Pope has completely blown me away so far!

[ukfan1622]

I wanted Drew thinking he'd bring Edgecombe and 4-5 Baylor players and recruits and we'd be sure
to have a good team next year. So I was disappointed when we got Pope instead of Drew. But Pope's
energy and enthusiasm and the team he is putting together has made me think we lucked out
and got our perfect coach.

 

[Cold Stout Beer]

Tired of having mercenary players and mercenary coaches. It’s finally close to home now. Never been more excited.

 

[Smashcat]

Yeah. Can’t disagree.

 

[bluegoad72]

Absolutely agree op. He has complete brought the fire back and the love for UK basketball.

 

[ukfan1622]

Absolutely agree op. He has complete brought the fire back and the love for UK basketball.

I like your icon.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

I think some people are under the impression these are experienced, veteran, but offensively challenged players Pope is bringing in. But all five of these guys averaged between 9 and 14 points against conference competition, two in the Big 12 and one in the ACC. Add Brey, which looks likely, and already Kentucky would have more guys who averaged 9 points or better than last year. And that's not counting either Chandler or Perry being ready to contribute.

This team may be more balanced and efficient in scoring than is readily apparent -- and I think the Cats still add a couple high-octane wing scorers.

 

[CatsFan4Evr.]

I haven't seen this level of excitement among even the mid-fans in years. A co-worker of mine that has watched UK basketball sparingly over the last few years is now addicted to Twitter/X and awaiting Fueger's BOOM tweets. There's a ton of excitement right now.

 

[Soupbean]

Tired of having mercenary players and mercenary coaches. It’s finally close to home now. Never been more excited.

This sums it up for me

 

[Soupbean]

I haven't seen this level of excitement among even the mid-fans in years. A co-worker of mine that has watched UK basketball sparingly over the last few years is now addicted to Twitter/X and awaiting Fueger's BOOM tweets. There's a ton of excitement right now.

And its not just excitement for whats coming, its like we've taken a good long shower and just feel refreshed

 

[kennyskywalker34]

I wasn't disappointed when Pope was hired. I met him when he was playing in the NBA. I knew he loved UK. You can't fake the excitement that came over his face when I started talking UK basketball with him.

 

[ukfan1622]

I wasn't disappointed when Pope was hired. I met him when he was playing in the NBA. I knew he loved UK. You can't fake the excitement that came over his face when I started talking UK basketball with him.

You knew more than me bro.

 

[CatsFan4Evr.]

I admitted that I thought UK rushed into the hire after being turned down by Drew and Hurley. But Pope is truly the best fit. I really think they'll get it done.

 

[BBUK]

GO CATS!!!!!!!!



BLUE!!!!!

 

[Catfan2226]

My beloved UK Men's basketball program has a coach that will protect it and understands it. BBN has a coach that understands us and isn't going to treat us like assholes with sarcasm.
Coach Fuegers tweets are fun and he has to know that here on Rafters, it's must see. He's a breath of fresh air as is the staff. They are busting their ass and thus far, it has been pretty impressive how they are building a team that will compete and be pretty damn good.
It's fun again, it honestly is fun again.

 

[CB3UK]

We've got our program back. Gonna be hilarious watching Arkansas fans learn the hard way. Those idiots think they got a steal. 😆

 

[MrHotDice]

I wanted Drew thinking he'd bring Edgecombe and 4-5 Baylor players and recruits and we'd be sure
to have a good team next year. So I was disappointed when we got Pope instead of Drew. But Pope's
energy and enthusiasm and the team he is putting together has made me think we lucked out
and got our perfect coach.

We didn’t luck out. Pope wanted the job and the expectations that all the other coaches couldn’t deal with. He gets it.

 

[ukfan1622]

We've got our program back. Gonna be hilarious watching Arkansas fans learn the hard way. Those idiots think they got a steal. 😆

It's like some UK football fans were when we got Curry from Alabama. He was already on a short leash there and all their fans were in heaven about us taking them away from us.

 

[ukfan1622]

We didn’t luck out. Pope wanted the job and the expectations that all the other coaches couldn’t deal with. He gets it.

I didn't mean Pope got lucky. I meant Big Blue Nation got lucky.

 

[North Carolina Blue Wildcat]

Building the right way and for the long haul but most importantly the players fit his system. Other than recruiting the top players on the ESPN-100 list, I have no idea what Cal was looking for in a player.

 

[podgejeff_]

I think there's still some questions on Pope but the biggest one I had was "can he recruit at this level?"

And so far, I think he's proven that he can. Unless we're just outright bad next year, I think this is about as hard of a situation as he'll have here as far as recruiting goes.

I'm hoping we've found one of the big coaches for the next era of college basketball "early" in his coaching career. And he just so happens to bleed blue as much as anybody. The ceiling on this could be high.

 

[Elliott Tim]

I wanted Drew thinking he'd bring Edgecombe and 4-5 Baylor players and recruits and we'd be sure
to have a good team next year. So I was disappointed when we got Pope instead of Drew. But Pope's
energy and enthusiasm and the team he is putting together has made me think we lucked out
and got our perfect coach.

Right coach in an imperfect environment.

 

[Ripcord65]

Tired of having mercenary players and mercenary coaches. It’s finally close to home now. Never been more excited.

Me, too, CSB. Glad you feel that way !
Go 'Cats ! ! !

 

[NociHTTP]

We've got our program back. Gonna be hilarious watching Arkansas fans learn the hard way. Those idiots think they got a steal. 😆

Every interview I've seen of him in Arky Wear, he looks like he KNOWS he made a grave mistake.

 

[NociHTTP]

Building the right way and for the long haul but most importantly the players fit his system. Other than recruiting the top players on the ESPN-100 list, I have no idea what Cal was looking for in a player.

Draft Picks

 

[Wildcats1st]

Tired of having mercenary players and mercenary coaches. It’s finally close to home now. Never been more excited.

How many of these transfers have more than a year of eligibility left?

 

[ukfan1622]

How many of these transfers have more than a year of eligibility left?

I think a couple so far. But even if they do it doesn't mean they'd use it all at Kentucky. That's the state of reality we're living in so we might as well accept what we can't change.

 

[North Carolina Blue Wildcat]

Draft Picks

Valid… you win the internet today!

 

[Cold Stout Beer]

GO CATS!!!!!!!!



BLUE!!!!!

​

 

[deep3]

I think there's still some questions on Pope but the biggest one I had was "can he recruit at this level?"

And so far, I think he's proven that he can. Unless we're just outright bad next year, I think this is about as hard of a situation as he'll have here as far as recruiting goes.

I'm hoping we've found one of the big coaches for the next era of college basketball "early" in his coaching career. And he just so happens to bleed blue as much as anybody. The ceiling on this could be high.

I believe we have look at his bench coaching ability and the type of offense he runs. Can you imagine being ask to run that type of offense😂

 

[JPFisher]

I think there's still some questions on Pope but the biggest one I had was "can he recruit at this level?"

And so far, I think he's proven that he can. Unless we're just outright bad next year, I think this is about as hard of a situation as he'll have here as far as recruiting goes.

I'm hoping we've found one of the big coaches for the next era of college basketball "early" in his coaching career. And he just so happens to bleed blue as much as anybody. The ceiling on this could be high.

Staff and recruiting were my co-#1 concerns. [✓]

Now it's whether he can win big in the regular season. [ ]

Then it's whether he can win in the NCAAT. [ ]

Can he handle the pressure of the job? [ ]

Can he win it all? [ ]

 

[HagginHall1999]

I wanted Drew thinking he'd bring Edgecombe and 4-5 Baylor players and recruits and we'd be sure
to have a good team next year. So I was disappointed when we got Pope instead of Drew. But Pope's
energy and enthusiasm and the team he is putting together has made me think we lucked out
and got our perfect coach.

Hate to tell everyone I told ya so....not really....but told ya so!

J/K, I will say I was behind it from jump and as I said that night, "I don't know why I am but I am".

I always thought Pope would be a candidate here but I thought it would be when Cals contract expires not if he left or took ambassador.

In terms of x/o and effort he will be hard to beat. He wasn't wildly successful at BYU because it was BYU. Left there with second highest win percentage in school history (post 1925)...ultimately I think he would have been 1st if continuing trajectory.

His x/o is not in question...clearly he can build a staff...now it is just developing roster/recruiting. Should be a big winner long term.

 

[Allcats08]

I wanted Drew thinking he'd bring Edgecombe and 4-5 Baylor players and recruits and we'd be sure
to have a good team next year. So I was disappointed when we got Pope instead of Drew. But Pope's
energy and enthusiasm and the team he is putting together has made me think we lucked out
and got our perfect coach.

Honestly I feel the same. I was about done with the program when he was hired. I was so down about it but he’s changed it quickly.

 

[Deli owl]

Expectations may be too high for first year

 

[ORCAT]

What's not to love about Pope? He's brought back enthusiasm, excitement, love for UK and just a whole new era of what Kentucky basketball is really about. I'm pulling hard for Pope to succeed as he is one of us and loves Kentucky as much as we do. Great hire!

 

[true blue1]

I love the passion he has! He embraces everything about Kentucky Basketball!

 

[BBNinSC]

I think there's still some questions on Pope but the biggest one I had was "can he recruit at this level?"

And so far, I think he's proven that he can. Unless we're just outright bad next year, I think this is about as hard of a situation as he'll have here as far as recruiting goes.

I'm hoping we've found one of the big coaches for the next era of college basketball "early" in his coaching career. And he just so happens to bleed blue as much as anybody. The ceiling on this could be high.

I believe a big part of recruiting is hard work and the quality of your assistants. Pope seems to have those things going for him

 

[cats#1again]

I think some people are under the impression these are experienced, veteran, but offensively challenged players Pope is bringing in. But all five of these guys averaged between 9 and 14 points against conference competition, two in the Big 12 and one in the ACC. Add Brey, which looks likely, and already Kentucky would have more guys who averaged 9 points or better than last year. And that's not counting either Chandler or Perry being ready to contribute.

This team may be more balanced and efficient in scoring than is readily apparent -- and I think the Cats still add a couple high-octane wing scorers.

You have to remember. Some of our fans didn't want Reeves back last year lol. Just because someone avg 10 at previous stop doesn't mean they can't be the focal point of a new team. Players get better year to year

 

[Wildcats1st]

I like mark but he’s gonna have hard time assembling a championship basketball team.

 

[ukfan1622]

I like mark but he’s gonna have hard time assembling a championship basketball team.

It's not supposed to be easy for anybody.

 

[Fox2monk]

I wanted Drew thinking he'd bring Edgecombe and 4-5 Baylor players and recruits and we'd be sure
to have a good team next year. So I was disappointed when we got Pope instead of Drew. But Pope's
energy and enthusiasm and the team he is putting together has made me think we lucked out
and got our perfect coach.

I was never disappointed, I had worries based on his tourney history but this job has always elevated coaches. He has a genuine love for the school and wants to accomplish the things he did as a player. You can beat that in a guy that is capable of doing it. I’m sure Kenny Payne wanted that for UofL but he wasn’t a head coach. We at least have plenty of evidence that Pope is a head coach and has a great staff too.