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According to MJ on X/Twitter re NIL

Oh great. Who's going to make these offers? Pope has never even been on the major aau circuit and neither has any of his staff. They're so under qualified they don't even know where to start.

The only hope is someone hires a very experienced assistant. But who is going to do that?
 
I’m really happy about this actually. If Pope gets great players and proves everybody wrong then great! But if the next couple years don’t go well, nobody will be able to say “he didn’t have the resources.”
 
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I don’t believe it.

UK told MJ to play the game and not bash this hire (like he did last night on Twitter space) and they will let him back in the inner circle.

Nobody gave $4 million for the Pope hire, no way
Ever think the donation was for the good of the program?

Sheesh.
 
I’m really happy about this actually. If Pope gets great players and proves everybody wrong then great! But if the next couple years don’t go well, nobody will be able to say “he didn’t have the resources.”
That’s the big “if” can he get good players or good portal guys? I know he is smart basketball mind and is a big improvement in the actual coaching compared to cal
 
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What we got to lose? S beat down by cals Raserbacks!
Looking at this unemotionally Pope runs the exact type of team that is kryptonite to the Cow. Ability to confuse with a zone, spread the floor out reducing his interior game and rebounding ( cows everything) by pulling bigs to perimeter or suffer 3 bombs, ability to dictate pace and lots of movement and older players which like to bully arrogant freshmen. Man I'm so thrilled to not see that same entitled lazy attitude by freshmen. So happy
 
Cool, recruits will still have to choose him over coaches they have grown up watching and wanting to play for. I don’t see it happening. Nobody knows who this guy is.
Did players grow up watching Scott Drew? Nope, and he has a top-5 recruiting class. How many players grew up watching Jay Wright? Won 2 titles at Villanova. You think a bunch of these dudes playing at UCONN cared about Hurley at Seton Hall or him coaching at Rhode Island?
 
Guys, that is all its going to take. College basketball is NBA minor league now. Like it or not. With the UK brand and NIL money, Pope is going to get players. Once the current high schoolers see his style of play, people will get to know Mark Pope really soon. I mean how many high schoolers really knew Hubert Davis?? He is still reeling in talent with the UNC name alone.
I agree with you about the brand and NIL, but I don't think winning in CBB is about being an NBA minor league any longer. I believe that's outdated idea that the smartest coaches can actually take advantage of - kind of the way some MLB teams had to get smart with "money ball" in baseball. Of course, here it's not about UK being able to compete in regard to money, but the issue is seeing an inefficiency or an overlooked area (e.g., upperclassmen given an opportunity to develop turn into better CBB players as upperclassmen than high school recruits as freshmen).
 
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I hope he succeeds, I see him really struggling on recruiting front even with NIL and the Kentucky name. This guy was getting ridiculed not long ago for making students take off their horns down shirts.
 
I’m not clinging and won’t be giving him much of a leash, just like I wouldn’t with either of the other coaches in their first year.

If a coach can coach, and with a huge NIL and lively portal, he should at least get us back into the tournament in his first year. Those are my minimum expectations.

Second year we need to be ranked top 10 and feared as a serious contender, both in the SEC and the NCAAT.
Agree, and because there are other coaches demonstrating this proficiency now. The numbers prove upper classmen are running the show now and the portal time is near for Pope.
I'm actually kind of low-key excited thinking about the fact these are the teams that give CCC the most trouble. Also love popes heritage and the fact he uses multiple offensive defensive sets, and remembers how the 96 team operated.
Hey I can at least be excited now!!!
 
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Cool, recruits will still have to choose him over coaches they have grown up watching and wanting to play for. I don’t see it happening. Nobody knows who this guy is.
Nobody knew who Dan Hurley was up until 2023.
 
It’s hard to tell what’s true regarding the donors given Matt has said every angle so far to cover his bases. Buttttt….

If the donors are going to give him a total of 6-8mil in NIL (I’m guessing that’s every year) then that means two things:

1) the donors believe in Pope. Maybe he wasn’t their first suggestion but they agreed he’d be one they could support.
2) Pope will have the money necessary to construct a competitive roster every year which is not something he had at BYU.
That's one possible interpretation though there are others.
 
Agree, and because there are other coaches demonstrating this proficiency now. The numbers prove upper classmen are running the show now and the portal time is near for Pope.
I'm actually kind of low-key excited thinking about the fact these are the teams that give CCC the most trouble. Also love popes heritage and the fact he uses multiple offensive defensive sets, and remembers how the 96 team operated.
Hey I can at least be excited now!!!
I am hesitant to be excited simply because any time we've seen a coach perform "meh", they usually continue to perform "meh".

My only hope here is that somehow being back at Kentucky, the NIL and portal creates a monster out of Mark. I will admit, however, that of the few videos I've watched of him last night and this morning - he's kind of a weird dude. I almost thought of Musselman just based off of some of his gestures, quirky facial expressions, and that one strange rap tweet video (that was weird).
 
The only person giving UK 4 million outright is the crafts themselves and it’s possible.
Newsflash -- The Clark's are not the only really really rich folks that support UK .. I know a guy that could give 400-500K if he wanted too. And He's working 9-6 today :) well kinda working , lol
 
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I am hesitant to be excited simply because any time we've seen a coach perform "meh", they usually continue to perform "meh".

My only hope here is that somehow being back at Kentucky, the NIL and portal creates a monster out of Mark. I will admit, however, that of the few videos I've watched of him last night and this morning - he's kind of a weird dude. I almost thought of Musselman just based off of some of his gestures, quirky facial expressions, and that one strange rap tweet video (that was weird).
I know if I was in his shoes as a UK graduate of the same era with his qualifications and experience and resources coming now I would be pumped out of my mind and have more energy than I could deal with to get it done.
I'm sure we all feel some of that hesitation too, but the relief of CCC being gone, priceless!
 
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What is Mark Fox doing? Seems we have all this NIL money and are gonna end up with Great Osobor and a bunch of role players. JQ headed to UL or Arkansas, McNeely is headed to UConn, Adou headed to Pitt or UNC, and on and on and on.
 
Cool, recruits will still have to choose him over coaches they have grown up watching and wanting to play for. I don’t see it happening. Nobody knows who this guy is.
It's all about the highest bidder. The coach and school means nothing to 95 percent of recruits under the new nil era.
 
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The only person giving UK 4 million outright is the crafts themselves and it’s possible.
You'd really be surprised at the number of people out there who are millionaires, even big time multi millionaires. Many don't broadcast it for any number of reasons. And there are good reasons to NOT be recognized for that. They work hard at keeping a low profile.
 
Guess what: these same donors would've ponied up for Bruce Pearl or Billy Donovan as well.

Stop rationalizing this hire.
Don't You get it? No body wanted those guys at UK.
A has been and a never was cheater ...
Cal is gone (on his own) ... and Pope is our future.
Get you some
 
Guess what: these same donors would've ponied up for Bruce Pearl or Billy Donovan as well.

Stop rationalizing this hire.
I wasn’t thrilled with it either but what’s done is done. Gotta support and give a chance.
 
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