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For those of you who hate the hire...

H

H00SIER-Cat

All-Conference
Dec 6, 2016
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Once Hurley and Oates gave us a big fat no, that left Donovan. I think it's a good chance that Donovan was contacted under the table. He would be, I think, an unknown quantity because of his time removed from college and NIL.

That leaves
1. Pearl and Sampson who have their sons as coaches in waiting,
2. Pitino who could be a PR nightmare
3. Several guys, including Pope, who are "up. and comers"
To me Pope is as good as anybody that was available.

Not trying to fight, just my 2 cents
 
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K

kydmb99_rivals103809

Heisman
Jan 9, 2007
15,353
13,412
0
You NEVER rush to hire a guy without a single tournament win when you could potentially have Billy Donovan in a week. It's also a dereliction of duty by Mitch, and evidence of his old school stuck in the past mindset that Bruce Pearl wasn't even considered or contacted. Even if those guys fell through, I don't think you hire Pope. The University of Kentucky can not hire a guy who has coached 10 years and only been to the tournament twice without a single win. It's just beneath the program imo.

I feel like I'm the only person who sees a program he loves sailing straight for the iceberg while everyone else is dancing on the top deck
 
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H

H00SIER-Cat

All-Conference
Dec 6, 2016
2,074
4,880
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kydmb99 said:
You NEVER rush to hire a guy without a single tournament win when you could potentially have Billy Donovan in a week. It's also a dereliction of duty by Mitch, and evidence of his old school stuck in the past mindset that Bruce Pearl wasn't even considered or contacted. Even if those guys fell through, I don't think you hire Pope. The University of Kentucky can not hire a guy who has coached 10 years and only been to the tournament twice without a single win. It's just beneath the program imo.

I feel like I'm the only person who sees a program he loves sailing straight for the iceberg while everyone else is dancing on the top deck
Click to expand...
It makes we wonder was it a roll of the dice to get the born and bred uk fans and donors back in the fold.
 
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F

FinalF

Senior
Apr 28, 2020
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kydmb99 said:
You NEVER rush to hire a guy without a single tournament win when you could potentially have Billy Donovan in a week. It's also a dereliction of duty by Mitch, and evidence of his old school stuck in the past mindset that Bruce Pearl wasn't even considered or contacted. Even if those guys fell through, I don't think you hire Pope. The University of Kentucky can not hire a guy who has coached 10 years and only been to the tournament twice without a single win. It's just beneath the program imo.

I feel like I'm the only person who sees a program he loves sailing straight for the iceberg while everyone else is dancing on the top deck
Click to expand...
You wait for Donovan. I think Pope might be good but this experience could also ruin him.
 
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Frydaze

Frydaze

Heisman
Nov 25, 2001
33,695
31,990
113
kydmb99 said:
You NEVER rush to hire a guy without a single tournament win when you could potentially have Billy Donovan in a week. It's also a dereliction of duty by Mitch, and evidence of his old school stuck in the past mindset that Bruce Pearl wasn't even considered or contacted. Even if those guys fell through, I don't think you hire Pope. The University of Kentucky can not hire a guy who has coached 10 years and only been to the tournament twice without a single win. It's just beneath the program imo.

I feel like I'm the only person who sees a program he loves sailing straight for the iceberg while everyone else is dancing on the top deck
Click to expand...
And when Pope wins, you’ll be the first one creaming his jeans 👖 high fiving all his friends.
 
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U

Untouchables22

All-Conference
Mar 5, 2013
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H00SIER-Cat said:
Once Hurley and Oates gave us a big fat no, that left Donovan. I think it's a good chance that Donovan was contacted under the table. He would be, I think, an unknown quantity because of his time removed from college and NIL.

That leaves
1. Pearl and Sampson who have their sons as coaches in waiting,
2. Pitino who could be a PR nightmare
3. Several guys, including Pope, who are "up. and comers"
To me Pope is as good as anybody that was available.

Not trying to fight, just my 2 cents
Click to expand...
Jeff Goodman (sucks I know) but is pretty tight with Pearl and said today on Field of 68 he likely would have taken the job. I personally would have wanted Sean Miller and his 4 Elite Eight Appearances and prior experience running a big time college basketball program. Heck, even somebody like Chris Mack has Sweet Sixteen experience and got Xavier to a #1 Seed. I wouldn’t have wanted Mack but it’s wild the new College of Charleston Coach has more NCAA experience and success then the Kentucky hire.
 
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R

rnfoster

Senior
Dec 31, 2011
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H00SIER-Cat said:
Once Hurley and Oates gave us a big fat no, that left Donovan. I think it's a good chance that Donovan was contacted under the table. He would be, I think, an unknown quantity because of his time removed from college and NIL.

That leaves
1. Pearl and Sampson who have their sons as coaches in waiting,
2. Pitino who could be a PR nightmare
3. Several guys, including Pope, who are "up. and comers"
To me Pope is as good as anybody that was available.

Not trying to fight, just my 2 cents
Click to expand...
Good thoughts. I am with Pope and Kentucky!
 
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K

kywildcats8

All-Conference
Oct 1, 2019
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Untouchables22 said:
Jeff Goodman (sucks I know) but is pretty tight with Pearl and said today on Field of 68 he likely would have taken the job. I personally would have wanted Sean Miller and his 4 Elite Eight Appearances and prior experience running a big time college basketball program. Heck, even somebody like Chris Mack has Sweet Sixteen experience and got Xavier to a #1 Seed. I wouldn’t have wanted Mack but it’s wild the new College of Charleston Coach has more NCAA experience and success then the Kentucky hire.
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Dan Hurley coached at Wagner and Rhode Island before UConn and his record wasn't great -6 out of 8 seasons with double digit losses and 3 seasons where he lost more than he won- only time will tell
 
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Untouchables22

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kywildcats8 said:
Dan Hurley coached at Wagner and Rhode Island before UConn and his record wasn't great -6 out of 8 seasons with double digit losses and 3 seasons where he lost more than he won- only time will tell
Click to expand...
Sure….but I still objectively hate the hire and think the job was given to someone who isn’t qualified enough for the position. While there were qualified candidates available that were overlooked for both morality & time expediency reasons.
 
T

trueblujr

Heisman
Dec 14, 2005
30,649
96,961
113
A lot of people were clamoring for Todd Golden, What's he accomplished that Pope hasn't? his win percentage is worse and he hasn't won an NCAA game either.
 
K

kywildcats8

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Oct 1, 2019
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Untouchables22 said:
Sure….but I still objectively hate the hire and think the job was given to someone who isn’t qualified enough for the position. While there were qualified candidates available that were overlooked for both morality & time expediency reasons.
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my point is I bet UConn fans said the same thing when Hurley was hired- only time will tell- go Cats !!
 
chroix

chroix

Heisman
Jul 22, 2013
10,441
26,360
113
Untouchables22 said:
Jeff Goodman (sucks I know) but is pretty tight with Pearl and said today on Field of 68 he likely would have taken the job. I personally would have wanted Sean Miller and his 4 Elite Eight Appearances and prior experience running a big time college basketball program. Heck, even somebody like Chris Mack has Sweet Sixteen experience and got Xavier to a #1 Seed. I wouldn’t have wanted Mack but it’s wild the new College of Charleston Coach has more NCAA experience and success then the Kentucky hire.
Click to expand...

Nah. My buddy is connected with Auburn and said zero chance Pearl was leaving with his kid as coach in waiting. Zero.
 
N

NoDef

All-American
Sep 1, 2001
5,128
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We could of hired Pope next week after other much more successful coaches turned us down. Pope didn't even really improve the product at BYU compared to his predecessor. He may be great and I hope he is. To make it even worse is that we overpaid the guy to come here. We more than doubled his salary from BYU and made him the sixth highest paid coach in America. He has not even shown top 25 results as a coach and we pay him top 6 money..
 
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H

Haggin_Hall_1983

Senior
Jan 27, 2024
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kydmb99 said:
You NEVER rush to hire a guy without a single tournament win when you could potentially have Billy Donovan in a week. It's also a dereliction of duty by Mitch, and evidence of his old school stuck in the past mindset that Bruce Pearl wasn't even considered or contacted. Even if those guys fell through, I don't think you hire Pope. The University of Kentucky can not hire a guy who has coached 10 years and only been to the tournament twice without a single win. It's just beneath the program imo.

I feel like I'm the only person who sees a program he loves sailing straight for the iceberg while everyone else is dancing on the top deck
Click to expand...
Donovan turned us down TWICE...
He does not ever get that chance again.
 
sefus12

sefus12

Heisman
Dec 22, 2007
6,988
18,709
103
kydmb99 said:
You NEVER rush to hire a guy without a single tournament win when you could potentially have Billy Donovan in a week. It's also a dereliction of duty by Mitch, and evidence of his old school stuck in the past mindset that Bruce Pearl wasn't even considered or contacted. Even if those guys fell through, I don't think you hire Pope. The University of Kentucky can not hire a guy who has coached 10 years and only been to the tournament twice without a single win. It's just beneath the program imo.

I feel like I'm the only person who sees a program he loves sailing straight for the iceberg while everyone else is dancing on the top deck
Click to expand...
Kyle Tucker said Donovan was contacted and things didn’t move forward, and Pitino said Donovan had no interest. Believe what you want, but I doubt after Drew said no that Mitch said “f*ck it, I’m only talking to Pope”. And even if he did, the boosters are ponying up money, so they seem to be ok.

Nationally, Pope seems to garner great respect from his coaching peers. Pitino loves him. Boosters seem to at least be good with him. But since kydmb99 says this is horrible, I guess we should all proclaim the Pope tenure a fail.
 
R

Rockfly78

Heisman
Nov 20, 2014
7,927
10,877
0
Don’t over look this. The job was Drew’s. His family came to tour schools. Like, are you kidding me? They came to look at schools and still
Woke up and said no?
 
C

Catfanlou_rivals54997

All-Conference
Oct 30, 2014
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I love the hire . I wanted Pope before the search even began . My number one pick. . As well as he did at BYU he will kill it at UK. Smart great motivator great x and o’s guy and now that NIL problem is being addressed he has the best chance of any coach out there to bring us number nine .

AND HE KNOWS WHAT BASKETBALL MEANS TO US. HE IS ONE OF US.

OTHERS WANTED THE FOAVOR OF THE MONTH . THUS IS A SOLID HIRE FIR UK.
 
A

awf

Heisman
May 31, 2006
10,411
20,774
0
Untouchables22 said:
Jeff Goodman (sucks I know) but is pretty tight with Pearl and said today on Field of 68 he likely would have taken the job. I personally would have wanted Sean Miller and his 4 Elite Eight Appearances and prior experience running a big time college basketball program. Heck, even somebody like Chris Mack has Sweet Sixteen experience and got Xavier to a #1 Seed. I wouldn’t have wanted Mack but it’s wild the new College of Charleston Coach has more NCAA experience and success then the Kentucky hire.
Click to expand...
I am glad it wasn't that sweat hog Pearl.....
 
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Snarks0

Senior
Feb 10, 2024
355
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kydmb99 said:
You NEVER rush to hire a guy without a single tournament win when you could potentially have Billy Donovan in a week. It's also a dereliction of duty by Mitch, and evidence of his old school stuck in the past mindset that Bruce Pearl wasn't even considered or contacted. Even if those guys fell through, I don't think you hire Pope. The University of Kentucky can not hire a guy who has coached 10 years and only been to the tournament twice without a single win. It's just beneath the program imo.

I feel like I'm the only person who sees a program he loves sailing straight for the iceberg while everyone else is dancing on the top deck
Click to expand...
You can get Pope at any time. Wait for Donovan and call Sampson, Beard or Pearl first. Those guys aren’t a long term solution, but maybe Pope would have a better resume by then.

It’s a gamble with Pope and I hope it works. UK also severely over paid for him. He’s the 6th highest paid coach and has zero tournament wins.
 
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Notelvis2

Notelvis2

Junior
Jul 9, 2005
5,855
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H00SIER-Cat said:
Once Hurley and Oates gave us a big fat no, that left Donovan. I think it's a good chance that Donovan was contacted under the table. He would be, I think, an unknown quantity because of his time removed from college and NIL.

That leaves
1. Pearl and Sampson who have their sons as coaches in waiting,
2. Pitino who could be a PR nightmare
3. Several guys, including Pope, who are "up. and comers"
To me Pope is as good as anybody that was available.

Not trying to fight, just my 2 cents
Click to expand...

I agree that there was probably some sort of back channel contact made with Donovan's people. There may have even been some back channel contact with some others.

I would imagine that there were probably some signals coming back indicating that there was not serious interest from Donovan or others and that is why UK turned so quickly to Mark Pope. They needed an emphatic yes from someone with the skills and background to unite a divided fan base and Pope might be the best person available who could do that .
 
U

Ukbrassowtipin

Heisman
Aug 12, 2011
82,109
89,931
0
Snarks0 said:
You can get Pope at any time. Wait for Donovan and call Sampson, Beard or Pearl first. Those guys aren’t a long term solution, but maybe Pope would have a better resume by then.

It’s a gamble with Pope and I hope it works. UK also severely over paid for him. He’s the 6th highest paid coach and has zero tournament wins.
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What was Dan Hurleys resume before he was hired? You're saying you wouldn't have hired him. Major gamble for a school that at the time had 4 championships in 20 years. You def would've wanted him fired before his 1st championship at uconn.

Donovan had already turned us down twice..after tubby left and after Billy G was fired. Screw him. He also hasn't coached college in a decade....thats a gamble.

Pearl has one final four and gets 5 stars on his roster and coaches no defense. He's the same thing as Cal pretty much. Are we hoping he just got a couple more 5 stars here and that would put him over the hump? What else has he done but lose in the 1st and 2nd rd?

Sampson is old. Good coach, but are you hoping you can just buy some wins? I don't understand this "temporary solution" thing...we're UK. Not a temp agency.
 
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