Only bc we are crazy. Lots of players haven't even made their decisions to enter the portal or not. Again.....no other top programs have loaded up in the portal yet. How is that fact constantly ignored?
Are you Concerned with Portal Recruiting?
- Thread starter Farsight
- Start date
I have hope in Pope, but not so much in Kentucky's nil. And without the nil, Pope is going to be limited going forward.
Because this site produces a lot of brain dead people. it appears.
Nope . That doesn’t seem concerning to you ?
I understand now why coaches were not interested in the job and thank god that Pope took on the task. People on here can say what they want and it’s been rehashed on this board but I don’t believe UK has a very good NIL program. That is why I’m fine going with what we have and if it doesn’t work out then maybe Barnhart or powers that be will work to improve it
If you read @ralphdaltonfan and his info.. it seems that this is an organizational issue.. not a Pope issue or even a NIL issue. And that's starting to make sense. Not that I think we will have Duke-money.. but we should be able to easily be a top25 NIL fundee based on our fanbase and what Kentucky basketball means to the state.
Starting to think Mitch needs to go, and/or, we need to rethink how we're going to handle this NIL era.
Top 25 based? That's Illinois and Clemson level.
UK should have a top 5 NIL. We have two current Fortune 500 CEO graduates, the second most in the conference, not even counting Craft. Plus we have one billionaire who has already invested in the university.
That doesn't even count our basketball alumni.
Not at all. Remember last year when Pope was putting the team together, and we took the commitment of Almonor (I think it was)? Shortly after that, some other players with higher rankings entered the portal and then people were complaining that they wish were able to take the other player. Same principle applies here. Several people want a commitment right away, but it could push us out for somebody who enters a week from now. I'm not worried about it.
Honestly. I'm trying to just be conservative lol. Maybe we should be top5. My concern there is that Kentucky just isnt a wealthy state. It's lacking in big business, compared to say, an Illini or Texas. So I wonder if that knocks us back a bit. But who knows.
Just in case you are counting the guy from Kroger, he's not the CEO anymore. He's still rich, but he's not currently earning the money that he was.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/03/03/why-did-kroger-ceo-resign-what-to-know/81161996007/
The counter argument to your point is that one city in that same poor state - Louisville - seems to do just fine, and yet the entire state around that city can't keep up with the big dogs?
How did UK manage to have the top-paid head coach and #1 recruiting budget in the country for years?
I firmly believe that those recruits were part of Cals system. They got their money AFTER going to UK. Did some of them get money at some point along the way here? I'm sure. But his system was perfect for that era.
Has 0 to do with Mark Pope. This is all on Mitch Barnhart and being behind other programs that UK should be on a level playing field with regarding NIL if they embraced it. Barnhart was late to do so....and Calipari was 100% correct to call his *** out. That was brought up but so many hated Calipari that they went on Barnhart's side despite the fact what Calipari was talking about was for the good of the program long after he'd be the HC-as we're seeing now. Pope will defend his boss (as he should publicly) but until things start happening....call me skeptical anything needed gets done with Mitch Barnhart still the AD.
They were watching us like hawks lol. If we paid any players any noticeable amount of money, they'd have seen it. I don't believe we were just THAT good at covering it up.
Cal's got a ton of friends to help recruit. LOL
I’m confident but confused. There doesn’t seem to be much direction in my opinion. It seems like wide net, see who fits, see who is interested, and go from there.
They need another couple depth pieces for sure but it’s predominantly needing a few guys that should be written into the starting lineup with pen.
I have lower expectations than most I think just due to the nature of free agency in sports and already having a significant amount of NIL committed if Oweh returns.
He needs one of the top PF targets to commit. While PG might be more important and potentially concerning, checking a big box would go a long way publicly.
Does not help that Kam committed the day of a blowout loss and that he’s a depth/potential piece. If he committed yesterday instead it might feel like there’s momentum or something positive we’re working off of.
They need another couple depth pieces for sure but it’s predominantly needing a few guys that should be written into the starting lineup with pen.
I have lower expectations than most I think just due to the nature of free agency in sports and already having a significant amount of NIL committed if Oweh returns.
He needs one of the top PF targets to commit. While PG might be more important and potentially concerning, checking a big box would go a long way publicly.
Does not help that Kam committed the day of a blowout loss and that he’s a depth/potential piece. If he committed yesterday instead it might feel like there’s momentum or something positive we’re working off of.
For as much as Cal was a stubborn goober at times.. I've often suspected the above. He was the scapegoat for anything and everything over his last few seasons. And I think we're seeing some real systemic problems not only with the AD and NIL-handling, but also things like officiating, well after he's been gone.
Yaxel was my dream piece before he even was thought to be pondering coming back
If we get him I’ll be ecstatic. So no. Not concerned. Yet.
If we get him I’ll be ecstatic. So no. Not concerned. Yet.
You mentioned officiating. I think it turned bad after Matt Jones unleashed his KSR sycophants on the “rooferie”.
It was a black eye on our fan base and a national embarrassment. The officiating community took it personally.
I’m with you, Gwath stung a little but losing Yaxel would be painful. He’s not Knecht by any means but he will have that type of impact wherever he goes. So if coach flew to Chicago yesterday and did an in home and now we have a zoom with him tonight that might mean something is happening.
Gotta have him. Think about tryna drive ye truck without Yaxel
Exactly nobody knows anything yet. Can’t critique a season til it’s over or a roster until it’s complete but that doesn’t stop some people on here lol
No panic yet but in another week or so I’m gonna be emailing UK Athletics Department about BCG level recruits that are diamonds in the rough
I have full confidence in our coach.
Am I impatient? Sure.
I hear that coach reaches out and they don’t commit the second they are offered, and it seems odd to me. Then I realize that not everyone is motivated by the same things.
Some people just want to stay close to home. Some do want the biggest bag. Some want the place that will make it all about them over the team. Some want to take some time to figure it out.
So while I know it’s all good and that we will end up with a great roster, I want our roster filled with All Americans yesterday.
But that’s not how this works. It works by letting Pope do his thing and he’ll find the best players that want to be here and fit together to make us a great team.
Am I impatient? Sure.
I hear that coach reaches out and they don’t commit the second they are offered, and it seems odd to me. Then I realize that not everyone is motivated by the same things.
Some people just want to stay close to home. Some do want the biggest bag. Some want the place that will make it all about them over the team. Some want to take some time to figure it out.
So while I know it’s all good and that we will end up with a great roster, I want our roster filled with All Americans yesterday.
But that’s not how this works. It works by letting Pope do his thing and he’ll find the best players that want to be here and fit together to make us a great team.
We apparently just lost Keyshawn Hall to Auburn. =\
Does that influence your prior voting choice?
Does that influence your prior voting choice?
Wondering if those will be the ones who the NBA scouts say "ehh, thanks. Come back next year".
60% of the board has some form of concern. That's pretty telling. Recruiting is still a question with this staff. It just is. Most of those questions relate directly to whether we actually have a significant nil or not.