Caleb Wilson
Acaden Lewis
Lamar Wilkerson.
Those three guys should absolutely be on the team if not for fumbled recruitments.
Acaden Lewis
Lamar Wilkerson.
Those three guys should absolutely be on the team if not for fumbled recruitments.
What could have been
- Thread starter SkyPrince
- Start date
Think the fumbles were bad this year, just wait till next year. Coaches will absolutely roast Pope and this staff on the portal recruiting trail. I can’t imagine how they’re ridiculed on the AAU circuit. Not developing Jasper early on may be something that haunts him in his hopefully limited time left as the coach of UK
I am afraid you may be right. Pope is in serious trouble next year
I'm afraid Jasper might be the most overrated player in the class and we way overpaid for him.
I seriously doubt he returns because you know he's not happy and that usually means a change of scenery.
His salary is probably better spent elsewhere because you can't go into 26-27 trusting him to anchor the wing.
Moreno and Noah are going to be our only returning players. We need to get rid of rest of the players and start over, and don’t overpay for role players like this year. Pick smart players who can actually understand what the coaches are saying and how about getting shooters!
Don’t think any players are a lock to return. Moreno has received playing time so maybe he returns. Noah has been put under the witness protection program and I am sure his dream school scenario have been tarnished and he leaves.
Talent, offensive and defensive schemes, $$ are no guarantees that a team will be successful. UK does not have a team, but individuals who are happy despite losing as they are getting paid handsomely for mediocre results.
People on this board are so one dimensional and don't understand basketball. Jasper has the ability, he's being used wrong, just like Mo D and Aberdeen. Put Jasper with Nate Oats or Bruce Pearl and he would be the next Holloway from bama. He can create his own shot in creative ways.
We are in purgatory. No tournament this year. Next year is proving ground and another really bad season seems likely but we still can't really make a change until after the third season. So we really have to gut this thing out for a long time. Recruits are not coming. No one is coming to rescue this team and fanbase.
Buckle up. We have to focus on other hobbies for about a year and a half.
Buckle up. We have to focus on other hobbies for about a year and a half.
Why can't we make a change after two bad seasons? UL fired Payne after two seasons and he was a UL guy just like Pope is a UK guy. It could happen but will Barnhart do it if our season continues to go downhill like it is now?
Zero chance Kansas, Carolina, Duke, even Louisville boosters would stand for this but UK has to give three years regardless. Thats bologna. Louisville and Carolina has already shown you can get rid of a coach after two years and both coaches were former players. Kevin Ollie was fired after winning a NC for two bad years. They blamed it on recruiting but he didn’t do those things and UCONN paid him 4 million in settlement.
How has Jasper been used wrong?
He's been horrible in every game that has mattered.
I'll stand by my statement that he is the most overrated player in the '25 class.
DJ Wagner pt 2.
You can't blame everything on coaching.
Jasper was a borderline 4/5 star.
He was supposed to be a plug and play day 1 contributer not a system player.
It's not like the threshold for pt is very high with Aberdeen and Chandler ahead of you.
These 3 chose not to come to Uk.
Wilson wanted to be the star, Lewis left when Lowe came aboard as he did not want to be the backup or compete for the job, and Wilkerson wanted astronomical $$.
You can make a change theoretically. Hell I'd love it. But it's not happening.
I wouldn’t call last year bad. That’s a bit much. Expecting any coach make a FF run in their first year is a bit delusional. Sometimes you get lucky and it happens.
But whatever good will Pope built up last year is gone. That’s been torpedoed.
Make a change after Pope’s 3rd season? Why? Dude is relatively new to big brand coaching! Let’s revisit this after year 6, and not a year sooner.
Pretend You are the coach at UK Specifically, how
do you use Aberdeen and Pope differently?
I will go first:
Aberdeen - you are using him wrong, if you play him
Mo - not the same guy that played for Bama last year. His role is rebounding and defense. Points come of rebounding missed shots. No threat outside
JJ - he is a freshman. A shoot first guard that will learn to be a playmaker, probably at another school next year.
Chandler is the one player I cannot figure out. Maybe our best player early in the season and nothing since. I would play him nonetheless as Aberdeen never met a shot he didn’t like and offers little else. He is an impressive looking athlete though!
Next game, I start Moreno, JJ, Hawthorne, Noah, and Chandler with Potter and Tow coming off the bench. The rest sit the entire game! I am sure some will blast me for this take, but I welcome your comments.
Because Barnhart doesn’t fire any of his coaches after one bad year. He will fire them after 2 consecutive bad years (See Stoops and Elzy).
The Payne comparison is awful and is an apples/oranges comparison. Pope got a 3 seed in the NCAAs and won two tournament games in year 1 after leading his second school to the NCAA tournament.
Payne won 12 games in 2 years total.
A more apt comparison is Matt Doherty at UNC - solid first year, disaster second year, slightly better third year, fired. That’s likely Pope’s trajectory.
Barring Pope’s resignation or an enormous off court scandal, Mark Pope will be the men’s basketball coach at the University of Kentucky next season. The sooner we collectively come to grips with this, the easier it will be to swallow.
UNC has already stood for this. See, Matt Doherty. Good first year, disaster second year, mediocre third year, fired.
That’s where we’re headed with the same rationale. Last year essentially buys Pope next year and nothing more.
Pope learned his lesson this year…a failed experiment. He will do better next year putting together a team.
Yep that’s exactly what will happen. I’m not sure the type of players that will fill the roster next year but it won’t be good.
Um, this was no experiment. He was told no by everyone he recruited. Most of these guys were his 4th choice. This was the best he could get in the end. I wish this was an experiment.
I would love to ask those three young men why they did NOT choose UK and I'd bet it had nothing to with money difference, distance from home difference. I would bet if all three were totally transparent, the sales pitch that each school offered and a clear explanation on how they would fit and be used in their program. I am not convienced that Pope knows the answers to those questions well enough to sell to the recruits. I think this is our total issue with recruiting. Most portal kids are after money, great 5 star kids like to know what is the schoo'ls plan for them and development. Pope can not develop a fever blister.
I think you're spot on. All 3 were ours. One was committed. Wilkerson was basically committed and flipped last second. I think Wilson was right there too.