Rhom Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Mark Pope. I laughed at IU, Duke, UNC, and UofL for hiring unproven alumni. Guess this is my penance. 2-2 of those four. Guess we will be the tipping point on if that’s a successful strategy Some people are going to get their wish though… buncha white kids who stay multiple years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 10 hours ago, RedEyedGhost said: Turned down by Scott Drew, Rhom?? Ouch. The list of candidates in an ESPN+ article isn't that exciting... I'm glad it's your team and not mine When Drew was gonna be your splashy hire, you know you’ve screwed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Stink Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 2 hours ago, Rhom said: Mark Pope. I laughed at IU, Duke, UNC, and UofL for hiring unproven alumni. Guess this is my penance. 2-2 of those four. Guess we will be the tipping point on if that’s a successful strategy Some people are going to get their wish though… buncha white kids who stay multiple years. He had white kids at BYU because of the mormon thing. He will get good players at Kentucky but will be moderately successful. Year one=sub 500 year 2 two=ncaa tournament year three=NIT year four=sweet sixteen year five=sub 500, fired Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Naturally I've now moved into the "Talk myself into it" mode. AD Barnhart was just on Kentucky Sports Radio. He said all the right things. There will be $4m in NIL money available to build the team this year. Pope has had two players that he recruited at BYU that wouldn't come to BYU that already called him and said they'd come to Kentucky. (Ya think?) He does play an exciting style of ball and Kelvin Sampson had a quote that BYU was one of the toughest teams to prepare for this year because of the things they run. So in the end, he obviously wants to be here. Big plus. Plays a modern basketball. Big plus. Has no wins in the NCAA tournament. Biggest minus imaginable. Questions on ability to recruit at the highest level. Big minus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Gotta say... its an absurd butterfly effect when coaches shuffle. SMU hires Andy Enfield, which causes USC to hire Arkansas' coach, which leads to Kentucky hiring BYU's coach... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HokieStone Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 I hope Kentucky pours all their NIL money into men's basketball and leaves nothing for the women's team. Rhom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 7 hours ago, HokieStone said: I hope Kentucky pours all their NIL money into men's basketball and leaves nothing for the women's team. Brooks has been killing it here. He had a great Tweet today where he said “As the longest tenured coach in the department, I feel it’s on me to show you around…” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 This is crazy. https://x.com/coreyp08/status/1778796884997419455?s=46&t=q3qEtSbkSoutm2uzooA_0Q Pope is the oldest coach ever hired at UK foe men’s basketball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 Pope was the most likely candidate from that list imo, but yeah, the zero NCAA tourney wins is very worrisome. Getting kids to stick around is extremely important in college ball right now, so I don't think it's a bad thing if he can. I think he'll do well, as long as the fanbase gives him a little bit of time to grow into his new shoes, but being a former player will help him have a jump start on the culture. Shocking that he's the oldest hire for UK ever, at least it wasn't Pitino again at 71 Rhom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 5 hours ago, RedEyedGhost said: Pope was the most likely candidate from that list imo, but yeah, the zero NCAA tourney wins is very worrisome. Getting kids to stick around is extremely important in college ball right now, so I don't think it's a bad thing if he can. I think he'll do well, as long as the fanbase gives him a little bit of time to grow into his new shoes, but being a former player will help him have a jump start on the culture. Shocking that he's the oldest hire for UK ever, at least it wasn't Pitino again at 71 I agree with all of that. And I guess it’s just the fact that I’m older now, but I thought all those guys were old back then! Cal had done a ton of stuff to only be 50. And yeah… I was 19… but I just sort assumed Tubby was in his mid 50s!!! The fact that he was younger than I am now really hurts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HokieStone Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 10 hours ago, Rhom said: Brooks has been killing it here. His transformation from beloved to hated in Blacksburg has been astonishing. He was on track to be the 2nd most celebrated coach in VT history, behind Frank Beamer - hell, he was probably already there. It's not only that he left, but the manner in which he did - didn't put out the obligatory "Thank you to the fans, I'll always cherish my time" message...he was just *gone* the day after we lost in the tourny. Very strange for a guy who spent his whole life in the Shenandoah Valley, and constantly preached about "family". Rhom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 https://x.com/Matt_McGavic/status/1778524791437484133 Rhom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 (edited) They held a press conference at Rupp Arena for Mark Pope’s introduction and had to turn away 5000 fans. We truly are insane. Not bad for a hire everyone was disappointed in 3 days ago. Edited April 14 by Rhom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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