I don't know which part of this is funnier? What he is actually saying or the fact he believes this so fervently that he maintains a perfectly "straight" face the entire time. There is so much comedy in just 2 minutes. I'm not sure which is my favorite...

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Being reported by Philly media. Possibly bringing Donovan Dent with him.

Patriot League Rookie of the Year Max Green from Holy Cross officially enters the portal. Feels like this one gets wrapped up quick!

6'6 guard from La Grange, KY who averaged 15 ppg, 5.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and shot 42% from 3! He scored 16 against UVA, 7 against Wisconsin and 24 & 20 against American (who made the NCAA tourney).

A guy who you likely would have for 3 years. Would be a nice way to kick off this portal class!

John Calipari is live on the show right now.

Kentucky is very involved here according to a source very close to Dedan. They’re hopping on a zoom later in the week and hoping to set up a visit. His circle loves Coach Pope and some of the family’s top advisors rave about Pope.

They said Kentucky is one of the “very top” schools in his top ten. “I hope they’re as serious about us as we are about them”

Florida is another school I’ve been told to monitor here.

There was a thread the other day about Mark Pope having a lot of pressure on him to get to the Sweet 16 once BYU and Arkansas made it. KARL TOWNS SR put something on line in that thread saying something about how much pressure Pope was going to feel. Is Karl Towns Sr still a UK fan or did he follow Triple C like Reed and so many others ? I couldn’t tell if he was encouraging Mark Pope or throwing shade his way ???

Not great. On one hand, we hung with a very strong Georgia team that absolutely killed Florida in Gainesville. On the other hand, we blew a very winnable home series against Auburn.

At 2-4, all is not lost. We avoided sweeps, which are killers from which to recover. But, you simply have to win home series against teams like Auburn if you want to make the NCAAT.

This week is a very talented, but very underachieving A&M team in College station. Can UK steal this series? If so, then the season is back on track. Lose a series (or worse, get swept) and it's going to be very tough b/c we still have UT, Vandy, and others remaining.

Never made a final four.
Rumors have it, Rick Barnes may be retiring soon.
Tennessee's last real chance for a final four with it's rival in the way they lost to twice.
Zeigler has performed bad against UK
Lots of seniors on this Tennessee team.
added by zuma:
Higher ranked
Higher seed
Finished higher in conference
Favored by 4.5 pt

What Else?

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Page 3 (last listing). Fayette County schools superintendent and two others took a $24,000 trip to Australia “to invest best practices in social and emotional learning and equitable systems “. Our superintendent/school board sure knows how to spend some $$ (your tax money). I’m guessing not long before they say they need more tax money if we want better student results.

Being there when you could literally hear them pump in the crowd noise? I went to the Mississippi State game that year and it may have been one of the creepiest experiences of my life. And we held the Pirate TDless.

This is what I think of the second half of the SB.

Frankly, I generally dislike Tennessee, and take some pleasure in their frequent suffering, but I harbor no where near the dislike for UT as I do for Louisville, Duke, Al Quida, North Carolina, North Korea, Communists, Nazi’s, Indiana University and James Franklin (not necessarily in that order).

The debate (my opposing “counsel” often led by a poster with an ACC/Seminole sounding moniker) erupts of both major boards, frequently.

But those who disdain respect for conference accolades and broad success in about all sports are missing a subtle point: I want UK to beat the brakes off every conference opponent in every damn sport, and do it every year, just as badly as I wanted to beat my brother in basketball, chess, and well, everything.

I usually don’t “pull” for any specific team in the SEC, but when I watched Ole Miss dismantle Iowa State the other night, I kept smiling and saying “beat those damn Yankee Big 12 pretenders into a mud hole.”

I have relatives in 4 SEC states. To say “none of them pull for us,” is simply inaccurate. They also want to see the SEC succeed, generally, although my Tennessee kin hate Bama with a passion.

And some in the Deep South would not pull for us in basketball against James Franklin or North Korea.

And that is because of an unworldly historic dominance. Kentucky has 53 regular season basketball titles since the foundation of the SEC, easily outpacing Bama and UT’s combined regular season tally of SEC football titles, combined at 43.

But the predominance of the SEC in the 4 major sports (FB, Men’s basketball, baseball and Women’s basketball) is becoming SO pronounced that we need to circle the wagons: they hate all of us nationwide, and the last I checked, we are still the most coherently organized conference, even with expansion. Spend a week in Texas or Oklahoma, and you won’t feel much out-of-place. Then spend a week in Minnesota or Maine. I think you get my drift!

So even if some in the Deep South hate our basketball guts, that is simply a reflection of clearly being the nation’s dominant basketball program, who has arguably dominated our conference as strongly as has any program in any sport.

I would love to see an All-SEC Final Four, and obviously, will pull for Kentucky to win it all.

Should we get two or more in the Final weekend, the SEC chant will fluster, anger and confuse the collegiate Sports World, and I will love every moment of it!!!!!!

How about Pope’s Patchwork Cats? Cause that’s exactly what they are. Players patched together by our great coach who selected each piece for specific purposes. And boy has it worked well. We’ve had some great teams over the years, but this one is very very special and loves playing together for the Kentucky on their jerseys. Pope’s Patchwork Cats!

Sweet Sixteen x Tournament appearances graph

I was just scrolling through this Reddit college basketball thread and thought you all might enjoy it. It's a good visual representation of why the blue bloods are the blue bloods, and why UK is at the top of the heap. The comments are fun too, as some other CBB fans realize where UK ranks historically.

I can't see a way to post the actual graph in this thread, if someone else knows how please add it!

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Many of you have wondered about visitors, here's a look at some of the players who have been by recently or are planning to stop by soon.

Procrastinating a boring assignment at work today, thought it'd be interesting to see the difference in numbers from our core transfer class this year vs their previous destinations to see the Pope/UK effect:

Lamont Butler
- 2023-24: 27.5 mpg, 9.3 ppg, 3 apg, 2.6 rpg, 1.5 spg, 42% fg, 30% 3p, 14.3 PER
- 2024-25: 25,7 mpg, 11.1 ppg, 4.3 apg, 2.7 rpg, 1.6 spg, 48% fg, 36% 3p, 19.1 PER

Amari Williams
- 2023-24: 22.9 mpg, 12.2 ppg, 1.9 apg, 7.8 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 53% fg, 28.5 PER
- 2024-25: 22.7 mpg, 10.8 ppg, 3.2 apg, 8.6 rpg, 1.3 bpg, 55% fg, 24.0 PER

Otega Oweh
- 2023-24: 25 mpg, 11.4 ppg, 1.0 apg, 3.8 rpg, 1.5 spg, 49% fg, 37% 3p, 17.5 PER
- 2024-25: 28.1 mpg, 16.3 ppg, 1.7 apg, 4.7 rpg, 1.6 spg, 49% fg, 36% 3p, 22.3 PER

Andrew Carr
- 2023-24: 32.5 mpg, 13.5 ppg, 1.5 apg, 6.8 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 53% fg, 37% 3p, 20.8 PER
- 2024-25: 24 mpg, 10.4 ppg, 1.8 apg, 4.8 rpg, 0.7 bpg, 55 fg%, 34% 3p, 20.4 PER

Koby Brea
- 2023-24: 29 mpg, 11.1 ppg, 1.2 apg, 3.8 rpg, 0.5 spg, 51% fg, 50% 3p, 18.3 PER
- 2024-25: 28 mpg, 11.8 ppg, 1.3 apg, 3 rpg, 0.5 spg, 48% fg, 44% 3p, 16.4 PER

Jaxson Robinson
- 2023-24: 26.4 mpg, 14.2 ppg, 1.3 apg, 2.5 rpg, 0.7 spg, 43% fg, 35% 3p, 16.3 PER
- 2024-25: 28 mpg, 13 ppg, 1.7 apg, 3.5 rpg, 0.6 spg, 43% fg, 37% 3p, 16.0 PER

Brandon Garrison
- 2023-24: 22.7 mpg, 7.5 ppg, 1.5 apg, 5.3 rpg, 1,5 bpg, 57% fg, 0.0% 3p
- 2024-25: 17.3 mpg, 6 ppg, 1.9 apg, 3.9 rpg, 0.6 bpg, 51% fg, 30% 3p


Overall my impressions are that all the guys translated pretty well, even if taking a big step up in competition. Some of the efficiency numbers aren't quite as good as their previous spots but alot of that is also explained by the context (Carr injury, Brea having to create alot after Jax injury etc.)

Think it's a good thing to keep in mind when projecting transfers from lower conferences etc. I think there's a bit of a narrative that guys will naturally not do as well as they come to the SEC but I think this and even broadly around CBB, good players tend to do very well even at higher tier stops.

One of my favorite big men in the country just entered. Needs a few cheeseburgers, but so much upside.

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The vast majority of the guys who go into the portal already have a pretty good idea of where they are going and have already been in contact with a handful of schools?

Every region but UK is played in an NBA arena. UK gets a dome. Historically shooting isn’t as good in these places.

Thoughts on how that might help/hinder UK? I don’t think it’ll bother Houston that much with how they play.

UT doesn’t seem like a great 3 point shooting team. Curious to see how teams attack early

Thinking about making the trip if I can get off work. I got a brother in law who lives up there, so free place to stay. What are we thinking about ticket prices? Looking like 220-250 per to get in the door right now. Do yal think they will come down or go up as the week goes? I'll probably go regardless but don't want to overpay if I can keep from it. GO CATS

This insufferable gremlin is at it again. So glad he isn't representing Kentucky basketball.

"don't turn your back on me, I'm the best coach in the f---ing sport."

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...514085/hurley-berating-ref-show-other-coaches

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