Kentucky will not get a home run hire

[Morgousky859]

We can be honest and it not mean you’re trolling or hating or another team fan(not saying the op is a uk fan)

At the time of hire it was not a home run.

In fact, the byu people wanted him gone - still can’t figure out what was the issue there.

But, hindsight says he was the RIGHT choice. And he’s done absolutely nothing that makes me understand why the byu people wanted him gone

I was on BYU platforms during the hire. Went to multiple ones and read their beats. I’ve seen it said before that they wanted him gone. Couldn’t be further from the truth from what I saw. Message boards were upset but said it’s Kentucky and they get it. A few of their writers were sad to see him go. I forget what channel it was on YouTube, believe it was lockedonBYU. They were saying they’d hoped he would have stayed but understand Kentucky is Kentucky. Very complimentary of pope and expressed how good of a coach he was becoming.

I don’t believe I saw the first publication at the time suggesting they were happy to see him go. I’ve seen it said here a few times but nothing I saw suggested it in the initial days.

 

[PhattyJ4UK_rivals309166]

I was on BYU platforms during the hire. Went to multiple ones and read their beats. I’ve seen it said before that they wanted him gone. Couldn’t be further from the truth from what I saw. Message boards were upset but said it’s Kentucky and they get it. A few of their writers were sad to see him go. I forget what channel it was on YouTube, believe it was lockedonBYU. They were saying they’d hoped he would have stayed but understand Kentucky is Kentucky. Very complimentary of pope and expressed how good of a coach he was becoming.

I don’t believe I saw the first publication at the time suggesting they were happy to see him go. I’ve seen it said here a few times but nothing I saw suggested it in the initial days.

I deal with several and they didn’t know I was a Kentucky fan and they all said that they wanted him gone and that he also wanted to be gone.

The lead in was “why didn’t you spend money like this before this year.”

That was the answer though no one had anything bad to say about him.

 

[Morgousky859]

I deal with several and they didn’t know I was a Kentucky fan and they all said that they wanted him gone and that he also wanted to be gone.

The lead in was “why didn’t you spend money like this before this year.”

That was the answer though no one had anything bad to say about him.

Yea I have no idea really. I think most of the negative stuff was in reaction to him leaving them. “We didn’t want him anyway” type of stuff. Then pumping up their new hire to suggest it’s better off in the end. Sort of natural reactions. I just know there’s never an answer as to why they wanted him gone so I personally don’t think they did. I also think BUY was about to try and spend anyway he just didn’t get to the point where they were. BYU wants to be a major player and having your coach bail on you doesn’t send that signal. I think personally they were always about to buy a few guys regardless and wanted to make a splash hire for the NIL era after their coach left.

But again I don’t know for sure. I just never saw their writers or fans online carry a negative tone about him so I just assume it’s the typical we don’t want you anyway type of deal.

I take it you mean you know a few out in Utah? You might have a better understanding for it.

 

[LadyCaytIL]

Which is why it makes no sense why this thread was revived

This thread wasnt revived because of the topic, It was brought up with several other threads the OP has created showing the OP's history of trolling with Doom posts.

 

[BigB|uSoTru]

Dragging up old threads is pathetic.

 

[thack_kat]

We can be honest and it not mean you’re trolling or hating or another team fan(not saying the op is a uk fan)

At the time of hire it was not a home run.

In fact, the byu people wanted him gone - still can’t figure out what was the issue there.

But, hindsight says he was the RIGHT choice. And he’s done absolutely nothing that makes me understand why the byu people wanted him gone

My guess is BYU was tired of him talking about UK all of the time,

 

[jeffky]

This thread wasnt revived because of the topic, It was brought up with several other threads the OP has created showing the OP's history of trolling with Doom posts.

Aka weirdo and what's even more disturbing probably a grown man too

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Maybe it wasn’t a home run hire at the time? It was a safe hire.

It could very well turn out to be a home run!

Reading the history of UK basketball Rupp wasn’t considered a home run hire either. We know how that turned out.

Pope was the right man at the right time.

The only guy offered other than him was Drew. Thankfully he said no.

 

[CaptainBoogerBuns]

This thread wasnt revived because of the topic, It was brought up with several other threads the OP has created showing the OP's history of trolling with Doom posts.

Who gets to decide what makes a "real fan"?

 

[BigB|uSoTru]

Who gets to decide what makes a "real fan"?

 

[LadyCaytIL]

Who gets to decide what makes a "real fan"?

we all have freedom to call out whoever we want and everyone gets to decide for themselves in this situation if the OP of the threads Omahacats has an agenda with the sheer number of starting threads by doom posting.

 

[mebeblue2]

Not like they did with Pitino and Calipari. Kentucky doesn’t have the same flare that it use to. Top coaches have to weight the risk to reward. We might offer more money. But is it worth the pressure of being fired in a few years? Is it worth having the negative fan base want to run you out if you miss the tournament or lose in the first round one year? Probably not. Which is why a home run hire won’t happen. Kentucky will get a good coach I believe. Just not a great one.
I think they better hope we get Drew. Because after him, your options are really going to decline

tells BBN all we need to know about you

 

[Mike-D]

I'm just glad we didn't get Drew, like the OP wanted. Good lord.

 

[AFKY_Blue_RedsBengals]

 

[bucsrule8872]

OmahaCats. Just one more reason for me to never go to Omaha. Like I needed one.

 

[Cleatortoises]

Pope was my first choice.
I have lorded that over my wife, son, and two daughters, who laughed at me, like the ruthless tyrant I am.

 

[Skyguyb27]

C’mon man. Weren’t you on here the night of the hire outraged and trying to organize an email campaign or something ridiculous to get Mitch to change his mind? And wasn’t that thread also resurrected and you asked the mods to delete it?

OP wasn’t exactly wrong, we didn’t get what was viewed as a home run hire at the time.

Eh a lot of fans were pissed Mitch hired Pope instead of Hurley. Little did we all know in less than a year we would be thankful we hired Pope and not Hurley. Either way it doesn’t reflect on his fanhood. He may or may not be a troll but being mad about Pope shouldn’t be the first round of proof.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Eh a lot of fans were pissed Mitch hired Pope instead of Hurley. Little did we all know in less than a year we would be thankful we hired Pope and not Hurley. Either way it doesn’t reflect on his fanhood. He may or may not be a troll but being mad about Pope shouldn’t be the first round of proof.

Hurley wasn't an option. He said no. I think the fans initially were upset we didn't talk to any other bigger name coaches before going to Pope.

 

[Morgousky859]

Eh a lot of fans were pissed Mitch hired Pope instead of Hurley. Little did we all know in less than a year we would be thankful we hired Pope and not Hurley. Either way it doesn’t reflect on his fanhood. He may or may not be a troll but being mad about Pope shouldn’t be the first round of proof.

I want no part of Hurley. Didn’t now and don’t then. Talk about a horrendous fit here, he’d be on level with Billy G in terms of bad. Kentuckys basketball coach is not much different than the governors seat. If you can’t handle it then nothing is changing it. I’ve always been of the opinion Hurley was a very fortunate coach that won’t continue success and although I could be wrong I don’t believe I will be. UConn doesn’t have the money to continue at that rate. Now his name is tanking so over the next 5 years I don’t think he’ll be the guy everyone thought. But I said no to Hurley because he was offered. Doesn’t fit UK at all imo.

 

[EliteBlue]

I deal with several and they didn’t know I was a Kentucky fan and they all said that they wanted him gone and that he also wanted to be gone.

The lead in was “why didn’t you spend money like this before this year.”

That was the answer though no one had anything bad to say about him.

They didn’t spend money like that before because they were in a mid major conference without multi-million dollar tv contracts.

Add to that the fact that the Wild West NIL off season free agency resulting in recruiting via million dollar deals didn’t really start until 2 years ago.

Pope successfully ushered them into the B12 and competed with less in year 1. Then BYU had the spotlight thrust upon them by association of the Cal/UK/Pope media coverage and their big money donors decided to answer the call in this new era that has only existed a couple years

 

[Morgousky859]

They didn’t spend money like that before because they were in a mid major conference without multi-million dollar tv contracts.

Add to that the fact that the Wild West NIL off season free agency resulting in recruiting via million dollar deals didn’t really start until 2 years ago.

Pope successfully ushered them into the B12 and competed with less in year 1. Then BYU had the spotlight thrust upon them by association of the Cal/UK/Pope media coverage and their big money donors decided to answer the call in this new era that has only existed a couple years

Yep. The details are all in the timing. If you watch the timeline and insert the details you can clearly see this is about how the flow went. Anything else to me is just BYU puffing their chest and acting like they weren’t rejected. No coach is staying at BYU over Kentucky and they all know it. They said as much after he left.

 

[Skyguyb27]

I want no part of Hurley. Didn’t now and don’t then. Talk about a horrendous fit here, he’d be on level with Billy G in terms of bad. Kentuckys basketball coach is not much different than the governors seat. If you can’t handle it then nothing is changing it. I’ve always been of the opinion Hurley was a very fortunate coach that won’t continue success and although I could be wrong I don’t believe I will be. UConn doesn’t have the money to continue at that rate. Now his name is tanking so over the next 5 years I don’t think he’ll be the guy everyone thought. But I said no to Hurley because he was offered. Doesn’t fit UK at all imo.

That may be but a lot did

 

[Morgousky859]

That may be but a lot did

Yea I was in disbelief at how many wanted him. I mean I get it, he’s coming off back to back. I followed him pretty closely though and knew immediately this guy can’t coach at UK. I also knew he’d turn it down and thought it was really bad press for UK to even ask. Never understood trying from any angle. Still don’t know why we did.

Also just imagine what he’d be walking into. The most demanding job expecting him to win at the highest level after he already has and probably can’t again. It all spells out disaster. I just can’t for the life of me understand how so few understood it. Maybe I’m missing something.

 

[Skyguyb27]

Yea I was in disbelief at how many wanted him. I mean I get it, he’s coming off back to back. I followed him pretty closely though and knew immediately this guy can’t coach at UK. I also knew he’d turn it down and thought it was really bad press for UK to even ask. Never understood trying from any angle. Still don’t know why we did.

Also just imagine what he’d be walking into. The most demanding job expecting him to win at the highest level after he already has and probably can’t again. It all spells out disaster. I just can’t for the life of me understand how so few understood it. Maybe I’m missing something.

I liked the idea of a known winner but the elephant in the room was always how will he get along with BBN. I don’t think that marriage would have lasted very long. I was in the WTF column the day Pope was announced. I think the gas added was tolerating Cal so long then just hiring Pope without talking to a few others. Admittedly I couldn’t have been more wrong. He was exactly
what I was hoping for. I truely believe he squeezed every ounce of winning ball he could out of last years team and I’m really excited to see what he can do with the upgrades this year.

 

[bthaunert]

Yea I was in disbelief at how many wanted him. I mean I get it, he’s coming off back to back. I followed him pretty closely though and knew immediately this guy can’t coach at UK. I also knew he’d turn it down and thought it was really bad press for UK to even ask. Never understood trying from any angle. Still don’t know why we did.

Also just imagine what he’d be walking into. The most demanding job expecting him to win at the highest level after he already has and probably can’t again. It all spells out disaster. I just can’t for the life of me understand how so few understood it. Maybe I’m missing something.

I understand how from a style standpoint, you can see he wouldn't be a good fit here with his antics, but to downplay his success and what he did over those 2 years is off base imo. First, he won at Rhode Island in ways they hadn't seen since they had Lamar Odom, Tyson Wheeler and Cuttino Mobley in the late 90's. Then the dude won back-to-back nati's and won every single one of those 12 games by 13 points or more. You don't do that by being lucky or being a mediocre coach.

So, if by "he can't coach at UK" means his antics wouldn't last here, then yeah, if he wasn't having major success, it would wear on people. If he was winning, no one would care.

The part I do agree with you on, is offering great coaches because you feel like you have to, with no shot at getting them (think Brad Stevens). Like many, I wasn't overly happy with the Pope hire when it happened, but I understand the notion of moving pretty quick to the guy you knew would say yes.

 

[Morgousky859]

I understand how from a style standpoint, you can see he wouldn't be a good fit here with his antics, but to downplay his success and what he did over those 2 years is off base imo. First, he won at Rhode Island in ways they hadn't seen since they had Lamar Odom, Tyson Wheeler and Cuttino Mobley in the late 90's. Then the dude won back-to-back nati's and won every single one of those 12 games by 13 points or more. You don't do that by being lucky or being a mediocre coach.

So, if by "he can't coach at UK" means his antics wouldn't last here, then yeah, if he wasn't having major success, it would wear on people. If he was winning, no one would care.

The part I do agree with you on, is offering great coaches because you feel like you have to, with no shot at getting them (think Brad Stevens). Like many, I wasn't overly happy with the Pope hire when it happened, but I understand the notion of moving pretty quick to the guy you knew would say yes.

It’s not just his antics but that was a large part of it. Just judging off of my own opinions from what I see, I was never convinced he’d win big here. I’m not saying it’s all just lightening in a bottle, but I do think until I see him sustain, I won’t necessarily believe he’s as good as advertised. He had 2 good teams at RI from what I remember which does show he’s a good coach but I don’t see anything else. He was pretty blah at UConn until he hit. Now if he keeps winning to high levels of course. But I don’t think he will, but off of nothing more than something I think I feel. Just off of my gut really.

I’ve been decent in my time calling these sorts of things. For example without baggage, I’d take Beard over him hands down no questions asked.

 

[ArtLaibsGhost_rivals]

Why are we talking about a thread started in 2024. I call ********