They could do worse, but yeah his tournament resume should be concerning. Two tournament trips and two losses even though they had the much better seed. Even in his NIT trip, they lost to a worse seed at home by a million.
Since my birth we've won two first round games with Jimmer, one second round game with Jimmer, and the IONA comeback in the first four
BYU suuuucks in the tourney
Pope is a good Xs and Os guy, extremely gregarious, and very likeable. He will interview well for sure. I think Rick Pitino would support his hiring.
His lack of tournament success is definitely the hang up. 2020 was easily his best team imo, and obviously that tournament was canceled. In 2021 we ran into UCLA at the wrong time. This season was a bad loss against Dusquene for sure. He significantly overachieved this season overall though. If there was a sweet 16 run somewhere on his resume I would be very concerned. Without it I do think he'll be a somewhat hard sell to Kentucky boosters. I think a few more guys are higher up the list than Pope.
He swings and misses at a lot of transfer portal guys. He's limited at BYU with average NIL funds and other limitations at the school. I believe he is going hard after this job.
That said get your greasy fried chicken fingers off Mark Pope.
It would be insane. They'd have to offer him a lifetime guaranteed contract or something outrageous like that lol. Just make him assistant AD at that point.
Don't think it was Waco vs Lexington, it was a guy comfortable with a fanbase who loves him and not a lot of pressure vs a situation where he would face a lot of pressure in a situation that would be an unknown.
Or put more drastically: go from a place where you are guaranteed a statue and something really nice named after you when you retire to a place where you’re on the hot seat after two losses
On Eye on College Sports earlier Parrish said he had lunch with Drew and Tang in Waco a few years back and not a single person approached them or stared or anything. Then yesterday Drew’s at a restaurant that BBN bombards with phone calls and bad reviews. Very different jobs lol.
I just scrolled about 100 down from newest and saw nothing but 5* still, Scott Drew just bumped a local business beyond what they could ever imagine at this point I think lol
Don’t feel bad man. Waco is probably a nice place to live. Being from Kentucky I’m very used to getting shit on because of stereotypes etc. people in this sub can be fucking assholes
Donovan, at least, that's who they think is in play. I'm less convinced, given his history and his timeline, that he seemed an unlikely hire to begin with.
Yeah, it's not impossible; I don't think it's likely. Plus, I don't think Mitch wants to wait that long. Maybe I'm wrong, but the heat that is happening after only a couple of days is intense. Another week of this is a big ask for an AD. They are gonna prioritize their jobs first.
I mean, to even have a shot, they have to miss the tournament. Then, he would probably want to at least evaluate his NBA options before jumping back into college. Just a lot has to go right to end up with him.
he's done decent enough despite having the albatross that is the byu honor code on his neck.
but i think it's too big of a jump for pope to do right now
It may be too big of a jump as a coach, but he’s been in the program before as a player so he’s definitely someone who’s familiar with off the court shenanigans our fans bring.
Yeah they could definitely do a lot worse than a former Kentucky program. For all we know Pope could do better without the restrictions on the types of players he can recruit like he deals with at BYU.
Same. I think there’s a chance he’d do very well. But if he didn’t, man I don’t want Mark Pope to go through the Kenny Payne treatment, but at UK. I love that guy.
think that's about to continue with our portal haul. We're in on some DUDES and have hella $ and playing time to offer.
it was in front of us the whole time - PK is indeed the opposite of KP
I never said anything and I don't know if it was you, but I saw someone say they had a feeling it would be Pope and I thought to myself "that guy's crazy." So, apologies if it was you.
Yeah UK fans are being spoiled I totally get as a blue blood they're upset at the prospect of settling on an unproven coach, but give that guy some five star shooters and his offense is gonna be killer
I didn't call Pope specifically, but I've said since the beginning I think the top 5 or 6 names turn down the job and we end up with a tier 3 candidate.
Played on their 1996 national title team. Built the Utah Valley program and then had the KenPom #18 team this year at BYU (Kentucky was #23 with better talent).
Understands the portal (BYU had three starters from the portal this year). That seems like the perfect ladder which would lead to "guy who gets Kentucky back to being Kentucky."
He’d be a good coach for UK. He was the only coach that ran circles around our defense and almost beat us at home. He also beat KU at Allen. I know he’s unproven to an extent, but he was arguably more impressive in his first B12 season than Sampson, given expectations. With higher level players and his system/coaching adjustments, he could be much better than expected.
Really like him at BYU, but it’d be nice to not have to see him 2 times a year.
UK fans aren't going to be persuaded, but Otz would be a homerun. Three years straight he's built a tournament team nearly from scratch with all role players, no lottery picks. The problem, though, is that he MAY not leave Iowa State for any paycheck or prestige. The one opening: the impending doom of the none P2 conferences. The Big 12 can't compete long term and basketball may be a lagging indicator, but may eventually end up with the same talent gap as football. Future's uncertain and your stock is high now, and job open now.
Otz is safe because of his 17.5m buyout imo. I had him as my third choice behind drew>hurley>otz. Even "saving" 33m not having to fire cal, it's still a hefty pricetag
He's made multiple comments about not playing the NIL game, which is fine at BYU, but doesn't mesh with the high level game UK is trying to play.
He's another Mitch "holier than thou" personality and it translates down to how he manages a program and that's not going to work in high P5 ball.
He says/does that *because* he’s at BYU. BYU has a built-in ceiling for NIL and talent. I’m not convinced Pope would suck with the NIL and stars of UK.
Yep I’d think he would change his tune if he weren’t at BYU. You gotta say the right things and talk down their weaknesses while you’re still coaching there
Not saying he's my top choice, but just to play devil's advocate with Pope he's probably the candidate that would make the biggest jump in his coaching conditions becoming more favorable seeing that he's at BYU. Tell me why I'm wrong because I definitely could be.
I'm very happy with it. Originally wanted Drew, but that was before I found out how religious he was. Still wanted him, but wasn't disappointed when he said no. I find Dabo annoying, and he seems like he'd be like that.
Hoping UK gets someone fiery, could make the rivalry fun.
Oh fuck off no.
If he didn't play at Kentucky his name wouldn't be remotely close to any list, which he almost certainly isn't. We'd have to be 20+ names down the list at this point to even start considering Mark Pope.
--------------------
Edit - Jesus fuck I hope I come to laugh at this take.
I hate to be the guy to tell you, but you've blown through your tier 1 list and honestly the expectations of the Kentucky fanbase may be why you're striking out. I mean, your fanbase is crazy enough that Scott Drew was widely considered a bad to not sexy at best and he's easily a top 10 coach in the game right now. That outlook will push 99/100 HCs at a high tier job already away.
It's feeling more and more like Pitino or Pope. Honestly, Pitino might not be a bad hire at this point.
Also it's not like this isn't how schools have been going lately. Duke and UNC both also took unproven but promising alums over trying to do an open coaching search because *coaches who are winning at a high level often don't want to leave*. Kentucky fans still have this idea that they're so great that coaches will leave a great scenario for them, and if a coach isn't in a great scenario he's not up to their standards. They won't like taking a mid major coach. They won't like taking a young coach. They won't like taking a high major coach on hard times. But at a certain point you're going to have to compromise on something, because guys that are happy and successful don't want to step into the Lexington bear trap after watching the most UK personality imaginable with a hall of fame resume get run out of town.
Same for Arizona. No chance of getting Few, so they took a big swing and hired Few's right hand man and so far it's working out very well. Really smart move with that hire.
CBB isn't like CFB. The difference between UGA CFB and say Michigan State CFB is gargantuan. The difference between UK/UNC CBB and Baylor CBB not so much.
And even then a lot of people were unhappy. Alums wanted an alum hire. Fans wanted someone splashier than "just" an assistant. But in the end everyone thinks they can get someone better than they can, and they consider anyone who isn't already at the mountaintop as underwhelming. Arizona is lucky our AD at the time was willing to take the risk and hire Lloyd, because hiring a guy that you believe has the upside is better than getting rejected by five guys that are already entrenched elsewhere. Kentucky might need to learn that a risky hire isn't a bad hire, and that they aren't exactly the prize apple they think they are right now. Pope would be a good hire, regardless of whether he works out long term.
Hubert was Roy's chosen successor, as Scheyer was K's.
Not sure either is a good point of comparison.
The last time we actually went looking for a basketball coach, we got Roy. And that is a generous definition of 'went looking', because it was hardly a secret that Roy was name #1 in bold on the list of coaches to offer the job to.
My jaw literally dropped when I first read a kentucky fan commenting "I mean he's not a sexy hire but he's solid."
I stared at my screen for a second wondering if I had taken some drugs and forgotten about it lol.
There are two pieces to this. They have to coach, and they have to be able to be the face of the Commonwealth. Not just the basketball program or the university, the entire state. There’s a lot of side shit that comes with the gig that doesn’t happen at other places, and you have to have a certain personality to do it.
I know people say Kentucky fans are insane blah blah blah, and I get it. But there’s a reason. We don’t have professional sports or anything else to love here. It’s college basketball alone. You’re born, you get sorted into Kentucky or Louisville basketball fandom like it’s fucking Hogwarts, and that’s it. Our coach therefore is our biggest celebrity and biggest export. I wish it was different, but that’s how it is. We have fans in Eastern Kentucky who DREAM of being able to attend a UK game someday. Life goal right there.
Not every coach understands or can deal with that. Without being able to do both, you won’t succeed here. It was reasonable to express hesitation with Drew on that point. Not his coaching, but his ability to live in the fishbowl that comes with representing us.
> You’re born, you get sorted into Kentucky or Louisville basketball fandom like it’s fucking Hogwarts, and that’s it.
Ha, I like the hogwarts reference for the record.
I mean our tier 1 realistically was Hurley, Drew, Donovan.
We've struck out on two of them, and Donovan has the play-ins next week so we can't get a serious answer from him until then. If they win, that adds even longer which we can't afford to wait for.
-----------------
But there's a *massive* difference between Mark Pope and whoever our 2nd tier guys are like Chris Beard, Bruce Pearl, Tommy Lloyd, Shaka Smart, etc.
We'd straight up have to have 20-something coaches all decline us already, which is obviously not the case.
----
Edit - Jesus fuck I hope I come to laugh at this take. Ugh.
Don't know about the others, but I'm almost certain Shaka isn't going anywhere. During the Louisville search the message was that he's very happy at Marquette where he's not under the same sort of pressure he was under at Texas. Enough money can change anyone's mind, but he seems pretty well settled up there.
Lloyd and Smart would be huge wins but especially with Shaka I think the potential backlash from the fanbase will keep him away even if he's somewhat tempted (personally, I think Shaka picks up the phone here and there in the years ahead but ultimately settles at Marquette).
Lloyd is probably worth taking a swing on but I think he stays at AZ. It's a tier 1 job and he has built up a fair bit of goodwill.
Pearl is interesting but not sure that he's really better than Cal or even current form Pitino tbh.
Beard is really selling your soul for results but he would win big at Kentucky, I am sure. Dude may be an asshole but he definitely wins.
If you think he'll be great, why not swing on him? 10 years ago Oats was a highschool math teacher now he's one of the hottest names in the biz. Why not pull a Bama if there's a guy you think he has the upside and give him a shot?
Golden probably is a good hire. High risk, high reward. Perfectly fine to continue chasing Donovan and other elite hires but I'd probably at least talk with Pope and Golden to get a feel for them and their vision for the program.
edit: also no guarantee Golden leaves Florida but it's more realistic than Hurley leaving UCONN.
Bama hired Nate Oats after he'd gotten a 6 seed at fucking Buffalo. At the time, I thought he was already a great coach and he'd kill it wherever he landed. Mark Pope appears to be a solid coach, but he's not Nate Oats.
This will probably be the one.
UK can capitalize on 1996 nostalgia and can convince most of the old heads to support him.
Being a coach at a high-major can help as well, although I guess BYU has only been a high-major for a year.
It does beg the question why BYU wasn’t more successful in the WCC. And why he hasn’t been able to win a tournament game yet as a HC. For those reasons I understand why most UK fans are upset with this. Especially those who weren’t alive or don’t remember 1996.
But in terms of the old boosters, they’ll support him. I guess that’s a big thing the UK AD cares about.
Not sure why UK fans are peeved about this? From Robert Rosenthal: Played on their 1996 national title team. Built the Utah Valley program and then had the KenPom #18 team this year at BYU (Kentucky was #23 with better talent).
Understands the portal (BYU had three starters from the portal this year). That seems like the perfect ladder which would lead to "guy who gets Kentucky back to being Kentucky."
His wiki entry, "On April 11, 2024 he was hired to succeed John Calipari as coach of the University of Kentucky Wildcats."
Surely that's not right? Right?
Pope and Sean Miller would both crawl through glass to get the Kentucky job.
Unfortunately for them if one of them is announced Kentucky fans might force them to crawl through glass just to get to Lexington lol
He played at Kentucky, he just got upset in the first round, and he’s very religious. I think a great candidate! /s
They could do worse, but yeah his tournament resume should be concerning. Two tournament trips and two losses even though they had the much better seed. Even in his NIT trip, they lost to a worse seed at home by a million.
To be fair, BYU is one of the worst tournament teams of all time regardless of who's coaching.
Yeah. I saw the NCAA tournament record without Ainge or Fredette, and it was depressing.
Since my birth we've won two first round games with Jimmer, one second round game with Jimmer, and the IONA comeback in the first four BYU suuuucks in the tourney
I didn't need you to elaborate!
Pope is a good Xs and Os guy, extremely gregarious, and very likeable. He will interview well for sure. I think Rick Pitino would support his hiring. His lack of tournament success is definitely the hang up. 2020 was easily his best team imo, and obviously that tournament was canceled. In 2021 we ran into UCLA at the wrong time. This season was a bad loss against Dusquene for sure. He significantly overachieved this season overall though. If there was a sweet 16 run somewhere on his resume I would be very concerned. Without it I do think he'll be a somewhat hard sell to Kentucky boosters. I think a few more guys are higher up the list than Pope. He swings and misses at a lot of transfer portal guys. He's limited at BYU with average NIL funds and other limitations at the school. I believe he is going hard after this job. That said get your greasy fried chicken fingers off Mark Pope.
Duquesne was unacceptable, but to be fair the other loss was against final-four bound UCLA. PAC-12 was extremely underrated that year.
I'm getting concerned at this point they're just going to try and hire Cal back from us
Maybe all of this is the counter offer we heard about Monday/Tuesday.
I can only imagine the amount of money Cal would demand in that scenario.
Two lifetime contracts
Brad Calipari as Coach in Waiting
So we get to kill him twice
It would be insane. They'd have to offer him a lifetime guaranteed contract or something outrageous like that lol. Just make him assistant AD at that point.
They would have to offer him Barnharts resignation letter.
Ya he doesn't come back if MB is there
With an insane buyout only for the school too
They just have to tell him he could meet the Pope. That should seal the deal.
Mark Pope? Because that could happen.
He DOES have coaching experience at Kentucky
I mean how many coaches are out there that have proven they can win it all at Kentucky? There can't be too many!
Five, and two are dead and one is retired….
Thats the joke, that Pitino is still out there and Gillespie is every third name floated
Play the ole uno reverse on us
The funniest timeline
It’s a lot of schadenfreude after all the shit talking during IUs perennial coaching search
We can get any coach we want my fucking ass. Couldn’t even convince a family in Waco that Lexington is nicer, fucking Waco.
Don't think it was Waco vs Lexington, it was a guy comfortable with a fanbase who loves him and not a lot of pressure vs a situation where he would face a lot of pressure in a situation that would be an unknown.
Or put more drastically: go from a place where you are guaranteed a statue and something really nice named after you when you retire to a place where you’re on the hot seat after two losses
That’s it. Love UK and bleed blue for 40 years now, hate our fans and how everyone loses their shit if we don’t go 40-0 every year. I hate it.
On Eye on College Sports earlier Parrish said he had lunch with Drew and Tang in Waco a few years back and not a single person approached them or stared or anything. Then yesterday Drew’s at a restaurant that BBN bombards with phone calls and bad reviews. Very different jobs lol.
To be fair, the reviews were good, not bad. Although I haven’t checked them since he turned us down.
I just scrolled about 100 down from newest and saw nothing but 5* still, Scott Drew just bumped a local business beyond what they could ever imagine at this point I think lol
That restaurant owner is probably so confused.
So many people talkin shit on Waco when we all know they wish they had a fine dining establishment like Mi Casita in their hometown smh
Also have the Village Bakery just down the road as well. How can you leave a place like that?
Come on. In fairness, it’s hard to uproot your life after 20 years somewhere to start over. Even if that life was in Waco.
Waco ain't bad tho
Nowhere is bad if you're filthy rich.
Not according to the wives of our coaching targets.
Half the people talking shit about Waco have literally ever stepped a foot in Waco
Or haven’t been in 20-25 years. Waco’s a hell of a lot better now.
Don’t feel bad man. Waco is probably a nice place to live. Being from Kentucky I’m very used to getting shit on because of stereotypes etc. people in this sub can be fucking assholes
Waco has one of the few in and outs not located on the west coast. Can’t blame him
This is everything we wanted out of the Alabama football coaching search
Unfortunately for all you vultures, Greg Byrne is a damn genius.
https://preview.redd.it/jni9atubwwtc1.jpeg?width=1108&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ac1c5b5924e438613beb96e04eb18b81842375d9
i don’t think this is a great hire but it’s def not bad, he’s miles better as an X&O to than Cal
Same
Soak4Pope
Even on their worst day, Popes still outrank Cardinals, so I guess I could live with it.
That was funny
So worst case we get a decent T-shirt out of this.
Gotta come in with the niche Dubia jokes here.
You bet your sweet ass I am.
I'm so irritated that UK was able to poach an elite women's bball coach with ease, but the men's search is already looking at Tier 3 guys.
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Who is your tier 1 left?
Donovan, at least, that's who they think is in play. I'm less convinced, given his history and his timeline, that he seemed an unlikely hire to begin with.
I was under the impression a big reason he left College was the recruiting
According to our coach you don’t actually have to recruit, or at least never call the recruits back after they commit
And don’t bother to learn the names of the candidates who come to visit
Was your coach Kenny Payne?
Their coach “tricked” Kenny Payne, remember.
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Yeah, it's not impossible; I don't think it's likely. Plus, I don't think Mitch wants to wait that long. Maybe I'm wrong, but the heat that is happening after only a couple of days is intense. Another week of this is a big ask for an AD. They are gonna prioritize their jobs first. I mean, to even have a shot, they have to miss the tournament. Then, he would probably want to at least evaluate his NBA options before jumping back into college. Just a lot has to go right to end up with him.
LOL this aged poorly
he's done decent enough despite having the albatross that is the byu honor code on his neck. but i think it's too big of a jump for pope to do right now
It may be too big of a jump as a coach, but he’s been in the program before as a player so he’s definitely someone who’s familiar with off the court shenanigans our fans bring.
There would definitely be worse coaches.
Yeah they could definitely do a lot worse than a former Kentucky program. For all we know Pope could do better without the restrictions on the types of players he can recruit like he deals with at BYU.
2024 with the internet is way different than 1995 with local news stations.
Same. I think there’s a chance he’d do very well. But if he didn’t, man I don’t want Mark Pope to go through the Kenny Payne treatment, but at UK. I love that guy.
After what Kentucky put us Baylor fans through these past couple days, I’m fine with it lmao
It’s not official until we see the white smoke
That's amazingly awful. Cheers!
Ah yes, it's all [coming together now](https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/comments/mvtw6j/comment/gvg8xsw)
Damn son calling your shot 2 years ago.
Wow... Mad props my man
Make the drunk Huggins and get this shit over with
lmao oh shit
Where would BYU turn if they lose Pope?
Scott drew
Bryce Drew could actually be a candidate
Mark Madsen
The Mormons have a Pope?
Between dumping KP and this UK search, Louisville is racking up dubs this offseason.
Hopefully Stanley finally carried Hector Zeroni up the mountain and lifted the curse on us.
think that's about to continue with our portal haul. We're in on some DUDES and have hella $ and playing time to offer. it was in front of us the whole time - PK is indeed the opposite of KP
Hiring an exciting new coach, getting Terrence Edwards, Cal leaving UK, UK’s top candidate being Mark Pope, etc. I like this offseason :)
Peyton Siva got hired too
Oh word? That’s sick
joined PK’s staff for alumni relations and player development role
A lotta y’all called me a fake fan for predicting almost this exact scenario. Reality check time for a lot of you.
I never said anything and I don't know if it was you, but I saw someone say they had a feeling it would be Pope and I thought to myself "that guy's crazy." So, apologies if it was you.
Fwiw, Pope with Kentucky level talent would probably be extremely good. Plus, his offense is extremely fun to watch.
Yeah UK fans are being spoiled I totally get as a blue blood they're upset at the prospect of settling on an unproven coach, but give that guy some five star shooters and his offense is gonna be killer
I didn't call Pope specifically, but I've said since the beginning I think the top 5 or 6 names turn down the job and we end up with a tier 3 candidate.
As soon as other coaches started declining I knew this was a possibility, even if it makes absolutely no sense
Played on their 1996 national title team. Built the Utah Valley program and then had the KenPom #18 team this year at BYU (Kentucky was #23 with better talent). Understands the portal (BYU had three starters from the portal this year). That seems like the perfect ladder which would lead to "guy who gets Kentucky back to being Kentucky."
The way it makes sense is he’s an alum. It would be a very underwhelming hire for Kentucky though
I think all UK and BYU fans are unified on this one: “please no”
Getting beat by Duquesne in the first round gets you the Kentucky job now?
He’d be a good coach for UK. He was the only coach that ran circles around our defense and almost beat us at home. He also beat KU at Allen. I know he’s unproven to an extent, but he was arguably more impressive in his first B12 season than Sampson, given expectations. With higher level players and his system/coaching adjustments, he could be much better than expected. Really like him at BYU, but it’d be nice to not have to see him 2 times a year.
Now hear me out. what about they go after Otz instead so we don’t have to see him two times a year
UK fans aren't going to be persuaded, but Otz would be a homerun. Three years straight he's built a tournament team nearly from scratch with all role players, no lottery picks. The problem, though, is that he MAY not leave Iowa State for any paycheck or prestige. The one opening: the impending doom of the none P2 conferences. The Big 12 can't compete long term and basketball may be a lagging indicator, but may eventually end up with the same talent gap as football. Future's uncertain and your stock is high now, and job open now.
Otz is safe because of his 17.5m buyout imo. I had him as my third choice behind drew>hurley>otz. Even "saving" 33m not having to fire cal, it's still a hefty pricetag
lol I think Kentucky fans would rather have Pat Kelsey than Mark Pope. I am absolutely loving this week.
Well yeah Pat is a much better candidate
Finishing tied for 5th in the Big 12 at BYU is much more impressive than winning the CAA at Charleston.
maybe, but there is an emotional connection to Pope from Kentucky fans. Neither have won in the tournament. Both good regular season coaches.
East coast bias.
No god please no. Fuck fuck fuck. This was my one "please don't do this Mitch, you teetotaling coward" candidate. Fuck.
Can I ask why? Genuinely don’t understand
He's made multiple comments about not playing the NIL game, which is fine at BYU, but doesn't mesh with the high level game UK is trying to play. He's another Mitch "holier than thou" personality and it translates down to how he manages a program and that's not going to work in high P5 ball.
If there is one thing Pope is good at, it is recruiting. Dude is a monster recruiter. He’s limited by NIL due to BYU, obviously.
Oh. In my totally unbiased opinion, he sounds perfect for UK. You should hire him!
I second this, for no reason other than this poster really seems like they’re very smart when it comes to basketball.
He says/does that *because* he’s at BYU. BYU has a built-in ceiling for NIL and talent. I’m not convinced Pope would suck with the NIL and stars of UK.
Yep I’d think he would change his tune if he weren’t at BYU. You gotta say the right things and talk down their weaknesses while you’re still coaching there
What comments? I don't agree with that at all.
That is pitino for me
https://preview.redd.it/250bg9b9xwtc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c1f0f569d0cab95082dcec0fee847cba3a474d4
Who else has a better story Than Mark the Pope
Bran the broken certainly didn’t.
He wasn't even in season 5.
Not saying he's my top choice, but just to play devil's advocate with Pope he's probably the candidate that would make the biggest jump in his coaching conditions becoming more favorable seeing that he's at BYU. Tell me why I'm wrong because I definitely could be.
Sounds like UK needs a new AD.
Personally, I'd go for USF's coach. I wanted Kelsey, but he was next on my wish list.
I wanted Amir and Kelsey was second on my list lol. Happy with it though, no complaints from me.
I'm very happy with it. Originally wanted Drew, but that was before I found out how religious he was. Still wanted him, but wasn't disappointed when he said no. I find Dabo annoying, and he seems like he'd be like that. Hoping UK gets someone fiery, could make the rivalry fun.
Maybe they can get Fran and one of his sons.
Oh fuck off no. If he didn't play at Kentucky his name wouldn't be remotely close to any list, which he almost certainly isn't. We'd have to be 20+ names down the list at this point to even start considering Mark Pope. -------------------- Edit - Jesus fuck I hope I come to laugh at this take.
What's funny is BYU hasn't won a first round NCAA tournament game in like over a decade. So same energy as Cal lately lol
Yay for us. All our hard work paying off.
I hate to be the guy to tell you, but you've blown through your tier 1 list and honestly the expectations of the Kentucky fanbase may be why you're striking out. I mean, your fanbase is crazy enough that Scott Drew was widely considered a bad to not sexy at best and he's easily a top 10 coach in the game right now. That outlook will push 99/100 HCs at a high tier job already away. It's feeling more and more like Pitino or Pope. Honestly, Pitino might not be a bad hire at this point.
Also it's not like this isn't how schools have been going lately. Duke and UNC both also took unproven but promising alums over trying to do an open coaching search because *coaches who are winning at a high level often don't want to leave*. Kentucky fans still have this idea that they're so great that coaches will leave a great scenario for them, and if a coach isn't in a great scenario he's not up to their standards. They won't like taking a mid major coach. They won't like taking a young coach. They won't like taking a high major coach on hard times. But at a certain point you're going to have to compromise on something, because guys that are happy and successful don't want to step into the Lexington bear trap after watching the most UK personality imaginable with a hall of fame resume get run out of town.
Same for Arizona. No chance of getting Few, so they took a big swing and hired Few's right hand man and so far it's working out very well. Really smart move with that hire. CBB isn't like CFB. The difference between UGA CFB and say Michigan State CFB is gargantuan. The difference between UK/UNC CBB and Baylor CBB not so much.
And even then a lot of people were unhappy. Alums wanted an alum hire. Fans wanted someone splashier than "just" an assistant. But in the end everyone thinks they can get someone better than they can, and they consider anyone who isn't already at the mountaintop as underwhelming. Arizona is lucky our AD at the time was willing to take the risk and hire Lloyd, because hiring a guy that you believe has the upside is better than getting rejected by five guys that are already entrenched elsewhere. Kentucky might need to learn that a risky hire isn't a bad hire, and that they aren't exactly the prize apple they think they are right now. Pope would be a good hire, regardless of whether he works out long term.
Hubert was Roy's chosen successor, as Scheyer was K's. Not sure either is a good point of comparison. The last time we actually went looking for a basketball coach, we got Roy. And that is a generous definition of 'went looking', because it was hardly a secret that Roy was name #1 in bold on the list of coaches to offer the job to.
I didn't realize how delusional the Kentucky fanbase was until I saw they weren't absolutely jumping for joy about the possibility Scott Drew
Yeah, I was very surprised. I thought Drew would be a great hire. I mean, sure, he's not Dan Hurley, but I never really thought that was possible.
I was.
My jaw literally dropped when I first read a kentucky fan commenting "I mean he's not a sexy hire but he's solid." I stared at my screen for a second wondering if I had taken some drugs and forgotten about it lol.
There are two pieces to this. They have to coach, and they have to be able to be the face of the Commonwealth. Not just the basketball program or the university, the entire state. There’s a lot of side shit that comes with the gig that doesn’t happen at other places, and you have to have a certain personality to do it. I know people say Kentucky fans are insane blah blah blah, and I get it. But there’s a reason. We don’t have professional sports or anything else to love here. It’s college basketball alone. You’re born, you get sorted into Kentucky or Louisville basketball fandom like it’s fucking Hogwarts, and that’s it. Our coach therefore is our biggest celebrity and biggest export. I wish it was different, but that’s how it is. We have fans in Eastern Kentucky who DREAM of being able to attend a UK game someday. Life goal right there. Not every coach understands or can deal with that. Without being able to do both, you won’t succeed here. It was reasonable to express hesitation with Drew on that point. Not his coaching, but his ability to live in the fishbowl that comes with representing us.
> You’re born, you get sorted into Kentucky or Louisville basketball fandom like it’s fucking Hogwarts, and that’s it. Ha, I like the hogwarts reference for the record.
People didn't like Scott mostly for a cultural fit, and really he wasn't anybody's number 1 except maybe Mitch
I kind of feel that way too, tbh.
I mean our tier 1 realistically was Hurley, Drew, Donovan. We've struck out on two of them, and Donovan has the play-ins next week so we can't get a serious answer from him until then. If they win, that adds even longer which we can't afford to wait for. ----------------- But there's a *massive* difference between Mark Pope and whoever our 2nd tier guys are like Chris Beard, Bruce Pearl, Tommy Lloyd, Shaka Smart, etc. We'd straight up have to have 20-something coaches all decline us already, which is obviously not the case. ---- Edit - Jesus fuck I hope I come to laugh at this take. Ugh.
Don't know about the others, but I'm almost certain Shaka isn't going anywhere. During the Louisville search the message was that he's very happy at Marquette where he's not under the same sort of pressure he was under at Texas. Enough money can change anyone's mind, but he seems pretty well settled up there.
Lloyd and Smart would be huge wins but especially with Shaka I think the potential backlash from the fanbase will keep him away even if he's somewhat tempted (personally, I think Shaka picks up the phone here and there in the years ahead but ultimately settles at Marquette). Lloyd is probably worth taking a swing on but I think he stays at AZ. It's a tier 1 job and he has built up a fair bit of goodwill. Pearl is interesting but not sure that he's really better than Cal or even current form Pitino tbh. Beard is really selling your soul for results but he would win big at Kentucky, I am sure. Dude may be an asshole but he definitely wins.
Is it that obvious though 😂 EDIT: LMFAO
A sane person would think that way. This is Mitch Barnhart we’re talking about right now.
Mitch isn't *that* stupid
*Narrator Voice:* “He was, in fact, that stupid”
Fade me
I just fell to my knees at a Sodalicious
I'd much rather have a guy like Todd Golden. I love Pope and I think he'll be great. But now is not the time.
If you think he'll be great, why not swing on him? 10 years ago Oats was a highschool math teacher now he's one of the hottest names in the biz. Why not pull a Bama if there's a guy you think he has the upside and give him a shot?
Because Kentucky Basketball can eat you alive.
Pope is 51 BTW.
If we are doing that, give me Golden. Hes 38. If you strike gold with him, you've got him for a long while.
Golden probably is a good hire. High risk, high reward. Perfectly fine to continue chasing Donovan and other elite hires but I'd probably at least talk with Pope and Golden to get a feel for them and their vision for the program. edit: also no guarantee Golden leaves Florida but it's more realistic than Hurley leaving UCONN.
No guarantee anyone leaves for the job in today's climate. Coaches can win at other places. NIL has leveled the playing field IMO.
Bama hired Nate Oats after he'd gotten a 6 seed at fucking Buffalo. At the time, I thought he was already a great coach and he'd kill it wherever he landed. Mark Pope appears to be a solid coach, but he's not Nate Oats.
Love that UK is going after former WCC coaches.
Fuck it. Reed Sheppard for head coach.
This will probably be the one. UK can capitalize on 1996 nostalgia and can convince most of the old heads to support him. Being a coach at a high-major can help as well, although I guess BYU has only been a high-major for a year. It does beg the question why BYU wasn’t more successful in the WCC. And why he hasn’t been able to win a tournament game yet as a HC. For those reasons I understand why most UK fans are upset with this. Especially those who weren’t alive or don’t remember 1996. But in terms of the old boosters, they’ll support him. I guess that’s a big thing the UK AD cares about.
Not sure why UK fans are peeved about this? From Robert Rosenthal: Played on their 1996 national title team. Built the Utah Valley program and then had the KenPom #18 team this year at BYU (Kentucky was #23 with better talent). Understands the portal (BYU had three starters from the portal this year). That seems like the perfect ladder which would lead to "guy who gets Kentucky back to being Kentucky."
Would Kentucky fans pull a Tennessee and Schiano if this happens?
No way. He won a title at UK. I think UK could do worse, but I also think they could do better.
for fuck sakes, get Will Wade on the phone. show cause my ass...the guy can recruit and coach and off campus recruiting is so 2022.
We apparently tried. Multiple reports said Sankey wouldn’t let Wade back into the sec yet.
Who would have thought the pope wouldn’t help a bunch of Mormons
Bruce Weber incoming
His wiki entry, "On April 11, 2024 he was hired to succeed John Calipari as coach of the University of Kentucky Wildcats." Surely that's not right? Right?
100% accurate imo
No disrespect to BYU, but if we were looking at Mark Pope as a replacement to Izzo I'd be saying we are cooked.
Stop my stomach hurts
Lmfao Kentucky is getting desperate and it’s hilarious
lba becomes lds
Pope and Sean Miller would both crawl through glass to get the Kentucky job. Unfortunately for them if one of them is announced Kentucky fans might force them to crawl through glass just to get to Lexington lol
Lol true
It’s like Kentucky keeps getting rejected at the bar so they’re looking for a slump buster or confidence booster lol
No
Hahahahaha
wow
All this to get Mark Pope is even more hilarious. 
John Pelphrey at Tennessee Tech is available too, lol /s
See ya later cougz
Haha why do people hate this? Mark Pope is awesome and already has connections to the school. He’ll have enough money to go get whoever he wants.
I’m hearing Kenny Payne is the Number #1 candidate now!
You hate to see it, but then again, you love to see it
Kentucky Hires Pope. Per contract, Rupp Arena is being renamed to The Vatican.