Pope & McNeeley had zoom call tonite
- Thread starter BassProCat
- Start date
I wish he would visit.I think he had a visit with Uconn and Cal flew in to see him.
Lol, how many scholarships does Arkansas have anyway. They going to get the Calboys that left here and mentioned with 90 percent of portal players according to different outlets.
Problem is they got a coach that can't do anything with them
Problem is they got a coach that can't do anything with them
Sure is.
But there is no other system he could play in that matches his strengths better than Mark Pope's. Hurley already ADMITTED that Freshmen do NOT play a major role in his program, Self has 3 other players at his position and Cal contacting him is a JOKE!!
Just hope he gives UK a shot.
I’d like to have this kid. But we have no shot
Will be interesting to see who UConn chooses between mckneely & brea
Right... type of player we would of killed for him to recruit at Kentucky. Likely just because he has no choice this late into the recruiting window
He was recruiting him before he left UK.
Rockfly says it, and Bookerboy loves it. You 2 haters deserve each other.
I think Arkansas could land every single recruit and portal player on Cal’s dream list and still have double digit losses next season. The guy can’t coach, he had 6 NBA players on the roster this year and compiled 11 losses.
Hater? Lol. Dude I’m on here hitting refresh like you and everyone else hoping to see good news because I’m a huge Kentucky fan. Just like you. But this kid is NOT coming here. That’s just how it is. Face reality. When we find out that this kid chooses someone else I’m not gonna come back here and rub it in or anything. It stings everytime
We lose out on a kid.
You guys are living on straight hopium right now and that’s sad because I hate seeing everyone get let down. The possibility is very real that year one will be met with lots of challenges roster-wise.
Pope has a staff if not completed almost but can’t announce it until next week. Jobs have to be posted for 7 days. KY has more NIL money then UConn or Arkansas
You could be right. But you drop nothing but negativity, and you drop it all as fact. When the truth is, you KNOW nothing. You're guessing, and your general negativity slants every guess.
Sorry. I will try to start saying IMO before I say anything on a message board. All of my guesses are educated guesses. Pope got on this kid late. He didn’t get a visit or an in person meeting. We don’t have a staff and we only have two kids on the roster. UConn got a visit. Cal was on him before he left Kentucky
It would take a miracle to land this one. I’m sorry if I’m not saying things that make you feel good.
Finger crossed that we just outpay everyone from now on. I’m cool with it.
Kentucky can announce 2 of the staff positions Friday, and the others Monday
You’ll be thrilled to learn that we can’t legally announce assistant coaches until after 7 days that the job was posted publicly. It’s against the law. Literally.
Cal is getting credit for guys going to the NBA who would have gotten to the NBA even if they didn't go to college. To be honest, I don't know of a single player who Cal made a better player before leaving.
There was more of a reason to feel that way when Cal was here. All Cal did was talk, but he did very little for the last 6 to 7 years of being here. It should have been very easy to keep UK in the top 25; however, to get BYU there without a lot of named guys is doing something.
We have a staff, just because they aren’t announced yet doesn’t mean we don’t have a staff. We may not have a full staff yet but there’s at least 3 now.
It's risky just about everywhere because only one team can win the title each year and as Coach Pope correctly noted, at UK we don't consider anything less than an NCAA title to be acceptable. I like it that way because that's what separates UK from just about any other program with maybe 2 or 3 exceptions. The important thing is to improve in college enough to have a shot at playing at the next level and, of course, making big bucks doing it. At UK you will get plenty of exposure regardless of what our record is in 2025. If you can see a lot of playing time and we offer a fun style of play with a coach who can develop players, that's pretty much what most HS recruits and portal transfers are looking for, IMO.
The only issue is UCONN has most roster spots filled & $ they can dedicate to McNeely, knowing he was a priority all along which is why they have the only OV scheduled. UK has to spread their money to fill roster spots. Can't afford to dedicate too much to 1 guy when you only have 2 players (I'm counting Travis Perry with Collin Chandler's Transfer Commitment yesterday)
Ky has enough money to pay him and build a full roster of portal players also. Reed if he stays will get his own deal and money. Most likely McNeely would get his own deal too.
Actually they could announce 2 more today they had 3 positions that expired yesterday.
This. I'll get more optimistic if we get a visit. Getting a zoom call is at least a step.
In terms of recruiting high level freshman, pope has zero relationships. None. We need a staff and quickly.
Mcneely is an important player to get, not just because he is a good player who can produce, but it IMMEDIATELY puts to bed some of the fear of Popse recruiting ability. Come into the coaching position and hop into a recruiting battle late and still snag a highly desired 5 star? It sends a message bigger than the footprint Mcneely himself will have as a player. Pope needs to win this one.
Not getting my hopes up with Cal and UCONN on him hard. I hope we could somehow snatch him though.
100% my thoughts, it’s gonna take a minute for Pope to get into big recruiting battles and be victorious. I hope we have a couple really highly rated assistants who can recruit well.
I agree but McNeely just watched Stephon Castle as a freshman play the hardest position on the court and play it well in a NC and dominate year. Cal will sell his soul to McNeely whether he has the space or not. He will boot someone or they will never play if he has too.
There were definitely players who got better here, but there were also many who got worse. You are correct in that he recruited guys who would have went pro regardless though. Smart strategy and it’s paid off for him in recruiting. He’s the “one!”
Can't just show up and stalk someone. The fact we can't get anything in person shows how much a longshot this really is.
All we can hope is this zoom gets us something in person.