Was there ever a question that he might?
I presumed this was a given. New coaches never retain their predecessor’s staff.
I presumed this was a given. New coaches never retain their predecessor’s staff.
Pope says no to Coach O
- Thread starter BassProCat
- Start date
Pope wants to work with who Pope wants to work with and Coach O wasn’t one of those guys….. So we need to move onto the next….
Not sure why people think he was that great. He did very poorly away from UK. He was on a staff that didn't seem to be doing much of anything. I think it's a good move letting him move on.
Coach O has been here since the season ended doing his job when everyone else quit. That could show loyalty to his employer I suppose, yet not one player is returning thus far so what exactly has he been doing?
Yeah I lost a part time job in high school that way.
Sometimes you could be the best dude on earth and a new boss/coach/director doesn’t give two craps. You’re out. They want THEIR guys. And sometimes that works. And sometimes it fails horribly.
I’m not always thrilled by that mentality as it can lead to nepotism and other toxic cultures. (see Cal). But we have to give Pope a shot and trust he can get it done.
I respect his recruiting ability, assuming he was truly the key to getting so many here, however, I never understood his role as an Assistant outside of that. What did he teach? What was his area of expertise on the court? Which players was he responsible for developing and improving? Would he be knowledgeable enough to teach the system Pope wants to implement? Those are all questions I assume need to be answered before I make a hire. I know we need recruiters, but we need recruiters who can sell kids on their roles in Popes system and not focus on their aspirations of the NBA.
Apparently we’re going to have two coaches running Xs and Os (Pope and the other guy) and then three recruiters. Can’t think O was bad enough to say see ya. But it is what it is.
You have to realize that there are folks on this site who, if they're being honest, only care about one thing: NBA draft picks. These fools are only looking for a leg up on their gambling habits. They hang around this site looking for the scoop on players. I know, someone I work with who gambles (parlays all that, trading and selling cards) A LOT and it's all he talks about .... "draft pick bla bla bla".
W
Why not cut his pay and put him in an administrative role coordinating NIL or something?
I guess it might be like Cal would have a wiretap on the program if we did that.
Why not cut his pay and put him in an administrative role coordinating NIL or something?
I guess it might be like Cal would have a wiretap on the program if we did that.
OA was good at bringing in OAD talent it seemed but I don't know what his X and O responsibility was. I don't know if Cal allowed any other coach to have input on the floor. It seemed like maybe he didn't with his interactions with his assistants during games at times. We have to remember this: Pope is going to recruit different types of players from what KENTUCKY has gotten for the last 15 years. There may not be many OADs anymore. He has a system that requires a different skill set. He's going to have assistants that have a certain responsibility for different X and O strategies. The type of players he needs for his system will probably be easier to recruit because OAD schools aren't likely to be after them so much.
Same here. You hire the best man for the job, period. Recruiting is about relationships. OA is a top level recruiter, one of the best and wanted to be here. I don't get the conspiracy theory crap. I'll support whoever his replacement is and trust that Pope had his reasons. Lets hope he's right and we get the right man. But yes, this move surprises me a bit. How many better people for the job are out there...that clearly wanted to be here on top of that.
I’m sure there are many that are like that, but I think some people just liked the idea of having Coach O on staff as a recruiter. I don’t want us to just only pursue players that are future NBA studs, but as Mark Pope said himself, you gotta have a mix
He’s got a house being built I assume he’s on the hook for and the family wants to live in it. Cmon yall it has prob very little to do with wanting to separate from Cal.
He has a retention bonus coming up. It wasn't driven by altruism or love of the school.
Also sounds like he was more concerned about leaving Lexington than leaving the program. If only he worked for a coach that cared that a key assistant was building a house and might not want to run off to hog country
The interesting part to me is if he was building a house in Lex, did he not know Cal was trying to bounce? Surely.
I think O would have been a great addition. But, I will defer to Pope. It sounds like he has the staff just about rounded out.
There better be an A+ recruiter brought in.
There better be an A+ recruiter brought in.
"Sounds like?!" Did O make any public statements that I missed? Its just been a bunch of hearsay and speculation as to why he wanted to stay.
I really like Antigua. I think Pope wants guys he knows well. Hope Antigua could stay at UK in some Admin role or something.
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NO attachments to the old reign of destruction to remain
bye bye to all
rr
bye bye to all
rr
Agree as well as I would not either if I was in his position.
I am personally going to surround myself with people I have full confidence in and trust.
It already got out. Unless we don’t recruit well, we get the best of both worlds. Orlando really wanted to get away from Cal AND we get to clean house!
If you conspiracy types don't have enough to work with, where the hell are our thread topics gonna come from in June and July?
He has... the problem was Cal handcuffed and limited him.
O is likable/affable; he could easily get blue chips or high-level transfers. I suspect he goes back to Illinois, to their benefit.
Soooo....we've got some posters who say that we're KENTUCKY...the biggest, baddest, and best so we can get any recruit we want.
And now some are saying that we won't get anyone anymore (good/great players) with O gone.
And now some are saying that we won't get anyone anymore (good/great players) with O gone.
Both of those are valid points. I wanted to keep him for his recruiting contacts more than anything. He seems to love it here. I hope Pope assembles a great staff.
That’s a sophomoric take. O knows what elite players want to hear. He would have been an asset. This is a mistake.
He delivered in 1996 I have no doubt he’ll deliver in 2024-2025!
lol yeah because delivering as a player and a coach are the same thing.
Look, I’m a believer in Pope, but it has nearly nothing to do with his playing career, nor should it.
He’ll be fine man too many people on here are freaking out. We don’t even know the full coaching staff and we don’t even know the full roster yet. Hell we haven’t even played a damn game yet. I understand everyone can have their own opinion. Mines going to stay the way it is until it’s proven wrong.
If they are employed / hired by the school, why would it ? Just because Cal left doesn't mean the other coaches are not still committed to the school. Not saying that is the case here, but assistants should not be let go JUST BECAUSE the head coach leaves. Now if the new guy doesn't feel he is the right fit, then reach a buy out agreement. Should Tyler Ulis be fired because Cal left ? Even though he played here, doesn't make him any different than O.
So you want Tyler Ulis let go also right ? He is a Cal "tentacle".
I'm curious, what exactly did Ulis do last year? Anytime I saw him, he wasn't really interacting or teaching, just watching the game.