Ehhh, Pope has a far better resume than Doherty had. He has a rep for being a very solid coach - this is not a bad hire by any means
Coaching Carousel (Basketball)
- Status
Assuming Kentucky is going to recruit for itself, does Pope have a chance?
Dude, just give it a rest.
They were the 17th overall seed who got dropped an entire seed line and we got to face it. No one said it was a f'n conspiracy. People just said we got screwed.
You continually exaggerate, create strawmen, and use hyperbole.... ALL in a negative manner. Just. Stop.
They were the 17th overall seed who got dropped an entire seed line and we got to face it. No one said it was a f'n conspiracy. People just said we got screwed.
You continually exaggerate, create strawmen, and use hyperbole.... ALL in a negative manner. Just. Stop.
My favorite comment concerning the alleged UK pursuit of Mark Pope, having endured fierce competition, in the "We are a fricking joke" thread in the BBN thread referenced above:
View attachment 33521
Was just going to say this has Woodson/IU vibes. Strike out on top candidates. Turn to an alum who fan base is like warm on at best.
But, I have gotten the impression BBN wasn’t wild about Cal’s one n done model but tolerated it as long as they won. Chance Pope brings in less splashy players but builds a program. Time will tell I guess.
Kentucky recruits itself, Florida doesn't. This is nothing like L'Ville and Kenny Payne - Payne had no HC experience; Pope has a pretty solid resume. He will hire very strong assistants and they will be fine; certainly better than they have been lately
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
Right? I was gonna say, I’ll bet some of the same people sneering at this were talking about Pope’s team as if they were the Seven Seconds or Less Suns reborn on Selection Sunday.
Him having a team that could shoot lights out at BYU has essentially nothing to do with the quality of hire he is for Kentucky.
Hoiberg wasn't the problem either. They brought him in to run a modern offense and then saddled him with a bunched of washed up guys that couldn't shoot.
Reinsdorf is the problem and always has been (with both the Bulls and Sox). Used Krause as the scapegoat but basically fell backwards into 6 championships because they lucked into Jordan and Jackson paired with Krause actually being a good talent evaluator.
I don't think Pope is a bad coach at all but UK may want a final four by year five.
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
FIFY.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
A disasterclass of a process, no doubt.
The worst mess of a "blue blood" hiring process I think I ever saw though brought Pete Carroll to USC. It only matters how it ends.
I think it's the best save face they can do. If they do the Buzz or Brad thing, they might get rejected and if accepted everyone says it's settling. Here at least they get to play the alum card.
I disagree about the comments above about recruiting. He'll do fine because it's Kentucky. He needs to be able to coach.
Cal set a pretty low bar the last few years in terms of March.
Is this Mark Pope stuff real? Seems like an absolutely baffling choice.
Don't know a ton about him other than his BYU team was incredibly soft but even with UK being UK I don't see top kids wanting to play for Pope.
Don't know a ton about him other than his BYU team was incredibly soft but even with UK being UK I don't see top kids wanting to play for Pope.
Is that not the same thing or are we counting NITs?
Edit: I see it now. My brain read first round.
This was my thought. I don't care too much about the NBA, but I do about Ayo so Donovan staying put is good for that.
This video is brilliant
I dunno man, the Matt Doherty hiring after 1 NIT season really sets the bar higher than that...
sacraig
- The desert
So... Kentucky's Brady Hoke?
Will Pope be successful at UK?
I’m just glad we still have Brad !Will Pope be successful at UK?
Looks like a safe move for Ky. Matt Jones bleeds blue blood. His pre game and post game shows go on and on. He is on WHAS 840 am.
THAT was brilliant“Hopefully one of Mark Pope’s wives says no”
I don’t know if that’s a thing or not anymore. Everyone can pay players now and I heard their facilities are average. When did they win their last title, 2012. Also as shown on social media, the current NBA guys are Cal guys not UK guys.
Mark Pope has never been involved with a big time program as a coach. He has spent 1 year as Director of Operations for Mark Fox at Georgia and 1 year as an Assistant Coach for Jeff Bzdelik at Wake Forest. Neither coach is a great coach and both seasons were bad seasons. Then he went off to Utah and has been there ever since. He has only been to the NCAA Tournament twice and never won a game. He hasn't recruited big time recruits.
There is absolutely nothing in this guys resume that says he's worthy of coaching at one of the top schools in the nation. Yes Kentucky will throw a wad of cash at kids, but so will Kansas, Duke, UNC, Illinois, Xavier, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Arizona. It is not like Kentucky is the only school that has money. Maybe he's Mr. Charisma and can sell kids, but they're going to know the coaches at the other schools. Those coaches have years of experience talking to the top kids.
Another thing, he's been at BYU or Utah State for the last 13 years. He hasn't been at big programs. Who is he going to get for assistants? Is he going to be ok with guys he's unfamiliar with or is he going to want to bring his guys? It will likely be a mix, but that creates the risk of issues with your staff.
The problem is not that he's not a good coach. He certainly appears to be above average. The problem is that he doesn't appear to be a great coach, and he's going to a school where they expect greatness every year. After their last Elite 8, Calipari went 25-6, 9-16, 26-8, 22-12, 23-10 and they ran him out of town. They're not going to settle for 20 win seasons. And on top of it, the SEC is a stronger conference than it was 5-10 years ago. With Barnes at Tennessee, Oats at Alabama, Pearl at Auburn, Williams at Texas A&M, Paris at South Carolina, Beard at Ole Miss, Gates at Missouri, Calipari at Arkansas, and Golden at Florida you're going to need to be more than above average to bring Kentucky fans the amount of wins they expect.
- Status