With these so called upcoming program changes that basically are saying no longer will basketball program run its own business without anyone looking in or having to report too anyone are over. I know it’s obvious Cal THINKS he can right the ship but does he get tired of the new changes in the offseason and say **** it, I’m an HOF coach and I’m not doing it. I hope he does quit and it does have me wondering about his ego trip

I realize some of our earlier Klutch affiliated guys were big time talents, but that seems to have changed over the past few years and you could argue these guys are as must headache as help when you factor in questionable playing times and such.

What’s Calipari’s benefit in taking such cases? I see it from Klutch’s side: fringe guys come to UK, showcase even a fraction of potential, get drafted. But from Cal’s standpoint, is it ONLY to keep the relationship going? Other rea($)ons?

Heavy emphasis on 2026 in this latest batch.

But if Cal is back, which it seems in all likelihood he is, there is really only one thing that matters for my outlook on next season.

We have a good class. Boogie is a talented perimeter player. JQ could be a monster, particularly in year 2. Knox, Richmond, Somto have good physical tools. Perry is very skilled.

We will get some transfers. I think we will need some real perimeter pop and some experienced winners to add to the young dudes.

We could get some guys back. DJ, Adou, Z could all help in different ways.

But it comes down to Reed. If year 2 Reed is here, I think things will fall into place. If he’s not…. I don’t know what the realistic hope for next year is. You aren’t finding a player as good as Reed in the portal. I don’t know that there is another kid in the county that would turn down his draft position to come back, but if anyone would do it, he might.

I do feel badly for him because I think the pressure both on his decision and his play next year if he returns will be immense. But with Cal seemingly back, Reed’s decision is the one that’ll dictate the outlook for next year one way or the other.

Get ready to watch every game with a Benny Hill theme played over it. Add laugh tracks to Cal’s post game pressers. UK basketball: American’s longest running sitcom!

What part of this does Mitch and the Cal supporters not understand??

Calipari to remain at UK next year.

Anyone wanna meet me at Harry’s for a cocktail or 5?

It’s already a long week.

Good morning, HOB. I’m back at the JCFTC today for our next spring practice notebook. We’ll have OC Bush Hamdan and select players from the offensive side of the ball joining us around 10 ET to discuss their progress entering another week of workouts. Stay tuned for the latest news and notes…

UPDATED SPRING ROSTER

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UK OC BUSH HAMDAN Q&A:

* On tempo and how you simulate that in practice to make sure you’re getting it right… Yes. A lot of checkpoints in place to make sure they are where they need to be. They are very “intentional” about the script to make sure they’re doing some huddle, some hurry up, being good at both.

* Guys are playing at a high level with the pads on now. The culture and the pride in physicality shows through the first couple of days.

* Maclin is doing a great job at WR. Has grown a lot since he was with him at Mizzou. Maturity is a big plus.

* On OL physicality… Building competition. When they see 7-8 guys who could be starting or be in the rotation, it pushes guys. Looking for guys who can strain and compete.

* On Brown… NFL talent, no doubt about it. Loves his attitude and work ethic he’s showing. Resiliency to come out every day and take coaching has been big.

* Coach Shorts doing a tremendous job earning trust and respect from the WRs. You can see how quickly those guys are taking the next step after being taught something.

* Allen and Farrier are good in-state guys to have back in the program. Allen has been “extremely consistent” at QB.

* TE room may be further ahead than maybe any other group on offense. Vince does a tremendous job with them. 3-4 players they can go out there and win with today.

* On Chip Trayanum and his serious approach to the RB room... He comes off as a pro-type guy. He comes in and watches film often before coaches even do. Asks the right questions. Knows what the job looks like at the highest level. He and DSK have done a great job of leading the young RB room and showing how you have to work.

* On Cutter Boley... Sometimes you have to remind yourself that he should be getting ready for his HS prom, but you have to coach him the same way as those other guys. High ceiling, a lot of talent. He's still growing into his body. Such a long athlete. You have to start with his feet and build the foundation from there, speeding up his feet, getting into a good throwing posture. Has to learn that RBs are a nice security blanket for him, you don't have to go downfield all the time, check it down.

* If you're playing with a RB who cannot be a passing threat, it's almost playing a man down. Thinks DSK can be a nice receiving threat out of the backfield, maybe filling some of that void with Ray Davis leaving.

* RB Jason Patterson has been a pleasant surprise early this spring. He’s moved up and grabbed some of the reps with the 1s.

* Farmer doing a tremendous job of improving every day on OL.

* Farrier and Gilmore showing flashes at WR. Gilmore may be one of the more impressive guys he's seen at 17 years old. Trying to help him adjust to the speed of the game right now.

* On facing a Brad White defense... Have to be patient. Have to take what they give you. Sometimes hard to get it down the field. Jokes that everything looks good up front until you have to account for Deone Walker.

*****

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ERIC WOLFORD Q&A:

* Excited to be back. Family loves Lexington, thinks it’s a very underrated place.

* Expectation is to re-establish that Big Blue Wal that John Schlarman built. When it started leaking out that he may come back to UK, LeeAnne Schlarman was one of the first to reach out to him.

* More depth here now than the first time he came to UK. Stoops wants 7-8 guys who can play “winning football,” not just bodies in a rotation. Work in progress right now, but feels like he has their attention.

* Keeping details of the renewed relationship with Stoops private, but says they had a "good ol' Youngstown meeting“ to patch things up and resolve things. "We're in a good place."

* Nice to have a couple of familiar faces who were here the last time he was at UK. Eli Cox, Jager Burton, and some guys he's recruited and/or worked with a lot in camps.

* On improving the physicality... You have to address it. There's no hiding the fact that you have be physical and win up front in this league, and that starts in practice. It starts in meetings and places where you don't even have shoulder pads on. Can't be lip service. Have to give them visual examples of what great OL play looks like. Has shown them some stuff of the SF 49ers on film to demonstrate how it's done.

* Asked how they can get Jager Burton playing to his potential... Not sure Jager, but all the guys have to know they have a clean slate. Admits he was really hard on Jager the first time he was here. He's improved since them. Thinks he still has room to improve. "Failure is not an option." Told him, "I work for you."

* Mixing and matching a lot of guys at multiple positions. Telling those guys, if they want an opportunity to play in the NFL, you can't be a one position player.

*****

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Good morning everyone. I am not a frequent poster on the boards, but I read almost daily and enjoy hearing others thoughts/opinions/formulations.

I have been mostly tuned out since 2019 (very casual live viewership) of UKBB, due mostly to the correspondence of UKFB rise (I'm a football head first) and the continuous disappointment of the round ball program. Thought I should lay that out there.

The point of this post is to express my (solely) opinion of how next year should be viewed by the powers that be and the fanbase alike.

I believe that 3 things need to happen for Calipari to remain HC of the most storied Mens CBB program next year.
1). Final Four run AT LEAST - It has been 9 years since we have reached a FF, which is straight up unacceptable, regardless of how difficult it is to reach April in basketball
2). A culture change - UKMBB has become about everything BUT Kentucky and winning
3). Calipari's outlook as a HC need to change. He needs to put the program first and foremost. If he does this, bullet points 1 and 2 should fall in line

Calipari has worn out any good grace that may have still existed. This has to be a make or break situation. If you read all of this, thank you. Just a reminder, this is simply my personal opinion that has zero effect over Calipari's future here. Barnhart and Co. aren't my drinking buddies!

That is 7 less games for his G Leaguers to worry about injuries.

He should start midnight madness with what we're going to do with the next 33 games.

We are built for early gardening.

Show up early so you can watch them practice, 33 times. More missed left-handed layups than most teams miss right-handed. See the rim reject critical dunks. Generational poverty is solved with generational G League.

Genuine question. I used to see good faith arguments as to why we should still stick with Cal, which was actually sort of refreshing. But the usual suspects just seem to be posting as contrarians with no other purpose than to troll.

I don’t like advocating for banning people, but what are the other options to clean some of that BS up?

Came across this gem on YouTube last night.

Bozich and Crawford talking about how Junior is an “intriguing” candidate.

I took the time to get this Crawford quote verbatim…..

“In the Final Four of 2103, Richard was coaching FIU but he made the call on the change in offense that helped Louisville beat Duke in that game…."

That, my freinds, may get you the head job at UL.

You simply cannot make this sheet up.

It’s 1:42 long if you want to share the laughter.

Richard made the call

Kentucky basketball is on a similar timeline (2021-2024) compared to the last time the program was down this bad (2006-2009). We haven't been to an Elite 8 since 2019. Similarly, 2005 was the last E8 appearance before the downturn of Tubby's last 2 years coupled with the two years of Gillespie. The numbers are:

2006-2009 - 84-52 with 2 tournament wins

2021-2014 - 80-46 with 1 tournament win

We're heading toward dangerous territory here.

In 2022, UConn went 23-10, 13-6 in Big East, and lost their 1st NCAAT game. They lost 7 players through graduation, and transfers.

Using the portal, they added 5 true contributors and added one frosh, who was ranked #37. They won the title, though they returned an all time low 34% production for an eventual NCAA champ (minutes played/points)

Adding 3 transfers this year, UConn is a favorite to win another title. They did add 4 freshmen, ranked #9, #43, #65, and #72. Only 1 gets any real minutes.

Most are mad at Calipari myself included! Cal went into retirement mode after the 2015 season and Mitch allowed it to happen. He’s the one who put the ridiculous contract together, knowing that it would ultimately tie his hands with a built in excuse to keep Cal with virtually no accountability!
Seriously, everyone of us would’ve jumped on that contract just as Cal did! I’m actually surprised he hasn’t leveraged Mitch into giving Brad a 10year contract with a 20 million dollar buyout clause!
Cal has retired in place and the genius behind it is none other than the AD Mitch! In my humble opinion, if this next season goes sideways as most expect, Mitch needs to be fired. The next AD can come in and clean up the mess that Mitch himself has created.
Just my take and honestly could say more about Cal, but at this point most of it has already been stated by others.
GBB

** Three-star (5.5 RR) Massillon (Ohio) Washington offensive tackle Nolan Davenport (6'6, 260) has scheduled official visits to Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, and Missouri. He's going to unofficially visit Kentucky on April 6th. He's an athletic tackle who has the potential to be really good in pass sets.

** The big visitors for Kentucky over the weekend were DB Martels Carter Jr and OL Tucker Kattus. I have futurecasts for both in to Kentucky and don't foresee changing that in either case. Confidence level is pretty strong with both players. No timetable but both really good players that would be core parts of the class.

** Darrin Strey from Michigan is an offensive lineman to watch for sure. Starting to feel pretty good about Kentucky's chances with him. Hope to connect in-depth with him for more at some point in the near future but outside of Isaac Sowells and Kattus he is emerging as the third '25 OL who I think they have the best shot with.

** 2024 JUCO OL Anfernee Crease is still officially visiting UK next month. He will be in Lexington from April 12-14. Crease also tells me that he will officially visit Syracuse from April 5-7. He did say he has been to Houston and SMU unofficially recently. When I asked him about the Houston visit all he said was "it was okay" whereas he has been pretty enthusiastic about UK. Have said I think they are trying to keep him under the radar as much as possible. Not a lot of schools are recruiting at the JUCO level these days with the portal and HS taking preeminence.

** I think UK is in a pretty solid position with 4-star OH running back Marquise Davis. My understanding is he is still the top priority at RB in rounding out that class now that Philly's Isaiah West is already on board.

** As of this moment I'm leaning against them taking Boyle County's Montavin Quisenberry. They already have Quintin Simmons on board at receiver. They have Simmons. I think they're in great shape with Cameron Miller from New Jersey. Have heard there is another receiver from the Jersey area they are prioritizing as well.

** Mentioned that 2026 Lakota West LB Cam Thomas visited over the weekend and can confirm he's going to be target for them. Definitely a guy of interest moving forward

It appears that one of, if not the, worst contract in college basketball history will continue indefinitely . The downward spiral in performance literally began before the ink was dry on the contract. This poor performance had rapidly accelerated in recent years and has reached historic lows in far too many areas. At the same time, Cal's arrogance, stubbornness and fan disrespect seems to increase daily. For years the loyal BBN fans have been pleading for changes that will restore the program to its glory days. Now that we know a coaching change will not be made in the foreseeable future, did the AD just give BBN the equivalent of the middle finger ?

How many times does he have to rub that in our face?

Here’s an interview from 8 years ago that’s very telling:

Link: Cal doe$n’t care

Now that we know who the HC will be. What happens with the assistants? I don't think it will change the results because it never has to this point but I'd like to know who you all think may be here.

I think most think Bruiser and Chuck are the 2 that are most likely to change. Wouldn't be that surprised to see Kenny come back as that period is what Cal seems to be trying to get back to.

Who else may come?

They hired a former player who only had experience as an assistant, albeit under Coach K. They have made it to the sweet 16 and have next years top rated recruiting class.

If you go drinking with Coach Cal. Make him buy the first round because he won’t be there for the second.

Let's just say that Reed wants to stay for another year will Cal try and push him out to the NBA ? I don't trust Cal and would not be surprised if he tried this.

Calipari and Barnhart will meet Tuesday. It will not involve a firing, buyout, or retirement. It will consist of how to go about having more post season success, as well as possible staff changes. A separate source also says Barnhart has “no intentions” of firing Cal.