Folks, Kenny Payne is playing for keeps

[Uncle Adolph]

Him hiring Milt tells me he is going all out for DJ and does not give a crap about Cal or UK
No matter what we felt about him in the past he is at u of l and is the enemy now

 

[WeWant9]

As he should, he’d be an idiot to try and not step on Cal’s toes.

 

[drcats2013]

I mean, what do you expect him to do? Lol. Obviously not rooting for him, but honestly it was a smart move.

 

[Finna_Go_HAM]

From the moment he was hired at Louisville I never expected him to be anything less than what he's doing now. That's not a shot at Payne... I'm saying he's gotta be loyal to whoever is paying his salary. Was he supposed to NOT TRY to do whatever it takes to get Wagner and just let Cal and UK scoop him up?

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

Definitely worthy of its own separate thread.

 

[cornbreadnmilk]

He's out for blood and doing what he was hired to do.Cal's out there saying it would be great for Louisville to be good again and he's wishing Kenny the best.Guy is totally dried up.

 

[Kats meow]

Played there and now coaches there. I wouldn’t expect any real allegiance to UK.

 

[Ky_Bred_Cat]

He's being paid handsomely to do what's best for his employer and it's product - UofL basketball. And that is what he is doing. If only the UK coach was focused on the same things.

 

[Ineverplayedthegame]

Cal’s got dogs to tummy rub.

 

[jgraf_1]

if only Cal felt this way...

 

[ManitouDan]

there goes another top recruit

 

[Uncle Adolph]

I like what Drew Franklin said
They have gone from hiring strippers to hiring grandparents

 

[Ed323232]

He's out for blood and doing what he was hired to do.Cal's out there saying it would be great for Louisville to be good again and he's wishing Kenny the best.Guy is totally dried up.

It’s called having class

 

[Uncle Adolph]

Maybe I missed it but I have not seen any quotes from Kenny wishing Cal or Uk the best

 

[SemperFiCat]

KP is doing exactly what a head coach should do. Put the team first, make winning a top priority, and go to war with your rival. It's called having fire.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

Somebody should start another thread saying, "Folks, Kenny Payne is not fooling around!"

Then someone should start one saying, "Folks, Kenny Payne means business!!"

I just don't think the dozens of comments on the basic threads about Payne hiring Wagner are getting that point across.

 

[North Carolina Blue Wildcat]

You’d think our coach would be going all in and assuring our programs future. We went from recruiting “The Best of the Best” to whatever’s left..

 

[YardCat]

Why wouldn’t Kenny Payne play for keeps, if he didn’t they would fire him quickly. This is a business deal and he has to play catch-up. Good for him, I enjoy seeing Cal squirm, he was getting to comfortable.

 

[uk78]

People here criticized me two years ago when I said Cal and our program should be grooming and promising Payne the head coaching job when Cal retired. Big mistake to have not done that. Plus, I am not feeling this will be Cal's last season.

Other than a national championship which is a reach with the roster or at least a Final Four, he will be done contract or not. Way too many issues going on including questionable effort in recruiting. There were 6 top transfers in the portal listed as major positive impacts for this upcoming season and they are now going to Auburn, LSU, Memphis, etc. None for us.

 

[bnewt]

He's being paid handsomely to do what's best for his employer and it's product - UofL basketball. And that is what he is doing. If only the UK coach was focused on the same things.

not getting paid nearly what cc is paid & is working ten times as hard

 

[UKWildcatT]

Him hiring Milt tells me he is going all out for DJ and does not give a crap about Cal or UK
No matter what we felt about him in the past he is at u of l and is the enemy now

That’s his job, lol

 

[Bluefinger]

Don't dislike KP, but he hasn't won a game yet as HC. Lots of really good assistants never make it as HC. Time will tell.

 

[TheDude73]

He's being paid handsomely to do what's best for his employer and it's product - UofL basketball. And that is what he is doing. If only the UK coach was focused on the same things.

You mean cheat and play with fire in a known NCAA risk area to get a recruit?

No thanks. We'd be hammered if Cal or UK used this kind of tactic. Nothing Emmert would love more than to slam Calipari and Kentucky on his way out to retirement pasture. You can damned well bet he has his staff looking much harder at anything UK is doing with recruits than any other school, especially on his swan song final year.

 

[cornbreadnmilk]

You mean cheat and play with fire in a known NCAA risk area to get a recruit?

No thanks. We'd be hammered if Cal or UK used this kind of tactic. Nothing Emmert would love more than to slam Calipari and Kentucky on his way out to retirement pasture. You can damned well bet he has his staff looking much harder at anything UK is doing with recruits than any other school, especially on his swan song final year.

Cal did this at Memphis.It's not against the rules.

 

[Uncle Adolph]

Cal did this at Memphis.It's not against the rules.

Maybe he should have done it again and hired DJ's dad

 

[TheDude73]

Cal did this at Memphis.It's not against the rules.

I could have sworn there was some rule that was created after Cal & Memphis that prevents schools from hiring family members simply to get a recruit. I'm at work so don't have time to research - but I'd wager someone else here knows or can quickly research if there was a rule created (and UL is just exploiting a loophole).

 

[crawfords corner]

See him a Grandpa and raise him a Dad. Surely, we can hire Senior for a made up position with UK.

 

[ColonelCat]

KP is doing exactly what a head coach should do. Put the team first, make winning a top priority, and go to war with your rival. It's called having fire.

we should do what's called--return fire.

 

[Uncle Adolph]

Cal needs to quit playing nice

 

[LowCountryCat]

Cal needs to quit playing nice

I'm sure Payne knows, based on conversations, what Cal's long term intentions are. I'll bet he's aware of just how much longer Cal intends to stay here. It probably isn't long, and KP couldn't care less about antagonizing a Calipari who's on his own way out the door.

 

[Uncle Adolph]

May the NCAA hammer drop swiftly on U of L
I understand swiftly and NCAA should not be used in the same sentence

 

[Dore95]

I think Cal will still get DJ. He can offer something that KP can’t or at least won’t. What’s that you ask? The ability to follow in Sharpe’s footsteps and be “none and done” while still earning NIL money. At U of L, DJ would be required to play in games.

 

[fastpaste101]

Kenny is trying to do what it takes to win and I appreciate the aggressiveness honestly. There is a difference in wanting to win and going hard to make it happen. Cal is the former, Kenny is the latter.

 

[TOMCATS1990]

CAL’s lost his fire. He’s like all shucks the UL game doesn’t mean anything. The regular season doesn’t mean anything. The SEC tourney doesn’t mean anything, all that matters is March. We lose to a 15 seed and CAL is like we had a great season just bad breaks tonight. Guy is turning KY basketball into a joke.

 

[LowCountryCat]

CAL’s lost his fire. He like all shucks the UL game doesn’t mean anything. The regular season doesn’t mean anything. The SEC tourney doesn’t mean anything, all that matters is March. We lose to a 15 seed and CAL is like we had a great season just bad breaks tonight. Guy is turning KY basketball into a joke.

You summed it up perfectly.

 

[deuces r wild]

I'm actually more confident that DJ ends up at UK after Milt's hiring. His hiring meant that KP knew he had to pull out all the stops to even have a chance at DJ. I believe Dejuan and his family are quite grateful for the life that Cal helped provide for them. Add in the fact that I'm sure they appreciate everything that UK has done for Kareem.

 

[deep3]

Definitely worthy of its own separate thread.

I agree it is worthy so why do you even respond? You guys/gals that are die hard Cal fans, ok that is your choice, but many are not and they start threads that have many interested in responding.

Why don't you guys literally start new thread topics rather than troll everyone else's and constantly attack? You people must be just miserable to be around as literally everything you post is an attack and there is no thoughts on a solution in your answer, coming from any of these threads.

 

[Uncle Adolph]

Definitely worthy of its own separate thread.

Then dont read it pal

 

[sluggercatfan]

Him hiring Milt tells me he is going all out for DJ and does not give a crap about Cal or UK
No matter what we felt about him in the past he is at u of l and is the enemy now

So you mean to tell me a coach is getting paid millions of dollars and is doing what's best for THE UNIVERSITY THAT PAYS HIM. Hells bells what a novel idea. That would be nice if we had one of those!!
Did anyone listen to the moron that runs ksr radio and his excuse about SS and for what CCC allowed to go down and how much black families love him. Was SICKENING. If they love him so much why are we getting our A$$$$ handed to us on the recruiting front. Listen to it ...if it didn't make your blood boil it'd be funny.

 

[KYHasATimeoutIfTheyWannaUseIt]

Wish Cal was a freakin’ killer like Nick Saban is. Cal is such a lousy person, competitiveness-wise, it’s disgusting. A true competitor would take this crap personal.