John Pelphrey returning HOME TO UK

[Wildcat_in_DC]

imagine going 73-138 as a head coach and failing up to coach at kentucky..... another failed coach to coddle pope and insulate him from reality

 

[Kantucke_rivals]

Wowzers

 

[Ukbrassowtipin]

The nostalgia trip is over. This is a terrible hire as when pope fails we'll have to get rid of another UK guy

 

[Wildcat_in_DC]

pelphrey was fired on march 3, 2026. couldnt get a job anywhere else in D1 basketball. no one wanted him. so naturally pope brings him on board......batt needs to wake the F up. no way this should have been allowed. unless batt doesnt care because he plans on firing pope anyways

 

[Buckwheat Otay Is Dead]

Can we please stop with the f’n nostalgia hires…FFS!

He recruited every player for Billy D

 

[UKortho]

pelphrey was fired on march 3, 2026. couldnt get a job anywhere else in D1 basketball. no one wanted him. so naturally pope brings him on board......batt needs to wake the F up. no way this should have been allowed. unless batt doesnt care because he plans on firing pope anyways

Now we have 3 losers on the bench. Pope, Fox, and (lol) John Pelphrey. You can’t make this **** up.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Patrick Patterson, with early help from Tubby.

Dude ran Patterson until he bled through his shoes. Beginning of the end for Otis.

Tubby was no help. He couldn’t get PP. He even tried to get Patterson to follow him to Minnesota.

Getting Patterson to UK was 100% BCG.

 

[Uncle B.S.]

Since Tubby is in town, maybe Pope can find a job for him.

 

[Pygmy Sasquatch]

Tubby was no help. He couldn’t get PP. He even tried to get Patterson to follow him to Minnesota.

Getting Patterson to UK was 100% BCG.

I thought the Pattersons liked Tubby + Kentucky but not Tubby + Minnesota. Yes, Otis did show PP exactly how he envisioned using him in his schemes at Kentucky, I do recall that.

 

[SenseMaker_Cats]

Tubby was no help. He couldn’t get PP. He even tried to get Patterson to follow him to Minnesota.

Getting Patterson to UK was 100% BCG.

This level of ignorance and absolute stupidity amazes me. Anybody that believes this is nothing short of a moron.

 

[Johnny_Jeepers]

What an unserious program now.

 

[Buckwheat Otay Is Dead]

absolutely not a good hire on paper.

Your nuts

 

[Artlaibesghost]

We aren't hiring him as coach I'm okay with it

 

[Wildcat_in_DC]

Your nuts

in 7 seasons at tenn tech he went 79-138. never won anything, never developed anything and when he was fired....no one wanted him on their staff.

but he played here.....thats it.

 

[BigBluefoot]

I appreciate Pelphrey and what he has done for UK as a player.
But this just seems like we are turning the coaching staff into a cushy UK retirement club.

 

[Pygmy Sasquatch]

Your nuts

I don't care about his nuts. YMMV

 

[Supafuzz75]

Tubby was no help. He couldn’t get PP. He even tried to get Patterson to follow him to Minnesota.

Getting Patterson to UK was 100% BCG.

You would be correct.. Billy Clyde met with Pat and his momma Patterson when hired and convinced them to stick with his uk commitment..

 

[scratchycat3]

imagine going 73-138 as a head coach and failing up to coach at kentucky..... another failed coach to coddle pope and insulate him from reality

He played here though ? Don’t that mean something duh right ?

 

[scratchycat3]

imagine going 73-138 as a head coach and failing up to coach at kentucky..... another failed coach to coddle pope and insulate him from reality

Your saying a 34% winning percentage isn’t good enough? He wore the sacred cloth though

 

[scratchycat3]

He recruited every player for Billy D

And had a 34% winning percentage as a coach. He sucks just like everything else pope has done

 

[JustBlue]

man UK needs something fresh. Somebody that's got that fire and with the times of NIL.

Give Me Nate Oats all day

Yeah, please no Billy Donovan. That would not go as great as people think. The college basketball world has changes so much in the decade or so since he coached that it would be a struggle just to adjust.

Get a killer. Get Oats. Someone who knows what it takes to win right now.

Sorry but I can't jump on the Jai Lucas ship until he has a few more years under his belt. Go win a conference title or make a deep run in the tourney. Maybe a few times.

Just get a killer.

 

[DonAndy]

And had a 34% winning percentage as a coach. He sucks just like everything else pope has done

I keep hearing about this sacred cloth and it makes me think of that rag William Wallace gave his wife on Braveheart.

 

[DonAndy]

Yeah, please no Billy Donovan. That would not go as great as people think. The college basketball world has changes so much in the decade or so since he coached that it would be a struggle just to adjust.

Get a killer. Get Oats. Someone who knows what it takes to win right now.

Sorry but I can't jump on the Jai Lucas ship until he has a few more years under his belt. Go win a conference title or make a deep run in the tourney. Maybe a few times.

Just get a killer.

Oats has been my guy for awhile. He would kill it. And if he don't one of his players will...

Bad joke there but he's the guy no doubt.

 

[JustBlue]

Your saying a 34% winning percentage isn’t good enough? He wore the sacred cloth though

The Sacred Cloth!

Seriously though, Pelphrey did a decent job as a coach...at South Alabama.

And that's it.

The only reason he landed the Arkansas gig was because Dana Altman walked away a day after taking it. Arkansas had to scramble and Pelphrey was hired a week later. Arkansas fans were not happy and couldn't wait until he was gone.

The Tennessee Tech stint was 7 years with not a single overall winning record and only one winning conference record. Our powerhouse team beat them by 50 last year in a game which featured Zack Tow and Walker Horn scoring their first ever points for UK.

This was *nothing* but a nostalgia hire.

JB

 

[Anon520599]

should have waited to announce it and bring him out for BBM

In the Scratch costume and then he pulls off the head to reveal it's Pel. Crowd goes nuts

 

[Anon520599]

I presume most of the posters on here are much younger than I, so coming on here to read the reactions is just an exercise to see how whiny, ignorant and self-entitled younger people are. Mission accomplished folks!

 

[Anon520599]

Good to see John back home, played for Pitino many years ago.

Ya don't say? When?

 

[DudahUK]

Assistants yea. He’s a developmental guy. Not a bench assistant. I also think we are going to be very good this year. Projections having Alex Wilkins as a 5-8 ppg scorer are hilarious.

Lmao. Okay guy.

 

[DudahUK]

absolutely not a good hire on paper.

Not sure what paper he is looking at?

 

[DudahUK]

Good to see John back home, played for Pitino many years ago.

No he didn’t. Say what? Thank you for the history lesson.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

The Mark Pope press conference reminded me way too much of this:

Sadly Gillespie had done more than Pope. He was actually on the rise. If he wasn’t a drunk he probably wouldn’t have been so terrible.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

"Beautiful isn't it?"

That’s wrong man. Funny, but wrong.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

pelphrey was fired on march 3, 2026. couldnt get a job anywhere else in D1 basketball. no one wanted him. so naturally pope brings him on board......batt needs to wake the F up. no way this should have been allowed. unless batt doesnt care because he plans on firing pope anyways

At least he’s not Mitch, he has no connection to the hire so I expect him to do it if he fails again.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Now we have 3 losers on the bench. Pope, Fox, and (lol) John Pelphrey. You can’t make this **** up.

I can’t believe that is our staff. It’s insane. I hope we somehow are good, but honestly it probably prolongs the inevitable. I just don’t see it and many agree. I am tired of waiting to be good again. It feels like Indiana.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

We aren't hiring him as coach I'm okay with it

He’s still on staff. That is the main issue. Player development or not. It’s just not a good look to me. Friendly hire, nostalgia seems like all Pope has honestly. If Pope does indeed fail and gets fired, now we have to fire an even more beloved player. They will both be totally fine because they are rich, but the personal side of it has to kinda suck.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Your saying a 34% winning percentage isn’t good enough? He wore the sacred cloth though

Ouch

 

[OliverSimmonsTwinBrother]

The Mark Pope press conference reminded me way too much of this:

Sigh... you don't know what you go till it's gone. I'd take the BCG era over this crap anyday.

 

[ScWildcat3]

Lmao. Okay guy.

Y’all whine when we don’t hire someone and whine when we do. Just go find a new team at that point.

 

[Beatle Bum]

Gosh, who could have predicted the Nancies would see this as a bad hire? So unpredictable.

 

[Cleatortoises]

Can we at least let Pelphry fail before claiming this a horrible hire? I get how negative many are, but damn folks, at least let things get going before jumping off the proverbial bridge.

On the other hand, they are probably right and should just go ahead and jump.