I believe it’s exactly what is going on. They thought they could be competitive enough that it wouldn’t be noticed as long as we all lower our expectations. And on some of these numb skulls it works. “Well can still turn it around”. And next year they’ll do it again. yOu jUsT hAtE cal!!! It’s the same ones.
At first, he was predicted to stay out West and go to USC. He is a kid and he does not know what he wants to do. The performance on the court has as much to do with us not signing players as anything. There are also reports saying that no player has been limited to making deals with only certain companies too. Pope himself has stated that the JMI deal is an incredible thing. I hear fans complain about JMI because guys like Torres say it is a real issue in one sentence to only follow up and say de does not know the details of the deal in his next sentence which tells me he is speculating to get clicks from the most passionate fan base in America. If a kid wants to come to Kentucky, he is going to come. NIL deals will not be an issue for any kid that plays basketball at the University of Kentucky. Pope has seen the deal and contracts and if he doesn't have an issue with it, then I am going to trust that he knows what he is talking about. So, yes I have been paying attention. Our problems right now are not NIL with a 20 plus million dollar roster. Our problems are defense and shot selection!
Who actually cares how many games we win or lose this year? This program is dead with this JMI deal. No recruit is coming here. Except mid majors, who don't mind signing with Bob's fried fish shop. And Jimmy's gas station. Because it's the best they can do. No elite recruit, who knows he can get BIG NIL deals. Like Collins with Croc's, is coming to UK. JMI and Mitch have locked us into a mid major.
Think about this ……. Pope comes out and says JMI is restricting players and no one wants to give up their rights. Sheweeee boy he’s gonna get a lot of kids talking now. He knows it stinks but we are locked in for 15 years. The contract was signed. If he criticizes it, we are even more screwed. That’s like telling everyone my wife is a Bi#ch right in front of her. Guess what happens then???
I get that Pope cannot come out and say it sucks. However, if you do not like it, you do not come out and say it is incredible either. That is a situation where you do not say anything. If you go around telling your wife she is incredible, when she is a Bi#ch, then guess what happens then??? She is no longer a Bi#ch, she becomes an incredible Bi#ch. So keep saying it is incredible and see if it ever gets better.
How so? If Pope doesn’t have final say on who gets what, how in the hell is it on him? I‘m really interested in your answer.
Most people I guess. lol. Pope is a different breed bro. He would describe taking a dump as a wonderful , exhilarating release of unwanted excrement. He is still calling Cam a special long range shooter at 22%.
And I think that is why he is struggling to sign guys. They can see through his B.S. The longer any recruitment carries on with him, I think our chances diminish greatly.
I don’t want to be mean and say are you this stupid? So I won’t do that.
Lol dude you don't even know what you're saying so acting like someone else is stupid is hilarious. You read the same article as everyone else did. Some people actually try and dig and learn and understand. You were spouting off how JQ signed with JMI cause he was hurt and that's all he could do lol. He had his deal done well before. That's an example of stupidity
i think it’s odd that JQ, a hurt NBA prospect, if the ONLY major recruit we were able to sign last season. But in any case it’s irrelevant, we have ZERO recruits since the deal. None.
Might not even be able to get a decent coach to come here.
I don’t know. This is different. And it’s a huge concern to a lot of people in Lexington I know that. I would think JMI would have to restructure but they haven’t yet. Why? They’re tanking UK basketball.
I’m trying hard to detach from UK sports. I waited my whole life to retire and travel to watch them. It wasn’t enough I went to other places and watched a literal show and Mitch made us have the game day atmosphere of a room watching paint dry. Now he’s killed any chance of having a decent basketball team for 15 years. I think FB will be ok with JMI. Only the best QBs or skill players would receive national deals. That’s Not the case with BB elites. We are stuck.
Only thing you can do is make JMI folks and Mitch Barnhart’s lives a living hell in Lexington. Don’t let them be comfortable anywhere they go without someone shouting for their removal. Treat them like Nico Harrison was treated by Mavericks fans.
It’s worthless to even argue with a JMI account. These losers gets paid to come spout nonsense all day. Nobody on here is buying it so they can type messages into the wind for all I care.
I do not want to say you are stupid and only believe your agenda and conspiracy theories, so I will not.
That could be true and I am not saying it is not. However, what I am saying is there were issues with Kentucky Basketball High School recruiting before JMI. We all know that JMI and Kentucky signed the new deal in August of 2025. The point I am trying to make is Caleb Wilson was also seen as a big Kentucky lean for months last year, but to only end up signing with North Carolina. Academ Lewis committed, but Pope could not get him on campus. Outside of Kentucky kids that just wanted to come to Kentucky, so far we have not been able to sign elite talent under Pope. Yes, we have had some success in the portal (20+ million reasons why), but not high school kids. The issues could be JMI, but it definitely was not the issues last year.
No doubt it’s not all one or the other. I don’t think Pope’s personality, style of play or roster usage is appealing to everyone especially the top, top tier players. And JMI’s NIL construction seems to be problematic, or a work in progress at best as far working for a recruit who wants or has national deals. Throw in a dinosaur of an AD who preaches flexibility but seemingly has none and you have a perfect storm.
I no longer see him as honest and forthcoming. I think that's a big part of this. He's just as full of sh*t as Calipari was, in his own way.
This. If JMI is as great as we keep being told it is, we should have no problem getting a top name recruit. Clock is ticking. Quit saying what you'll do and go do it.
That doesn't really have anything to do with you calling another poster dumb when you don't even have your facts straight. You're Rafters version of Brick from Anchorman. Don't even know why you're shouting. You just like the drama. Can't talk ball, but you love some drama lol.
If JMI is so great as their burner accounts say,, then why are no recruits coming here? We had 2 of the top players ready to commit until their agents read the fine print in the contracts from JMI.. If its not JMI then its Pope being the worst recruiter in college.. You can't have JMI being good and Pope being a good recruiter with what's going on.. Either way both fall on Mitch and that's all the proof you need to fire him..
It’s probably a double whammy of Pope and JMI. Whoever Pope scares off, the JMI contract scares off the rest.
Shockingly, there is a third option here. I’d recommend watching The Catican podcast where they went over the JMI stuff from an attorney’s perspective. The short of it is Uncle B.S. above in this thread is correct. The issue isn’t the UK/JMI contract or structure. The issue is the JMI/player negotiations and individual player contract language. One will be corrected short term with more experience from JMI in player negotiations. The other will likely be corrected by JMI due to their 20/80 incentive from the UK/JMI structure. This is a very shorthand version but: JMI - short term bad, JMI long term likely excellent
If that’s true, then Pope will suffer because of it and will likely be the scapegoat.
So it is JMI scaring recruits away then.. Until top recruits start coming here,, its because of JMI for me.. Their poser losers they're sending here can preach all they want.. I'll lay off them when the big boys start signing here..
Has to be.. No way Pope is that bad of a recruiter.. Yea he needs to change how he's closing and stop nerding so much.. Like it or not he's gotta sell the UK to Pro route and give up most of the pride of playing here.. Nobody besides in state kids care about that..
According to the Catican, he was getting players as far as he can. JMI has to close with the contracts but they have no experience negotiating there. The attorney believes everything is fixable. Only thing is will it be fixed before Pope has already lost all support.
Aren't these agents usually attorneys? Isn't it part of their job to understand contract language?
Yes. And im very glad that after I posted this back then, I was able to learn more about the JMI contract situation by watching a podcast suggested by another poster “theBlues” where an attorney went in-depth about everything. You’re right — there is a problem and it may very well be alleviated with time thanks to JMI incentives when player contracts are signed — aka their interests align with the school’s.
Yes. And there are other major differences between FB and BB in terms of individual name and likeness potential — which is why FB has the most to actually gain from JMI.
