UK never offered Golden, Vogel, Oats, Pearl, Miller or Kelsey.
I'd say half of those guys would say "yes" if the money and NIL flexibility was right.
I'd say half of those guys would say "yes" if the money and NIL flexibility was right.
Pope was a panic hire
- Thread starter seccats04
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Camel back might not be broke but all four legs are. That was a painful game. Icing on the cake was the one Gonzaga fan leaving yelling go dawgs or whatever they are. He was loving it up. I don’t blame him.
Barnhart wasn‘t touching any coach that couldn’t be controlled because he couldn’t handle Cal.
Don't leave it all up to Barnhart. That is the first problem. There are no excuses for Barnhart to have screwed this up again. This is why his *** shouldn't be here as the AD of the University of Kentucky and away from the hiring process. Also, in contract extensions that hold this school hostage. A competent committee should have been hell bent the correct hire was made, as they did in 2009 as Calipari was the right man for the job at that time before getting too complacent and losing his edge here. Cal was not Mitch's guy in 2009. A Barnhart guy should have not been the hire in 2024 and should never again be a Mickey Mouse hire Mitch approves of. His judgement is awful and has proven this time after time.
Welcome to the good ole boy mindset that is running UK.
It's not that hard to get it right like they did in 2009 with the money Kentucky spends. The man would have taken the job in 2007 but settled for a drunk instead. Yet again a disaster. An alumni hire with no resume is a lazy hire.
I'd prefer someone to interview JQ and ask him if he wants to play. If not and he doesn't want to get injured, I don't blame him.
I mean that jokingly and seriously. I dont think he takes the court and unites the team to victory regardless. He'll probably post good stat lines but unfortunately our performance has nothing to do with his position to be a winning team.
You could put any big man on this team and we'd still suck.
I would bet a lot of money that MB had nothing to do with Stoops' firing or the quick hire of Stein. First of all, Mitch doesn't move that quick. And second, look at how feisty MB was when reporters were asking questions. It looked like an elderly parent that had his driving privileges taken away. MB *** needs to be shown the door NOW. You've costed the school way too much money with bad hires and terrible contracts. You don't get to retire when you're that bad at your job.
And Eli C. needs to be shown the door as well if he is on board with giving MB the contractor deal after he retires (for $800k/year!). This reeks of corruption and giving friends jobs they are not qualified for.
Your last sentence was true. But Pope was not the best hire we could've made. We got turned down by two coaches but never offered Golden, Oats, Pearl, Donovan, etc. I know Pearl is old and just retired but I think he would've taken the job and you could've gotten at least 3 good years out of him to get the program back on track and then reevaluate your situation. Pope was a panic hire.
I think there was an interest call to Oats who can’t leave Alabama due to family issues.
Donovan has supposedly turned us down before and I don’t think he’s ever coming back to CBB.
Golden would’ve been as much of a risk as Pope as he was mostly unproven.
That leaves Pearl and I’ll tell you right now MB was NEVER making that call.
Imo this is it. He just went through a situation where the basketball coach has so much power, Mitch had no control.
After drew said no, he placated donors by half heartedly pursuing Hurley. He was told oats couldn't come for some unspecified reason but wasn't due to custody. He never pursued pearl whatsoever.
Instead while boosters were waiting to hear about his next steps, they got crickets. They learned Pope got hired via news reports. They were furious but Pope won them over.
Pearl was the hire. Oats couldn't accept for whatever reason. Pearl gives you five years of great basketball and the charisma fans want. Then in five years, you give pope and others time to develop. Hell BYU lured the hottest nba assistant. He was unprepared for drew saying no when his wife's concern should've been vetted out way before. Just went with the first yes man he could.
I love Pope but we shouldn't pay premium money for a guy to learn on the job. Especially when he always coached at Mormon schools where culture was a given.
I really would hate to see this not work, but whoever took the keys from Mitch in that football hire needs to start back channeling here too. If we can get someone like Golden interested, you have to consider making the move.
Oats family issues appear to have been not true, everything i find says he is still married. We never called him and then Bama put out a statement just because media was mentioning him in our list of possibles... and it helps recruiting and such to say you are staying put.
UK should have called tommy loyd, dusty may, Pearl could have given us 4 or 5 good years, even Pitino could have given us 4 or 5 years to get us on track....So many others , i could go on and on really before ever getting low enough on a list to get to a guy like Pope for the Kentucky job.
Gamble with a TOTALLY UNPROVEN COACH at One of , if not Top Basketball Schools of all time.
When this season falls off the rails, if it does continue to, the radio shows will get the calls and fans will start to get way more vocal.
BUT THE Loudest blame needs to be on Mitch Barnhart... and every mention of Pope needing to go, in the same breath should be about Firing Barnhart as well.
Pearl also quit this year. Playing devils advocate maybe Mitch caught wind of that potentially happening? Who knows. But that would’ve sucked to get a good out of Pearl and then he ditched us.
The hire should’ve been Oats or Lloyd.
Mitch didn't even reach out. Jmo if he did, Pearl takes the job and stays at least three seasons.