I would love to have a sane Brad Stevens. But since he's got a higher than average paying NBA GM job now he'd have to be insane to give that up for the UK job. If he still wanted to coach then why did he step down as Celtics coach?
A name that doesn't get enough serious consideration...Mark Pope.
- Thread starter KAB Cats
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He actually played from 95-99. Scott Drew didn’t start coaching there until 2003. He was an assistant there to Drew though
I don't want Pope.
I don't know that it has to all be about post-season success. But I'd certainly like to see some of it. Pope has ZERO NCAA tourney wins. He's currently at BYU. He is doing well. But I don't really want to take the BYU coach just because he also played at Kentucky. Recruits don't care about that. Fans care about that, and that's it.
I want to win national championships. I think a coach that has won a national championship at a non-blue blood school is going to improve his performance at a blue blood. Whatever failures you see in Drew--they all get better at Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, etc. I think that's a home run hire.
If he doesn't want it--give me guy that's had big time success at a power 5 program. Guys that have at least taken their team to a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament--and assume more success comes by moving to a blue blood. Lloyd, Oats, Beard.
***If Hurley will entertain it, he's the easy choice. I just don't see why he'd leave that job.***
I don't know that it has to all be about post-season success. But I'd certainly like to see some of it. Pope has ZERO NCAA tourney wins. He's currently at BYU. He is doing well. But I don't really want to take the BYU coach just because he also played at Kentucky. Recruits don't care about that. Fans care about that, and that's it.
I want to win national championships. I think a coach that has won a national championship at a non-blue blood school is going to improve his performance at a blue blood. Whatever failures you see in Drew--they all get better at Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, etc. I think that's a home run hire.
If he doesn't want it--give me guy that's had big time success at a power 5 program. Guys that have at least taken their team to a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament--and assume more success comes by moving to a blue blood. Lloyd, Oats, Beard.
***If Hurley will entertain it, he's the easy choice. I just don't see why he'd leave that job.***
On top of that, he’d had to deal with recruiting, nil, and the portal. I don’t see anyone who has left college coaching (Stevens, Donovan, or Wright) ever wanting to jump back into the mess of college bball.
I guess I still don't understand why Mark being a Mormon is a big hurdle for any school looking to hire him. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, and religion. I believe that came about because of President Kennedy. He was Catholic and many people didn't want him elected because they were afraid he would be more loyal to the Pope than the United States. People were ignorant back then. Mark's religion should not matter. So why is it a big deal?
And something else to think about here. Of course I, along with most on here, think the University of Kentucky is the absolute best school there is. However, coaches out there may hesitate to take the job for whatever reason. Could be the pressure, the fans(🤪), the area, etc. Money may not make a difference. Each person has their own personal reasons for taking or NOT taking a particular job. We just assume, naturally, that most coaches are dying to come to Kentucky. That may be true or not.
And by the way, I didn't write this because I am a big Mark Pope supporter. I'm not. But he shouldn't be written off because of his religion...his post season success, or lack of...yes. But not religion. If someone is against someone because of their religion (when they haven't done anything to cause it), then I am truly disgusted.
I am Baptist, by the way. Hope that doesn't piss anyone off. Sorry, but things like this REALLY get me worked up.
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Pope is 5-8 years out to be considered. He'd need to take BYU to Elite 8 and then get a bigger power 5 job for 3-5 years and be successful there too. At that point he could be a legitimate candidate, until then no.
He wouldn’t need another job if he succeeded at a high level at BYU now, because they are in the Big 12 conference. If they won Big 12 conference championships in the future and advanced to elite 8 or final 4, why would he need to prove himself anywhere else? Hypothetical but true
Hence why I said a bigger power 5 Job. BYU isn't winning Big 12, he has 1 more stop minimum before he lands a major job.
He did not. he made the Sweet 16. The only time in 3 trips to the tournament he made it out of the first weekend. I don't call that tourney success.
Well,
If he wins the Big 12 championship, and advances to an elite 8 or a final 4, we'll certainly talk. Until he does those things...
Actually they have been decent for quite some time.
It’s not like Cal taking over a UMass program that had never done anything, even with Dr J, and taking them to a FF. Then the program has done nothing since he left.
They even gave Travis Ford a shot.
But the CHC wants that guy gone?
Cal is not leaving. Yet.
He will one day. And the coach we get won’t be as good.
But at least the CHC can switch to hating someone else.
You completely misunderstood me. And I'll expect an apology after I've explained further, since it seems I must. What I said was in no way a knock on Mark and his faith. It was a compliment. Not everything is an attack on someone. It was actually me saying that as Mark is of the Mormon church, it would be very hard for another school to lure him away to another school, being that BYU is the elite Mormon college. In the LDS church, having such a position is an honor. He would probably be hesitant to leave it.
So that's it. You're making mountains out of mole hills.
People shit on the thought of hiring Pope but then turn around tell us how X, Y and Z coach would never ever come here - so who then? Stick it out with Cal, seriously?
Bill Self had zero final fours and 1 elite 8 when Kansas hired him . We don’t have to hire someone that has been to the final four for him to be successful here . Maybe it would be better, but not essential.
Barney is like CCC. He can screw it up even if it’s impossible to screw up.
It’s ashame he’s Capiturd’s pet.
I would think we can hire someone with a little bit better pedigree than Mark Pope. IF we go down the line and everyone says no, well maybe, but several would have to say NO, then he would be considered if I was doing the hiring. he is just not that seasoned or proven himself to take over for not just UK, but any major team. Great guy, love he is a former cat, but his coaching accomplishments, I do not feel is worth of a top 10 job. Nothing personal, he is just NOT ready. The pressure of winning at a school like UK is far greater than BYU, it just is.
Bill Self took Tulsa and Illinois to 5 straight NCAA tournaments. He made the Elite 8 two times in that stretch. He won 10 NCAA tournament games in that stretch.
Maybe you don't have to hire a guy with a Final 4. But Pope's resume is nothing comparable to Self's.
Oats and Musselman better fit the Bill Self comparison. Both had some tournament success at smaller schools. Both have had some success in a Power 5 conference.
Pope just hasn't shown anything. And while you don't have to have a final 4 or a national championship--it sure is preferred.
Again, if Pope weren't a UK player, no one would want him. And the UK connection shouldn't override the lack of high level success.
We are UK!
"can't do any worse" is NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
We want, expect, need, deserve the best (of the best).
So not only should we want someone that has tourney success (at least an E8), but has sustained success (not a 1-2 year run), and many other top qualities.
Exactly this.
If he played at Washington his whole career, this board would implode if someone with Pope’s resume was considered.
This is not a knock on Mark either.
And I see no problem with this.
Would Jon Scheyer have been hired at Duke if he didn't go to Duke?
Would Hubert Davis have been hired at UNC if he didn't go to UNC?
We probably would have no idea who Mark Pope is if he didn't go to Kentucky and win a national championship under Pitino. Except he did.
You guys keep making these comparisons that don't actually fit.
Jon Scheyer coached under Coach K--one of the greatest coaches ever--and was groomed by K to replace him.
Hubert Davis coached under Roy Williams--another great coach, hall of famer, and was groomed to replace him.
If Pope had coached under Cal until 2017, and Cal rode off into the sunset on good terms, maybe this comparison makes sense.
As it stands--Pope hasn't shown he can run a great program. He hasn't been groomed to do so by a hall of fame coach.
I'm not sure Scheyer or Davis would have been hired at Duke or UNC if they hadn't been assistants for a number of years at those programs. If they had played there, but never coached there and had moderate success elsewhere, I'm not sure they would have been considered.
Jon Scheyer had as much head coaching experience as Kenny Payne.
Hubert Davis had less coaching experience than Mark Pope.
We aren't talking apples to apples, but the fact of the matter is that if you applied the same criteria to both of those guys being mentioned in this thread, neither would be hired.
Duke is weird and I'm no UNC fan, but hat tip for having faith in their own.
What's Stevens make currently? Most GMs are safer than coaches. Dwayne Casey had seven really good years as HC at Toronto, went Detroit and failed.
No it wasn’t. I knew exactly what he meant. He made good points.
I think we have several younger coaches in the SEC that might do good here. The word might is a big one. UK is a different animal when it comes to coaching basketball. You are under a microscope almost 12 months out of the year. You have thousands of assistant coaches that love to type and voice their opinions, while most of them didn't play basketball beyond middle school. The SEC coaches that may be a fit?
Golden at Florida. He is maybe not ready for UK but, I like the way his teams play.
Mike White, Georgia
Lamont Paris, South Carolina Again, may not be ready for UK, but his team leads the league right now.
Buzz Williams, at A&M. Not so young but he is a good coach.
Chris Beard will never be considered for the job. He couldn't take the intense level of scrutiny he would have here. JMO
Golden at Florida. He is maybe not ready for UK but, I like the way his teams play.
Mike White, Georgia
Lamont Paris, South Carolina Again, may not be ready for UK, but his team leads the league right now.
Buzz Williams, at A&M. Not so young but he is a good coach.
Chris Beard will never be considered for the job. He couldn't take the intense level of scrutiny he would have here. JMO
Because anyone who believes in magic rocks and prophets has deep rooted mental issues and is a dummy on some kind of level.
🙋I accept my ban for saying the obvious out loud.
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