Holt. Rippey. Stokes. Muurinen

Anon1759768907

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They do not need to get the "best ranked" player from pottal

But they have their eyes for evaluation and have ability to develop players

They can find smart, competitive, physical players from lesser ranked pool

(Also Hurley can recruit great now, get five stars constantly)
well yes dan hurley is also their coach so that cant hurt
 

UKBB4Ever

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This is undoubtedly having an effect. Its a mid major offense. Great for creating baskets for shooters that cant create their own. Problem is it doesn't let elite guys showcase their ability for the nba.

So even if we offer more, they're going to suffer overall because their draft stock wont be the same.

I don't think that ever gets fixed. We'll just have to win with marginal portal guys or not win at all.
I’m not going that far.

it’s a great system and even better with great players.

They don’t have to be elite freshmen to be great college players.

Butler was a great college player. We didn’t get to see it much because of injuries.

My point is that elite players don’t want to be labeled a system player. Even if they would thrive in the system.

It’s a peer thing. Not a basketball thing.

I think Pope should stop spending so much time and energy on that top 6-8 group and go the next level players.

But only a couple of them. I would rather have portal players.
 

One2Three

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People on this board went from "I'm not worrying about HS players anymore" to "Pope can't recruit!" in the span of a few weeks.
I’m more concerned about his ability to recruit the transfer portal, personally. Especially with the amount of money being thrown around.
 
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Bill_the_cat

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Nov 17, 2025
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He gets good players. He has a team full of good players. We want him to land one or two great players so we can go from blending in with the crowd to being Kentucky. If I wanted average expectations I would go cheer for Louisville or somebody.
Mediocre don’t cut it here.

Edit. I gotta add my patience is gone because of Cal. It’s not Popes fault that Cal toyed with the program the last five years.
Once Stokes signs all will be good again. Then when the transfer portal opens we get the next great PG.
 
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sk73

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I criticize Pope hard. But it’s because I do think he will start doing the things I would like to see. I do think he will start landing a top five target every year. I do think he will win big. I do think he will get some fire behind him. I do think he will win a champion
Holt said in interviews a month ago that he wants to be the main guy and not play with other 5 stars or players that will need the ball . HELLO, thats the type of thing Pope backs away from when hears that from a recruit and we know this because he has talked about getting players with the right mind set. Team first and sharing the ball is what he means.

The staff said you'd be shocked in who they backed away from because they werent the right fit. I guarantee you if Holt was serious about what he said , Pope would back away.

When Holt said that , all of you should have known for 100% sure we were not getting Holt.


Most elite talent are me first players and care about their careers more than winning so it was always going to be rare and hard for Pope to land Elite HS players. You will just have to accept his philosophy and many fans wants dont align, hell many fans wants dont align with how teams have won titles the past 10 years. Pope's style and his success will depend on if he can develop really good players into elite (NCAA Elite, not NBA elite) players.
I haven't seen or heard about the Holt statement. Not saying he didn't but I haven't seen it anywhere except in your post. So, you suggest he will back off players if they are not the right fit. Shouldn't a coach get an idea of their Fit well before they offer them? Before they spend countless hours going to see their games etc. Rippey, Holt and others were the focus of this staff for an entire recruiting cycle. Is Stokes considered a Fit?
 

UKCowboys

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People on this board went from "I'm not worrying about HS players anymore" to "Pope can't recruit!" in the span of a few weeks.
Exactly!!!
Its like they are longing for Cal to come back and pull in the 5 stars.
I think Pope doesn't get the top guys because he doesn't make the same promises to players Cal did...like, DJ Wagner, you will start every game you play here, even if you are, at best, the 4th or 5th best guard on the roster...I don't miss those days at all
 
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LadyCaytIL

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Oct 28, 2012
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I haven't seen or heard about the Holt statement. Not saying he didn't but I haven't seen it anywhere except in your post. So, you suggest he will back off players if they are not the right fit. Shouldn't a coach get an idea of their Fit well before they offer them? Before they spend countless hours going to see their games etc. Rippey, Holt and others were the focus of this staff for an entire recruiting cycle. Is Stokes considered a Fit?
It was literally an interview article like a month ago dropped on this board by I think Shaw but definitely one of the recruiting guys.
 

buc puppet

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It is probably not because of assistance coach, it may because Mark Pope is not good recruiter
You're probably right and I have thought about it a lot myself. Pope appears to have never been a good recruiter as much as I hate to admit that. But I'm trying to reserve judgement a little longer until we see how things shake out.
 
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One2Three

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You're probably right and I have thought about it a lot myself. Pope appears to have never been a good recruiter as much as I hate to admit that. But I'm trying to reserve judgement a little longer until we see how things shake out.
A good assistant coach can go a long way, imo. I’m not sure if Pope has any right now. They certainly don’t seem all that useful on the recruiting front, neither from the high school nor transfer ranks.

His willingness to cut off poorly performing assistant coaches will tell us how serious he is about his tenure at Kentucky. Loyalty has killed many a coaching tenures in college sports
 

buc puppet

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A good assistant coach can go a long way, imo. I’m not sure if Pope has any right now. They certainly don’t seem all that useful on the recruiting front, neither from the high school nor transfer ranks.

His willingness to cut off poorly performing assistant coaches will tell us how serious he is about his tenure at Kentucky. Loyalty has killed many a coaching tenures in college sports
As I said, I wish we have kept Orlando. He could recruit high level players.
 
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KYFOSSIL

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Nobody is upset that we have two Kentucky boys. People are simply wondering if Pope can land talent outside of Kentucky. There won’t be a highly rated guard and center every year from Kentucky. He will need to land Jasper and Moreno again next year but they won’t be from Kentucky. The one guard has already committed to Kansas and well we are in wait mode on Stokes.

So it’s not dang we don’t want Kentucky boys it’s dang there isn’t enough Kentucky boys and you will have to go recruit somewhere else. Will Pope be able to do that is the question. How do you get that fans are not wanting Jasper and Moreno?



was there ever a time in all of Cals years that he has a top guard and center from Kentucky? Pope lucked out on that and it won’t be like that

Of the two we got, we massively overpaid for Jasper to actually reel him in. That was my first sign that made me concerned. If you have to overpay to get an in state kid who's entire family played for UK, it is concerning.
How the hell you know what was paid to him
 

MonsterMash79

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Makes sense if you are a for sure one and done and will only be in college 6 months. You would want to enjoy your short amount of time.

now I have a serious question because I haven’t been to all of these other campuses and cities.

I’ve always heard how there’s absolutely nothing in Kansas. Just fields after fields so is their campus in a big city with lots to do?
Is Duke and UNC in big cities? Is UCONN in a big city? Baylor Michigan BYU?
I’m seriously asking.
Depends on ( where ) in Michigan lol.. Carolina’s can be nice, Texas? Probably some smokin chicks, Connecticut? Hell no.. Honestly I don’t know, Maybe it is the recruitment strategy..
 
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Kentucky15

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There really is no excuse why Kentucky doesn’t sign a top 5 freshman every single year. Kansas manages to do it, Duke gets multiple, heck even North Carolina comes close to doing it. Why is it such a challenge for a program with such power. Pope and UK keeps getting punked by SEC football schools. Something has to change.

Kansas signs a top 5 recruit every year?
 

Kentucky15

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Unreal reading through this thread. Absolutely ridiculous reasoning and absolutely clueless post throughout. We do not want a team of freshman. He landed 2 excellent freshman just this year. He took a champ off of Florida. He took a player from bama’s roster lol. He signed a top 15 NBA draft pick.

And you’re concerned about freshman? The same problem we got rid of Calipari for? He’s going to sign them but some of them don’t want to compete. Same reason Ament went to UT. He was promised 39 shots a game. We aren’t doing that here anymore. And we shouldn’t.

This thread is going to absolutely make people look ridiculous. And if we bring up what many of these posters were saying this time 2 years ago, they’d already look ridiculous. I’m sorry but a team that’s 18-40 lifetime against UK who we dominate for eternity has broken some of you lol.

He’ll sign plenty of freshman but it’s situational. My God…..
 
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Unreal reading through this thread. Absolutely ridiculous reasoning and absolutely clueless post throughout. We do not want a team of freshman. He landed 2 excellent freshman just this year. He took a champ off of Florida. He took a player from bama’s roster lol. He signed a top 15 NBA draft pick.

And you’re concerned about freshman? The same problem we got rid of Calipari for? He’s going to sign them but some of them don’t want to compete. Same reason Ament went to UT. He was promised 39 shots a game. We aren’t doing that here anymore. And we shouldn’t.

This thread is going to absolutely make people look ridiculous. And if we bring up what many of these posters were saying this time 2 years ago, they’d already look ridiculous. I’m sorry but a team that’s 18-40 lifetime against UK who we dominate for eternity has broken some of you lol.

He’ll sign plenty of freshman but it’s situational. My God…..

You need at least one elite player. Each freshman class is different and you never know for sure who will be in the portal.

The problem this year is us not having that elite guy while so many others do because this freshman class was so talented. Hopefully jq is that guy.
 
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Cats192

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Of the two we got, we massively overpaid for Jasper to actually reel him in. That was my first sign that made me concerned. If you have to overpay to get an in state kid who's entire family played for UK, it is concerning.
We're mad if they don't pay.
We're mad when they do pay.
 

rivercatinfl

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well moreno and jj are 4 stars lol

his first 2 years here have been:

2 3 stars
3 4 stars
I don't remember Pitino getting loads of 5* guys. He did get some and mixed them into a more experienced group of players.
It's right to question why Pope isn't getting a couple but I personally think he will get one or two just like he did for this year.

I'm still bullish on him recruiting guys that fit his criteria. I don't care if they are freshmen, portal players or from overseas.

It's still too early to see what will develop.
 

TFCat11

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Maybe the 28 or 29 class will pay off once Pope builds relationships and players are more familiar with his style of play and personality
It’s all about money now, and has been for a few years, and has next to nothing to do with a coach’s personality.
The only positive, if you want to call it that, is that the presence of UK’s name is causing the other programs to pay more than they normally would…However, they are STILL closing on these players at the end of the day, and UK is not!
 

theBlues

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Of the two we got, we massively overpaid for Jasper to actually reel him in. That was my first sign that made me concerned. If you have to overpay to get an in state kid who's entire family played for UK, it is concerning.
How much did we pay for Jasper? I'm genuinely curious if you have actual numbers on him and Moreno and others.
 

Anon1759768907

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I don't remember Pitino getting loads of 5* guys. He did get some and mixed them into a more experienced group of players.
It's right to question why Pope isn't getting a couple but I personally think he will get one or two just like he did for this year.

I'm still bullish on him recruiting guys that fit his criteria. I don't care if they are freshmen, portal players or from overseas.

It's still too early to see what will develop.
your comparing pitinos coaching to popes tho
 

Supafuzz75

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Nov 30, 2014
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We're mad if they don't pay.
We're mad when they do pay.
Can't please some jagoffs.. P!ssed because somes overpaid then be p!ssed because they went somewhere else because of getting outbid.. Nobody knows what anyone is getting paid but a few will run off of someone else's numbers and get mad about it 😂
 

TFCat11

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exactly, but at one point we thought we had him wrapped
Speaking of which, surprise surprise, it now appears Kansas is leading for Stokes!

Verdict: UK /Pope refuse to write the bid checks for the elite talent, HS, portal, of otherwise!

Starting to suspect the only reason UK got JQ is they offered more than the other schools, because the other schools knew JQ would only play half a season, if that!

Very very frustrating to say the least.
 

TFCat11

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It’s the campus life and area. There’s much more to see and do in other states. That’s what the kids are saying 🤷
We are grasping at straws now!

Folks… It’s one thing and one thing only… NIL… Period! The gaslighting is starting to make us look delusional.
 

TFCat11

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I don't understand the Pope can't recruit crowd.
He landed 2 5 star guys in Moreno and Johnson. Got Lowe who many on here thought was the best PG transfer (or at least one of the best).
Make up your mind - he gets good players or he doesn't.
Sorry, those 2 were not 5 stars, and they were basically gifted to Pope being Ky guys!

With that said, I like both players, especially MM!
 

Anon1759768907

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Yep! Again… $22 million in the coffers and they take Lowe instead of Dent, Wilkerson, and several others?

🚨BS Alert🚨
either the recruiting is just that bad, or the boosters don't support pope, and hide it by "leaking" the payroll for this team
 
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TFCat11

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People on this board went from "I'm not worrying about HS players anymore" to "Pope can't recruit!" in the span of a few weeks.
It’s the portal too, I bet that goalpost is getting heavy, isn’t it!

Been a diehard UK fan since ‘76, but I won’t insult my common sense in the process!