Field of 68 comments

[dynastydreamuk]

In a new field of 68 YouTube clip they said Pope gets a 3rd year no matter what and the fans talking now are crazy.

Goodman I think was the one that even said if he lost every game, he gets a 3rd year.

Then another commented in college football coaches get fired after two years kind of insinuating that was okay but not in basketball.

I just feel like they want the story of train wreck Kentucky again next year.

How ridiculous is it to say there is no scenario where we move on from pope after two years, even if we lost every game left...

Personally if we miss the dance, and recruiting is a mess, what's the point?

Lots if ifs, just hypothetical. Hope we somehow win all the games.

 

[Kingslayer07]

No doubt he gets a 3rd year at least. I would dump him after the season if it were up to me at this point.

 

[CatBearPig]

He gets a 3rd year as long as there’s not more going on behind the scenes. His seat will be hot next year though and not sure anything less than an SEC championship or at least sweet 16 saves him.

 

[RunninRichie]

Luckily, we have a big 2026 class coming in. There's hope for next year. Stokes should be a elite freshman. Collins could be as well. Just need a few key returnees. And a few portal pieces. Trent Noah should be all-SEC as well.

 

[Vek96]

Even if we get in the tournament at 18-13, you still have to make a change.

 

[Pygmy Sasquatch]

He gets a 3rd year as long as there’s not more going on behind the scenes. His seat will be hot next year though and not sure anything less than an SEC championship or at least sweet 16 saves him.

Probably. Honestly I think it should be SEC championship or Elite 8.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

Honestly, they’re probably right. His first year will earn him a year 3. My hopes are gone if he can’t improve the defense though and he will be a dead man walking into year 3. It sucks too because the moment he was hired, I decided he has three years to get to an Elite 8. If he gets to one without a top 25 defense, I worry we really are stuck with a mediocre coach.

Prove me wrong, Pope. Fix the defense

 

[BlueSince92]

I do not think the fans talking now are crazy.

I do think Pope gets a third year no matter what.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

If they mean he won’t be fired I agree. Mitch just wouldn’t.

Only hope of Pope being gone is his choice.

 

[Anon477434]

All that fake love from last year has faded quickly.

 

[BlueSince92]

He gets a 3rd year as long as there’s not more going on behind the scenes. His seat will be hot next year though and not sure anything less than an SEC championship or at least sweet 16 saves him.

I wish I could agree with this but I think this underestimates how weird Barnhart is and how okay he is with mediocrity from "his" guys. As long as Barnhart stays, I think an NCAAT appearance in year three buys Pope at least another year whether we like it or not.

 

[Anon1759768907]

Why should he get a 3rd year when next year looks like a DISASTER

 

[Doc4UK!]

Barnhart will be gone before 2027

 

[Anony Moose]

He'll get a 3rd year because of who he is and his likability. We also just spent 38 million to fire the football coach and another few million brining in a new staff and now new roster. I don't think he survives year 3.

 

[BlueBlood96Cat]

They don’t know Kentucky basketball then. Pope will get another year. But if he loses five six games in a roll he will be gone before the end of the season. If he loses every game he will not be here next year. Are these guys paid to say this ****?

 

[3 Putts]

Mazaratti baby

 

[BlueBlood96Cat]

Luckily, we have a big 2026 class coming in. There's hope for next year. Stokes should be an elite freshman. Collins could be as well. Just need a few key returnees. And a few portal pieces. Trent Noah should be all-SEC as well.

Saracasm im hoping

 

[Anon1722388149]

Barnhart will be gone before 2027

We can only hope that would be the case. He's responsible for way too many idiotic mistakes. Worst AD of all time!!! Made a good hire with the women's team though. I guess even a blind squirrel will find an acorn now and then.

 

[Argonaut]

Another year of Pope could set back the program to a point of no return. Boosters and fans will be furious if we go into the offseason with no new recruits, either returning most of this disaster of a team or having to start over in the portal and then no staff changes to boot. Next year has the potential to be one of the nastiest, angriest most miserable years Kentucky has experienced since the late 80s.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

If Pope truly understands the assignment, he will get out of the way at the end of the year.

 

[true-blue1]

I don’t see any reason to bring him back for year 3. This season has been a disaster and he can’t recruit. It’s time to part ways.

 

[gonefishin]

Why in the hell would he get another year?
The two concerns are
1) recruiting
2) watching a team under Pope show up every single game and for at least half the game they look like they don’t give a damn to wear the UK uniform. Terrible effort, terrible sharing of ball, terrible communication, terrible flow on offense, terrible competitive spirit.

Recruiting has me sick to my stomach. Zero 4 or 5 star recruits will be coming in. And it appears he isn’t connecting with the top high school talent. He totally dropped the ball putting this team together out of the portal.

All this said, why the hell would he get another year????? I want him gone now. And I like the guy. But he ain’t for this sideline.

 

[Cats4321]

I'm sure he'll get a 3rd year, regardless of how the rest of the season turns out.

My question is, how good does he have to be in the 3rd year? For me, we would have to be one of the premier teams in the nation to earn a fourth year. Just a top 25 team won't cut it for me after the start he's had here...and his lack of previous accomplishments. 3 years is plenty of time in this era at UK to have a top tier team at least once. Curious what others think?

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

I'm sure he'll get a 3rd year, regardless of how the rest of the season turns out.

My question is, how good does he have to be in the 3rd year? For me, we would have to be one of the premier teams in the nation to earn a fourth year. Just a top 25 team won't cut it for me after the start he's had here...and his lack of previous accomplishments. 3 years is plenty of time in this era at UK to have a top tier team at least once. Curious what others think?

By general fans, I’d say E8 by year 3 finish

At this point for me personally, I need:
Elite Eight by year 3 finish and a top 20 defense one of those years.

 

[Damage_inc]

Why in the hell would he get another year?
The two concerns are
1) recruiting
2) watching a team under Pope show up every single game and for at least half the game they look like they don’t give a damn to wear the UK uniform. Terrible effort, terrible sharing of ball, terrible communication, terrible flow on offense, terrible competitive spirit.

Recruiting has me sick to my stomach. Zero 4 or 5 star recruits will be coming in. And it appears he isn’t connecting with the top high school talent. He totally dropped the ball putting this team together out of the portal.

All this said, why the hell would he get another year????? I want him gone now. And I like the guy. But he ain’t for this sideline.

He needed to hire a GM day one. He definitely needs to hire one NOW. Pope can’t recruit. Someone will need to sit at the table and do what he can’t.

 

[Argonaut]

He needed to hire a GM day one. He definitely needs to hire one NOW. Pope can’t recruit. Someone will need to sit at the table and do what he can’t.

If he hasn’t hired one by now I seriously doubt he’ll hire one next year. And don’t expect any staff changes in year 3. We’re running back year 2 in year 3 with possibly an even a worse roster.

We keep hoping Pope will learn and change to fit the occasion better but none of that has happened and we’re on year 2.

 

[Bill_the_cat]

A lot of you are so microwaved it is funny. Read back through the posts.
Before the year, as soon as we had the recruits on campus, there was cheering and excitement.
The team beat Purdue and there was talk of potentially being a top 5 team.
Then injuries happened and everyone tempered their expectations, claiming we needed a healthy team.
Well, I didn’t see the last few games due to family trip, but we are healthy. The team now needs some time to work against others.
They are going to be good moving forward.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

A lot of you are so microwaved it is funny. Read back through the posts.
Before the year, as soon as we had the recruits on campus, there was cheering and excitement.
The team beat Purdue and there was talk of potentially being a top 5 team.
Then injuries happened and everyone tempered their expectations, claiming we needed a healthy team.
Well, I didn’t see the last few games due to family trip, but we are healthy. The team now needs some time to work against others.
They are going to be good moving forward.

Hope you’re right Bill. No offense, if you saw the game I doubt you’d be so optimistic.

 

[kfwa]

He'd have to be as bad as Kenny Payne to not get a third year.

Anyone who says he will be fired if the season gets worse just doesn't have a grasp on how it works in college ball.

No coach is going to come here unless we make him the highest paid in college basketball to a program that fires a second year coach after beating Duke, Gonzaga,Florida and sweeping UT in his first year and is (likely) to finish the season above .500

and remember, Hurley and Drew turned us down, so you can't count on us getting a top 5 coach to replace Pope no matter what the paycheck is.

I know it stinks but demanding Pope get fired now is just putting UK in a bind and forcing them to go with a stop gap coach who you *hope* is better.

 

[Kantucke_rivals]

I cannot believe our totally incompetent athletic director paid BYU 6 million dollars for Popes buyout. But it does seem BYU put it to good use...

BYU has never looked better without Pope and there's no overlooking that.

 

[Bill_the_cat]

This is a list - not THE list of top 50 coaches heading into the season.
Who do/did we have a legit shot at landing?
1
DAN HURLEY
2.
KELVIN SAMPSON
1
3.
MARK FEW
4.
RICK PITINO
5.
MATT PAINTER
6.
BILL SELF
7.
NATE OATS
8.
BRUCE PEARL
9.
JON SCHEYER
10.
TODD GOLDEN
11.
SCOTT DREW
12.
TOM IZZO
13.
CHRIS BEARD
14.
RICK BARNES
15.
TOMMY LLOYD
16.
BRIAN DUTCHER
17.
DUSTY MAY
18.
JOHN CALIPARI
19.
BRAD UNDERWOOD
20.
GREG MCDERMOTT
21.
T.J. OTZELBERGER
22.
MICK CRONIN
23.
GRANT MCCASLAND
24.
ERIC MUSSELMAN
原行
ST
26.
SHAKA SMART
27.
SEAN MILLER
28.
MARK POPE
29.
WILL WADE
30.
RANDY BENNETT
31.
GREG GARD
32.
KEVIN YOUNG
33.
PAT KELSEY
34.
BEN MCCOLLUM
35.
KEVIN WILLARD
36.
BUZZ WILLIAMS
37.
BRAD BROWNELL
38.
HUBERT DAVIS
39.
CHRIS COLLINS
40.
RYAN ODOM
41.
CHRIS JANS
42.
JAMIE DIXON
43.
DARIAN DEVRIES
44.
RICHARD PITINO
45.
MARK BYINGTON
46.
FRED HOIBERG
47.
LEON RICE
48.
ED COOLEY
49.
KYLE SMITH

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

This is a list - not THE list of top 50 coaches heading into the season.
Who do/did we have a legit shot at landing?
1
DAN HURLEY
2.
KELVIN SAMPSON
1
3.
MARK FEW
4.
RICK PITINO
5.
MATT PAINTER
6.
BILL SELF
7.
NATE OATS
8.
BRUCE PEARL
9.
JON SCHEYER
10.
TODD GOLDEN
11.
SCOTT DREW
12.
TOM IZZO
13.
CHRIS BEARD
14.
RICK BARNES
15.
TOMMY LLOYD
16.
BRIAN DUTCHER
17.
DUSTY MAY
18.
JOHN CALIPARI
19.
BRAD UNDERWOOD
20.
GREG MCDERMOTT
21.
T.J. OTZELBERGER
22.
MICK CRONIN
23.
GRANT MCCASLAND
24.
ERIC MUSSELMAN
原行
ST
26.
SHAKA SMART
27.
SEAN MILLER
28.
MARK POPE
29.
WILL WADE
30.
RANDY BENNETT
31.
GREG GARD
32.
KEVIN YOUNG
33.
PAT KELSEY
34.
BEN MCCOLLUM
35.
KEVIN WILLARD
36.
BUZZ WILLIAMS
37.
BRAD BROWNELL
38.
HUBERT DAVIS
39.
CHRIS COLLINS
40.
RYAN ODOM
41.
CHRIS JANS
42.
JAMIE DIXON
43.
DARIAN DEVRIES
44.
RICHARD PITINO
45.
MARK BYINGTON
46.
FRED HOIBERG
47.
LEON RICE
48.
ED COOLEY
49.
KYLE SMITH

Most of that list.

 

[Vek96]

I do not think the fans talking now are crazy.

I do think Pope gets a third year no matter what.

Likely so. That’s just the way it usually works.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

This is a list - not THE list of top 50 coaches heading into the season.
Who do/did we have a legit shot at landing?
1
DAN HURLEY
2.
KELVIN SAMPSON
1
3.
MARK FEW
4.
RICK PITINO
5.
MATT PAINTER
6.
BILL SELF
7.
NATE OATS
8.
BRUCE PEARL
9.
JON SCHEYER
10.
TODD GOLDEN
11.
SCOTT DREW
12.
TOM IZZO
13.
CHRIS BEARD
14.
RICK BARNES
15.
TOMMY LLOYD
16.
BRIAN DUTCHER
17.
DUSTY MAY
18.
JOHN CALIPARI
19.
BRAD UNDERWOOD
20.
GREG MCDERMOTT
21.
T.J. OTZELBERGER
22.
MICK CRONIN
23.
GRANT MCCASLAND
24.
ERIC MUSSELMAN
原行
ST
26.
SHAKA SMART
27.
SEAN MILLER
28.
MARK POPE
29.
WILL WADE
30.
RANDY BENNETT
31.
GREG GARD
32.
KEVIN YOUNG
33.
PAT KELSEY
34.
BEN MCCOLLUM
35.
KEVIN WILLARD
36.
BUZZ WILLIAMS
37.
BRAD BROWNELL
38.
HUBERT DAVIS
39.
CHRIS COLLINS
40.
RYAN ODOM
41.
CHRIS JANS
42.
JAMIE DIXON
43.
DARIAN DEVRIES
44.
RICHARD PITINO
45.
MARK BYINGTON
46.
FRED HOIBERG
47.
LEON RICE
48.
ED COOLEY
49.
KYLE SMITH

Here’s my opinion about the Top 20 from that list:

WOULD DEFINITELY SAY NO

DAN HURLEY
KELVIN SAMPSON
MARK FEW
BILL SELF
JON SCHEYER
TOM IZZO
JOHN CALIPARI



WOULD LIKELY SAY NO

RICK PITINO
MATT PAINTER
NATE OATS
TODD GOLDEN
SCOTT DREW
RICK BARNES
BRIAN DUTCHER
DUSTY MAY
GREG MCDERMOTT





DO YOU LOVE ME BACK?

BRUCE PEARL
CHRIS BEARD
TOMMY LLOYD
BRAD UNDERWOOD

 

[Vek96]

They don’t know Kentucky basketball then. Pope will get another year. But if he loses five six games in a roll he will be gone before the end of the season. If he loses every game he will not be here next year. Are these guys paid to say this ****?

I doubt we lose all the remaining games. However, I can actually see a 7-11 conference record.
Not saying that’s going to happen, but it won’t shock me either.

 

[gonefishin]

A lot of you are so microwaved it is funny. Read back through the posts.
Before the year, as soon as we had the recruits on campus, there was cheering and excitement.
The team beat Purdue and there was talk of potentially being a top 5 team.
Then injuries happened and everyone tempered their expectations, claiming we needed a healthy team.
Well, I didn’t see the last few games due to family trip, but we are healthy. The team now needs some time to work against others.
They are going to be good moving forward.

Health has ZERO to do with how awful
The effort has been. Zero.
There has been nothing, except one half against ST John’s, that shows this team has any life moving forward.
And guess what, that second half line up that looked so good against St John’s….Pope played them 1 min of the game against Bama.
We are not going to be good moving forward.
Pope is not the right guy for the job.

 

[Kyhoward1]

A lot of you are so microwaved it is funny. Read back through the posts.
Before the year, as soon as we had the recruits on campus, there was cheering and excitement.
The team beat Purdue and there was talk of potentially being a top 5 team.
Then injuries happened and everyone tempered their expectations, claiming we needed a healthy team.
Well, I didn’t see the last few games due to family trip, but we are healthy. The team now needs some time to work against others.
They are going to be good moving forward.

A lot of you are so microwaved it is funny. Read back through the posts.
Before the year, as soon as we had the recruits on campus, there was cheering and excitement.
The team beat Purdue and there was talk of potentially being a top 5 team.
Then injuries happened and everyone tempered their expectations, claiming we needed a healthy team.
Well, I didn’t see the last few games due to family trip, but we are healthy. The team now needs some time to work against others.
They are going to be good moving forward.

Agree with your first 3 statements, Bill. Final Four talk and no “this is a poorly constructed roster” talk. Fans who have never coached have all the answers though!

This is a talented roster so why are they playing so poorly? I don’t think it can be blamed on a lack of collective skills, but there has to be 1 or more reasons forour pathetic play.

My take, based on no facts, is there are internal issues:
1. Personality conflicts?
2. Too many players expecting too much playing time?
3. NIL dollars more important than winning?
4. Lack of respect for CMP?

Any of the above can lead to the lack of effort that is being shown on the court which is the most important trait for a TEAM to have. The bad shooting, rebounding, defense etc is the result.

i don’t know, but the results do not correlate with the talent assembled.

 

[dynastydreamuk]

Honestly, they’re probably right. His first year will earn him a year 3. My hopes are gone if he can’t improve the defense though and he will be a dead man walking into year 3. It sucks too because the moment he was hired, I decided he has three years to get to an Elite 8. If he gets to one without a top 25 defense, I worry we really are stuck with a mediocre coach.

Prove me wrong, Pope. Fix the defense

He never had higher than a top 50 defense before here... and that was by far his best that year.

A lot of you are so microwaved it is funny. Read back through the posts.
Before the year, as soon as we had the recruits on campus, there was cheering and excitement.
The team beat Purdue and there was talk of potentially being a top 5 team.
Then injuries happened and everyone tempered their expectations, claiming we needed a healthy team.
Well, I didn’t see the last few games due to family trip, but we are healthy. The team now needs some time to work against others.
They are going to be good moving forward.

You should have seen the games...it took 8/10 threes from Kam Williams for us to beat beallarmine at home as 36 point fans. Then no effort against bama and got 20 point games from Oweh and Lowe and still lost by 15 🫠

 

[Woodrow24]

In a new field of 68 YouTube clip they said Pope gets a 3rd year no matter what and the fans talking now are crazy.

Goodman I think was the one that even said if he lost every game, he gets a 3rd year.

Then another commented in college football coaches get fired after two years kind of insinuating that was okay but not in basketball.

I just feel like they want the story of train wreck Kentucky again next year.

How ridiculous is it to say there is no scenario where we move on from pope after two years, even if we lost every game left...

Personally if we miss the dance, and recruiting is a mess, what's the point?

Lots if ifs, just hypothetical. Hope we somehow win all the games.

He’s definitely going to get a third year I believe. I just wonder how the boosters are going to be about donations moving forward.

I’ve noticed the Pope defenders always point out to Dan Hurleys record and popes. They don’t admit what UConn’s record was before he got there and how they improved each season. Hurley gave them reasons to give him time. Sometimes the record doesn’t tell the whole story. Pope isn’t really giving us good examples to believe that he can turn this around. I hope he can, because it will suck to have to fire one of our own.

 

[BCD]

Here’s my opinion about the Top 20 from that list:

WOULD DEFINITELY SAY NO

DAN HURLEY
KELVIN SAMPSON
MARK FEW
BILL SELF
JON SCHEYER
TOM IZZO
JOHN CALIPARI



WOULD LIKELY SAY NO

RICK PITINO
MATT PAINTER
NATE OATS
TODD GOLDEN
SCOTT DREW
RICK BARNES
BRIAN DUTCHER
DUSTY MAY
GREG MCDERMOTT





DO YOU LOVE ME BACK?

BRUCE PEARL
CHRIS BEARD
TOMMY LLOYD
BRAD UNDERWOOD

I see it about the same as you Idiot. (Said with reverence)