Jasper Johnson
- Thread starter ThrowBackCat9
- Start date
See you the next time you defend trashing players. You’re on here crying about calling out negative fans, typical message board cult member. Being negative to players is fair, calling out the BS isn’t… well if it’s another fellow message board cult member.
Am I allowed to call the media when they’re unjustly negative since they’re not in the cult or is that off limits too?
Just a FYI, Jasper Johnson is a bonafide stud who absolutely fits Popes system. Claiming he doesn’t is moronic.
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I think the Johnsons realize all the love Jasper will get at UK. CMP certainly has shown them. Going to Argentina! I’d bet he will be Wildcat.
I really wish Dennis had stayed in the weight room and worked harder. Oh what could have been.
Very important point this morning about Alabama and the Cheats leading UK by far for his signature and a lot of ground Pope had to try to make up because once again the former coach half *** recruited Jasper, you know really wasn’t interested in a Kentucky kid
wasn't recruiting him. If at all, it was barely and not a priority.We would have forced his half hearted offer, eventually.
Not even an attempt at being truthful. Cal worked hard for this kid.
If Johnson signs with UK , it will be because of UK being in his backyard and Pope, the guy he will play for. Calipari has no bearing on the process.
I was only repeating what others who are aware of the situation have said that Alabama and Cheats made him a top priority and that the former coach didn’t for a kid in their backyard and Pope had a lot of ground to make up. I have not be in the know since the Rupp and Hall years. In my era there would never have been a question where a local kid would have gone if they wanted him.
I understand cal not making him a priority hurt, but Pope has done everything he could so hopefully he sees how much Pope wants him compared to cal
It’s just that Jasper would literally be the only player Calipari recruited for Kentucky and not the University of Calipari. We lost every single recruit and player he recruited…except one…who was from Kentucky. So you can look at it in a vacuum, but Calipari is irrelevant here
I hope Pope ends up being a good recruiter but the jury is still out on him. He didn't recruit well at BYU and now the coach out there has signed two 5 star recruits. Very interesting.
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Not a lot of coaches I trust can win titles and final 4's while having somewhat sub par talent to work with. Pitino comes to mind. But there's hundreds of others who put together 3-star rosters, maybe a few 4-stars sprinkled in, and do nothing come March. Early Calipari teams beat tons of these teams in the tournament: likely better coaches, but just didn't have the talent to truly compete. That's my worry for this years team: are they truly talented enough to win a Final4? Or is it just a lot of mid-major transfers with some 3rd and 4th option guys from P5 schools.
Not something I really want to risk, and not a style I particularly want to see UK head to.. I think you really need to have a couple top100 guys on your roster.
There's still plenty of time for Pope to get that going, it's not like Hurley was getting anyone 2-3 years ago.. but What I really want to see next, aside from winning, is for Pope/UK/Boosters to get make at least A splash on the recruiting trail. I don't want to hear about over spending or fit within the system.. You're UK, gotta get SOME talent in here, even if we're buying it.
Not something I really want to risk, and not a style I particularly want to see UK head to.. I think you really need to have a couple top100 guys on your roster.
There's still plenty of time for Pope to get that going, it's not like Hurley was getting anyone 2-3 years ago.. but What I really want to see next, aside from winning, is for Pope/UK/Boosters to get make at least A splash on the recruiting trail. I don't want to hear about over spending or fit within the system.. You're UK, gotta get SOME talent in here, even if we're buying it.
You’re worrying about winning a Final 4 in his first year with a whole new roster? He had what 2 months to get it together after his late hire?
That’s a big ask. Let him rewire the UK system.
Nobody can question his work ethic. I think it will be an exciting new era of UK bball!
He has had as much time as any other new coach to put a roster together. His replacement at BYU seems to be doing more than okay. I think the roster Pope has now is promising but, preseason, I am not sure if it is upper tier (top 5) in the SEC. Pope does have offers out to many of the top players in the 2025 class. I am hoping that he can land a few of them.
FWIW, we actually have 6 RSCI Top 100 players on this years roster and Noah was close as well at 103.
2024 #78 Travis Perry
2022 #37 Colin Chandler
2024 #103 Trent Noah
2020 #82 Jaxson Robinson
2022 #77 Otega Oweh
2023 #39 Brandon Garrison
2020 #96 Kerr Kriisa
We’re also trending heavily for 2025 #26 Malachi Moreno
I do agree i’d like to see us eventually go out and spend on someone but that someone is not Jasper Johnson. He’s just not that good. It’s gotta be someone that’s guaranteed to make a big impact in one year. Dybantsa, Stokes, Boozer come to mind.
I would not be at all upset if we ponied up for w/e dybantsa’s price tag ends up being.
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I don't mean that for THIS year, as I said, his recruiting needs time. No one should expect him to turn into an elite recruiter overnight.
But.. we heard comments about UK not wanting to pony up NIL for some of these guys, not being the right fit, etc.. (fwiw I don't know the validity of these, just what I see posted here and in articles).. and I just don't think that's the right approach.
I think it's crucial for Pope, or any new UK coach, to get, and be able to get, some of the elite guys... and to do it fairly quick, as UK and fans don't wait long before looking towards the next hire.
That’s fine. Us old people who cut their teeth with Coach Rupp have difficulty with the younger generations not more than valuing Kentuckians who are very capable of wearing the jersey. Many on here have only known Calapari as the head coach and he did not value in-state kids. Back in my day the only in-state kid that I can remember that Coach Rupp really wanted that he didn’t get was Jeff Mullins. Mullins move to Lexington and attended Lexington Lafayette because his dad was moved to Lexington by IBM from New York. He was already ACC oriented and really had no attachment to Lexington or Kentucky and of course went to Duke. But in my era you didn’t have a kid who could play from the state like Jasper that you let go to another school.
Being old school it really hurts me and others of my era to see a kid in our own backyard go somewhere else. I know the world is different than the one I grew up in but it doesn’t make it any easier for me to accept.
None of them were on the roster when Calipari left. Not just listing Kentucky dudes...
But you also left out Jarrod Polson, Darius Miller & Reed Sheppard if you're going to list them.
Cal never recruited Miller
you can also give Cal credit for Perry since he did commit to UK while Cal was here
so your comment was not factual
KAB Cats said:
It’s just that Jasper would literally be the only player Calipari recruited for Kentucky and not the University of Calipari. We lost every single recruit and player he recruited…except one…who was from Kentucky. So you can look at it in a vacuum, but Calipari is irrelevant here
Cal did offer a scholarship but didn’t recruit Perry. Just like he offered Sheppard but didn’t recruit. He didn’t want those two. Those two wanted UK regardless who was coach and regardless how little they were recruited.
I’m not sure you understand what we are arguing about but that’s ok.
What I was rebutting was the idea that Calipai’s recruitment of lack thereof has anything to do with now. Calipari didn’t recruit a single player with the philosophy that they should be loyal to anyone but Calipari. It probably actuslly helps us if he didn’t go all out for Johnson given that he literally raped and pillaged every other recruit and olayer he had at UK. The only, reason we are talking about Kentucky players is because guys like Perry would come to Kentucky regardless of who is coaching.
So I don’t know what you’re trying to argue., but that’s cool
This is the biggest lie of the year so far. Sorry but if a kid grew up in Kentucky watching Kentucky basketball and says a better fit is outside his home state and has nothing to do with money, he’s lying.
That usually is a kid with black sheep mentality.From Kyle Tucker's article this morning:
"Pope’s problem? This doesn’t appear to be a 2-foot putt. Despite Johnson’s proximity to the program and his family’s allegiance — his mother is “the biggest Kentucky fan,” a cousin of former UK football star Craig Yeast — Johnson grew up a North Carolina basketball fan."
Sounds like they didn't do a good job parenting(joking -- sort of)
I know several. Whole family was UK diehards , so they are not. Some people just rebel. If that whole family was UL homeboys they were going to be UK.