Stokes?
- Thread starter BlueBlood96Cat
- Start date
UK needed to sign him and Collins in the early signing period. Anything can happen the longer this drags out, including other schools getting involved.
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I question his attitude if the rumors are true. Apparently he was causing enough trouble in school that he either had to leave or be suspended/expelled.
Last thing I heard was that Kansas was gaining ground.
Nothing wrong with the guys you're wanting, but there's a troubling pattern that I'm sure you're aware of. Everytime we miss on guys what's the first thing one typically says? "I'd rather have....." We can't keep chasing the NEXT recruit. At some point we need to land THIS recruit. Pope will have to come to terms with this, or the fanbase will run him out after a series of Indiana-like seasons.
I can't take any UK fan seriously who doesn't think a guy like Stokes is more vital to competing for a Final Four than the next round of Kam Williams and Brandon Garrison.
Calipari had Davis, Jones and MKG. Tubby had Magloire, Turner and Mohammed. Pitino had Walker, Mercer and Delk. Got to get the studs.
Calipari had Davis, Jones and MKG. Tubby had Magloire, Turner and Mohammed. Pitino had Walker, Mercer and Delk. Got to get the studs.
The ole “we didn’t need him” brace before the fall. I don’t care how good he is, we have to sign him to then negative momentum. I don’t even think his game is the issue, it’s the perception. He can change how Pope is viewed. It’s getting negative and when you’re Mark and don’t have a resume these coaches move to bury you. People don’t understand. This is a pivotal time for Mark. Slip anymore and it’s going sideways.
I have no confidence in Pope's ability to recruit HS players.
I haven’t heard a single fan talk about another round of Garrison. lol. But returning the talents that are showing upside and significant improvement? Yes, that’s more important to me than having Stokes IF the guy has issues with fit. We don’t know if Kentucky has quietly backed out and if they did, there seems to be enough there to say it’s understandable. Even the people you disagree with, me for example, still believe you need talent. The difference, and you’ve yet to provide a good reason based on facts, is that I don’t think you NEED a Stokes. As a matter of fact, I’m willing to say having a freshman OAD as your best player is probably a bad thing this day and age. If this was 2003 and you could have guys of Stokes level stay in your program, I’d be all about it (assuming character fit) but this ain’t 2003. I’m not going to regurgitate the facts that already know. You already know you have nothing to reply with other than hypotheticals, because it’s clear —- you do not have to have a freshman “stud” anymore. You can have all kinds of “studs” and those “studs” most often wouldn’t even meet the criteria of “studs” most of you want. This is why I say give it time and see if you aren’t happier letting this play out. You want the same thing that I want — Kentucky to be the best. However, I think your view results in that being less likely to happen and it’s clear with actual factuals.
You don’t mortgage your future for PR wins. Pope needs to stop listening to the fanbase and build the best rosters he can. If he does what the fan wants and it doesn’t provide the results we want, he will get canned anyway. Most of our fans, myself definitely included, are emotionally charged and will not think clearly. He needs to shut the noise and do the job.
A top 5 composite HS player, has a better chance of being a stud, than a 4 star. Who may take 2-3 years to MAYBE get half as good, as a John Wall.
Based on what? Define stud and what you mean by more likely? I don’t think you’re right.
Pope has put 0 players in the NBA. That matters, to recruits and families. Other coaches will spring on that. It's not winning fanbase brownie points. This stuff matters. Calipari was/is still getting 5 star guards. Because of who he has in the NBA. Some of which was 10+ years ago. You can't let a narrative be built in circles.
False. Go check again. But I will also say, even if had zero, he’s only had one year at Kentucky. I do believe we have two guys from the NBA right now from last years team. I’m gonna go double check and come back to this.
Edit: Just confirmed Brea and Amari are NBA players…..
So I’ll wait for you to move the goalposts…
Drafted in the 1st round is what I mean.
I agree, he needs to build the best roster and those freshman alone aren’t bringing championships. My point right now is he’s under extreme attack from the other coaches in the league. He will have to recruit well enough at all levels to be here. Because once the perception goes to hell, he won’t recruit well anywhere without overpaying which we can’t get into. Pope has already shown he wants to recruit freshman too he’s not changing that.
So the point is he needs some quality news. You can’t have PR going south part of this job is a fanbase that believes in you. Same reason Mashburn was such a big deal in the 90’s. We want to stop the bleeding and have good national perception. if he misses stokes he needs to bring in some guys to offset it. But he’s wasted lots of time recruiting freshman so he’s not going to stop and you can’t lose these battles every time.
If Mark Pope can not handle Oweh
I can't see how he could handle Stokes
However, I don't see Stokes coming here now.
I can't see how he could handle Stokes
However, I don't see Stokes coming here now.
I don’t think losing these “battles” mean anything. They do to the fans, because we erroneously equate high school classes with titles. We have a large batch of players likely to return and many of them will have guaranteed roster spots. That will make recruiting and portaling a challenge for those positions. I still think we will land either a very good couple recruits or one and a portal stud to boot. We, as fans, need to be more educated on this stuff because if you’re worried about PR, we aren’t helping with that. Like at all.
Branch is a stud and he just switched to the senior class. I rather have him. If you rather have Stokes, good for you.
Branch is impressive, watched couple highlight reels on him. I don’t know much but he passes the eye test with flying colors.
I really don’t get that. While we have been on different sides of the aisle on many points, I’ve seen your posts as nothing but kind and respectful. Wonder if a mistake was made. I’d reach out to jedwar or DraftCat
Really? I’ll have to clean up some things before it goes down. Do you have any idea why? I didn’t even realize we had mods here anymore. Who are they? Didn’t seem like it.
Richie ... I've been reading your posts on RR for a long time, and I respect your judgment and your opinions. But, respectfully ... Calipari didn't "put John Wall into the NBA", nor did Calipari put AD or Julius Randle or KAT or Booker into the NBA. Those were great players who would have been in the NBA having the same great careers that they have ended up having, if they had gone to Kansas or UCLA or Duke. Calipari was just the huckster salesman who was able to convince them to come to UK and play on the team he was coaching (and, my guess, the UK tradition had no small part in the matter). Calipari is living, breathing proof of the fact that you can fool all of the people some of the time, and you can fool some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. But, as usual, I digress about Calipari.
IMHO Coach Pope will be OK. He'll get his AD or Randle or KAT, and he'll be off to the races ... and once Coach Pope gets to the top level, he'll stay at the top level as long as he's healthy. Just MHO, of course. And, whatever ... GO 'CATS ! ! !
Ask @Aike, He may be able to look into it. My account was supposed to be banned for a week but somehow was banned for a year.
Yea that’s what makes it confusing. I’ve never really went back and forth with anybody. I’ll just use this account I reckon. I’m not gonna say I didn’t care because I enjoy posting on here.
I can understand that but it may be worth asking a mod. I’ve never seen you say anything untoward to anyone at all.
Only thing I can think of is I downed the program a little but it was just an opinion. UK is my team. I thought I was allowed to criticize them but ig not.
I wasn’t aware of any rules like that. I’ve said things that could be construed as that about Kentucky football. I love UKFB but I’ve contended they have a glass ceiling. Would be nice if there were rules written out somewhere so you could at least know what is and isn’t allowed.