be easy keeping all four of those guys happy with playing time.

But many on this board wanted Ky to recruit former starters & 4-5 stars as “BENCH PIECES”.
Duke understands injuries & fouls better than Pope & Co. We played a 3 guard starting lineup for most of the SEC season. Kam considers himself a guard & Stokes wants to be “point forward “.
Winning 30 games keeps everyone Happy- Rippey staying at Duke will help him become a lotto pick in 2028.
I Still Hate Christian Laetner💩🖤
They also have Howard. 5 guards is gonna be a problem. U think Boozer came back to ride the pine.
 
Aug 10, 2025
207
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But many on this board wanted Ky to recruit former starters & 4-5 stars as “BENCH PIECES”.
Duke understands injuries & fouls better than Pope & Co. We played a 3 guard starting lineup for most of the SEC season. Kam considers himself a guard & Stokes wants to be “point forward “.
Winning 30 games keeps everyone Happy- Rippey staying at Duke will help him become a lotto pick in 2028.
I Still Hate Christian Laetner💩🖤
Duke understanding fouls. Have you ever watched a Duke game.
 

moses1uk

All-Conference
Jun 16, 2005
940
1,579
93
Could we pluck him somehow. Foster, Boozer now Blackwell. They also have Howard coming in. It appears to be a crowded backcourt and doesn’t look like he will start. I know it’s wishful thinking but, it would be nice.
You don’t understand how NIL works . He got screwed but he’s signed his contract so he can’t do anything
 

SkyPrince

All-Conference
Jul 7, 2025
611
1,005
93
I wish we had that problem, but anyone thinking there won’t be problems in the locker room is crazy.
Boozer
Foster
Rippey
Howard
Blackwell
Sarr
Evans

All those guys for 3 spots and all will want 25-30 min a game.
Good problem to have, but will be a problem.
Evans and Sarr have declared for the draft, correct?
 

TFCat11

Heisman
Mar 25, 2019
6,036
10,859
108
Duke has a blank checkbook yearly, so they could sign the top 5 players every year if they so well wanted, and then sign the next best 5 to back up those first 5!

Duke is going to win multiple titles in the coming years, we might as well just accept it as self evident.

UK’s days of being King of the Hill died the day the NIL era started, it’s just going to take longer for some versus others to accept it.
 

KyWideWes

Junior
Dec 11, 2025
152
281
63
You don’t understand how NIL works . He got screwed but he’s signed his contract so he can’t do anything
I think Duke had Blackwell for the past week but had him wait until the last minute to keep guys from entering the portal. They had very little time to decide to risk getting less money on the open market.
 
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Smeegs

All-Conference
Nov 19, 2025
659
1,871
93
I wish we had that problem, but anyone thinking there won’t be problems in the locker room is crazy.
Boozer
Foster
Rippey
Howard
Blackwell
Sarr
Evans

All those guys for 3 spots and all will want 25-30 min a game.
Good problem to have, but will be a problem.
Kinda reminiscent of the situation we had before the “platoon” season in 2015 where it looked like there was almost too much quality depth.

Seems crazy to me that all those guys would rather be part time bench players at Duke than full time starters at UK.
 

meteordealer

All-Conference
Nov 20, 2004
11,565
2,277
113
I wish we had that problem, but anyone thinking there won’t be problems in the locker room is crazy.
Boozer
Foster
Rippey
Howard
Blackwell
Sarr
Evans

All those guys for 3 spots and all will want 25-30 min a game.
Good problem to have, but will be a problem.
Why would they care about minutes? They are already getting millions of dollars. I wouldn't care if i ever saw the court.
 
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brooke0402

Freshman
Jul 29, 2002
47
60
18
I think Duke had Blackwell for the past week but had him wait until the last minute to keep guys from entering the portal. They had very little time to decide to risk getting less money on the open market.
Rippey is a frosh and hasn’t signed his letter of intent.
 

BookofMormon

Junior
Mar 27, 2026
215
210
43
I wish we had that problem, but anyone thinking there won’t be problems in the locker room is crazy.
Boozer
Foster
Rippey
Howard
Blackwell
Sarr
Evans

All those guys for 3 spots and all will want 25-30 min a game.
Good problem to have, but will be a problem.
Rippey hasn't signed his LOI yet either - I'd have to think there are some concerns in his camp. He honestly hasn't been that good in many of these AS games and may simply be a kid that needs a year. This class stinks.
 

UKgrad22

Junior
Apr 9, 2026
154
353
63
Rippey hasn't signed his LOI yet either - I'd have to think there are some concerns in his camp. He honestly hasn't been that good in many of these AS games and may simply be a kid that needs a year. This class stinks.
Been watching this class and holy drop off from last year. A ton of high level athletes, just not a ton of high level basketball players.
 
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#1 cat fan

Junior
May 7, 2009
332
398
63
Duke has a blank checkbook yearly, so they could sign the top 5 players every year if they so well wanted, and then sign the next best 5 to back up those first 5!

Duke is going to win multiple titles in the coming years, we might as well just accept it as self evident.

UK’s days of being King of the Hill died the day the NIL era started, it’s just going to take longer for some versus others to accept it.
I see no sign of them winning 1 much less multiple

If you can't win with the rosters they've had the last 5 seasons, what makes you think they will ?
 
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BookofMormon

Junior
Mar 27, 2026
215
210
43
Been watching this class and holy drop off from last year. A ton of high level athletes, just not a ton of high level basketball players.
It's just not a good class - no idea what to think of next years draft. I'd expect a signifiant drop off in overall quality in CBB next year. Which will make it easier for these top 5 teams that are retaining everyone.
 
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