Mark Pope and his wife pick up Richie Saunders and his wife at the airport. Saunders decides to stay at BYU.
I knew Mark Pope couldn't recruit after this
- Thread starter Hitman206
- Start date
Lol, he had very strong ties to Pope, and with BYU.
I can’t really hold that one against him, but your point stands and it was weird he only got one player to come with him here.
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I did google the situation and on Reddit people were suggesting that former players felt Pope was inauthentic and liked the camera too much. Another suggestion sort of seemed to imply that Saunders was expected to not be a starter at UK and that he felt he could do that at BYU. Yet another suggestion was (I think) that Pope made recruits feel that he would look to replace them with the portal.
Thought he got Chandler and JRob
Saunders was huge, he would have changed this team big time. He is a big time shooter, that we are missing. I would like to think Chandler could be close to Saunders by his senior year, but that's asking a lot. I think saunders is NBA good.
I can honestly believe that. Not a good thing with the JMI stuff. It’s almost like he thinks he’s an elite coach who can do whatever he wants.
One that he had coached already in JRob. Chandler never suited up for them.
Chandler went on a Mormon mission after high school
And then he leaves, but I wasn't sold on Krissa to get us very far. But he might be a better back up point then what we have right now
No because as mentioned Saunders would have been a big impact on this team and an All SEC player.
Never heard of a coach picking up a recruit at the airport let alone not landing him.
The big guy Khalifa going to Louisville was another sign. He’s playing great for The Cardinals tonight against Duke.
No Saunders would have helped this team tremendously.
If you don't like what I say, don't read the thread. Simples.
I wonder if Pope finds it difficult to relate to high schoolers, and prefers experience out of the portal. I could see him giving off vibes of such in visits. I'm sure recruits do express their concern about coaches reaching into the portal.
No one in the portal is going to take a starting spot from Caleb Wilson and Stokes. Pope was going after top 15 high schoolers.
Krissa would have been the perfect backup/spot starter for this team.
At the very minimum I would have expected Pope to get him, Saunders, and Robinson, although with Robinson waiting seemingly forever to find any reason to stay in the draft, I would have taken Lanier who went to Tennessee and would have been the scorer UK needed last season with the shot clock winding down.
He keeps missing top portal guys too though. It seems like the only ones we nabbed are 6-7th type men who were overpaid to come.
Yes I am aware, he still never played for him. My comment was about guys from the BYU team that he brought here. Only JRob came, which was strange.
Yes. Kids went to BYU for the school/religion. Not because of Mark.
And when he returned he had four fried chickens and a coke
I remember very clearly nobody on the board wanted Saunders or Khalifa when it was rumored we were recruiting them.
Dybantsa? LOL! I know. Couldn't resist. But if I'm Saunders, I would have followed Pope and continued my momentum and success rather than take a chance under a coach I have never played for.
Well, you solve the crisis. It has nothing to do with anything other than he has to stop meeting recruits at the airport.
I'm sorry I agree that Pope requires a lot of credit right now, but this is truly a dumb *** thread
I'm sorry I agree that Pope requires a lot of credit right now, but this is truly a dumb *** thread
He chose Pope and BYU over Creighton. Thing is he entered the transfer portal after Pope went to UK and chose to stay at BYU after new head coach Kevin Young recruited him and talked him into staying.
You figure if you took the time to pick up a recruit at the airport rather than send a basketball manager to do it that it would make an impression on the recruit to want to come. Coach K and Matt Painter wouldn't do that. But only Pope could screw that up even with a player who played for him.
And when Cody Fueger tweeted a boom, realize the disappointment when it was discovered to be Kerr Krissa and Trent Noah.
Yes, but you implied and turned him off somehow. They already had a relationship he chose to stay at BYU
He’s a devout Mormon whose family is huge in the Mormon church. And his wife didn’t want to leave Utah. I’d love to have him but it was going to be a tough pull.
He should have thought about that before he put his name in the transfer portal. Kevin Young sold him on staying.