I hope what’s been said about this board is true.

[CHAMPCAT11]

For years a lot of people said the posters on this board were the worst fans anywhere and only represented a TINY minority of real UK fans. I never believed it but now I hope like hell it’s true. I’ll be the first to say that I don’t think Pope is a great hire. But for so many on here calling for his head on a chopping block is ridiculous. He’s a fan favorite from the best UK team we’ve ever had and he won a NC here. Be angry at MB, trustees, whomever. Do whatever makes you happy but criticizing Mark Pope is so wrong. I know a lot of posters are saying they’re not mad at him and my comments aren’t aimed at you but just as many are back stabbing him over and over. If you criticize Mark Pope you’re not a UK fan.

 

[RunninRichie]

I don’t think anyone is mad at Pope. Dude was offered a job at his alma mater. The anger is directed toward Barnhart for putting a beloved former player in this position. And the program.

 

[ThunderMash]

I think it's more anger at Barnhart riding solo on this hire and thrusting Pope into the driver's seat, but he's not ready for this jump yet. Barnhart is setting Pope up for a step in the wrong direction.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

No one is upset with Pope. For him, it's the chance of a lifetime.

But he's simply not qualified for this position.

 

[ULISwuzPointGod]

Ok wow. So I'm here for the replies, cuz I don't feel like the boards have echoed this sentiment much at all, as of right now. So I'll just hang back and watch the shit show unfold lol

 

[Cold Stout Beer]

For years a lot of people said the posters on this board were the worst fans anywhere and only represented a TINY minority of real UK fans. I never believed it but now I hope like hell it’s true. I’ll be the first to say that I don’t think Pope is a great hire. But for so many on here calling for his head on a chopping block is ridiculous. He’s a fan favorite from the best UK team we’ve ever had and he won a NC here. Be angry at MB, trustees, whomever. Do whatever makes you happy but criticizing Mark Pope is so wrong. I know a lot of posters are saying they’re not mad at him and my comments aren’t aimed at you but just as many are back stabbing him over and over. If you criticize Mark Pope you’re not a UK fan.

But you left the door wide open to later say that you told us it was a bad hire. Funny.

Also. I’m as real of a UK fan as there is but the minority were the ones that acted like you weren’t a UK fan unless you publicly declared, multiple times daily, that you hated Calipari to the point of vommiting projectiles and called him silly names. You seem to have the minority mixed up, but I for one am not interested in revisiting that gibberish again. It’s a new day, time to let this “you’re not a real fan unless you did it my way” garbage go.

 

[chroix]

Average response presented as an outlier. Nice jab though. 6/10.

 

[know1]

For years a lot of people said the posters on this board were the worst fans anywhere and only represented a TINY minority of real UK fans. I never believed it but now I hope like hell it’s true. I’ll be the first to say that I don’t think Pope is a great hire. But for so many on here calling for his head on a chopping block is ridiculous. He’s a fan favorite from the best UK team we’ve ever had and he won a NC here. Be angry at MB, trustees, whomever. Do whatever makes you happy but criticizing Mark Pope is so wrong. I know a lot of posters are saying they’re not mad at him and my comments aren’t aimed at you but just as many are back stabbing him over and over. If you criticize Mark Pope you’re not a UK fan.

So you're one of those fans as well.

 

[NociHTTP]

You can't really say that you don't think Pope is a great hire, and in the same breath accuse others of backstabbing him. Not much of a difference. You appear to be appealing to the masses.

 

[IFerg1969]

I'm pissed at Barnhart for not doing his due diligence in the coaching search. I would have gone after several other guys before getting to Pope. Having said that, I'm okay with the hire, we all wanted someone that "gets" what UK basketball is all about and understands the BBN because he is one of us. I'm on board until such time as he has proven he is not the guy, which I hope never comes to pass. Certainly not mad at Pope in any way, shape or form, why would I be?

 

[SemperFiCat]

The "no, I wasn't throwing a fit and posting phone numbers and talking about getting people fired because I didn't get my coach, I was just really sad for our beloved Mark Pope being thrown to the wolves" BS is laughable. Don't even try that. We were here, and we saw the posts. Nobody played the "poor Pope" card for quite a while. Y'all lost your ish and were acting like toddlers who didn't get the toy they wanted. Balderdash. Some spin doctors.

 

[MrHotDice]

No one is upset with Pope. For him, it's the chance of a lifetime.

But he's simply not qualified for this position.

No one is qualified to coach UK if you use this board posts as evidence. In fact most come on here for a Good laugh.

 

[ace on the river]

No one is upset with Pope. For him, it's the chance of a lifetime.

But he's simply not qualified for this position.

What makes one " qualified " in your opinion?

 

[Elliott Tim]

No one is upset with Pope. For him, it's the chance of a lifetime.

But he's simply not qualified for this position.

At least it appears to be that way.

 

[ib4ky]

I for one like the Pope hire, for a number of reasons!!

I think it revives the passion of most in the BBN, see press conference craziness!!

MB supposedlly tried the Hurley/ Drew routes and it ended up being wasted couple of days of effort!!

If the Bulls win tonight, they would play Friday versus the 76'ers/Heat, if by chance they would win that game, they would then start a series against the Knicks. So the Billy Donovan as UK's new head coach was going to have some delay to it. Which meant greater BBN angst due to no coach, no assistants and no communication with recruits or players in the portal.

Alot of other coaches who may have won one or multiple NCAA tourney games are more qualified than Pope, but I think they were just more prepared and or intested in winning than the coaches they beat.

My Hope For Pope this year is that he assembles a balanced team of recruits, underclassmen, experience, size, high IQ players and shooters with HIGH expectations to be competetive, win ALOT of games, win titles and to not be embarrassed EVER by losing to some Podunk University!!

P.S. I'm glad I just retired, because I'm spending way too much time reading UK stories!! (J/K, I love it)

 

[jedwar]

I'm just not seeing the chopping block happening. I did not want Pope but I'm on board for 100% support.Why? Because not a thing I can do otherwise. As far as criticism, meh. FWIW I didn't want Donovan either.

 

[Ugoff]

I've noticed some are finding these threads from Thursday night and bumping them. You can speculate on their motivation.

 

[gocatswin]

Would you people get over this Barnhart must be fired. He is not going anywhere , he is one of most respected ADs in country.

 

[ftp000]

No one is upset with Pope. For him, it's the chance of a lifetime.

But he's simply not qualified for this position.

None of the people you would consider qualified wanted the job. Mostly because of self anointed experts, like yourself, thinking they know everything.
I am surprised we are still reading ignorant trash like this, especially from seasoned posters.
You have no idea who's qualified and who isn't.

 

[CBBCrazy]

None of the people you would consider qualified wanted the job. Mostly because of self anointed experts, like yourself, thinking they know everything.
I am surprised we are still reading ignorant trash like this, especially from seasoned posters.
You have no idea who's qualified and who isn't.

I ignored SOS and my time is better spent.

 

[awf]

Ok wow. So I'm here for the replies, cuz I don't feel like the boards have echoed this sentiment much at all, as of right now. So I'll just hang back and watch the shit show unfold lol

It's like going to the zoo and watching the monkeys throwing shit at each other in here.......

 

[CatsFanIL]

I'm pissed at Barnhart for not doing his due diligence in the coaching search. I would have gone after several other guys before getting to Pope. Having said that, I'm okay with the hire, we all wanted someone that "gets" what UK basketball is all about and understands the BBN because he is one of us. I'm on board until such time as he has proven he is not the guy, which I hope never comes to pass. Certainly not mad at Pope in any way, shape or form, why would I be?

Due dilligence? Unless you haven't been paying attention, he put quite a bit into this search. Offered to make Hurley they highest paid coach in college athletics, was turned down by Drew, reports that Billy wouldn't even seriously discuss the job until after NBA elimination and refused to tell UK whether he'd be leaning towards UK or not. Oats was out of the picture, but allegedly contact was made. And conversations were had with other coaches as well.

At the end of the day, in MY personal opinion, 2 things are true about this hire:
1. Barnhart and his staff know far more about high level coaching hires than all of Rafters put together. That's a fact - he has decades of experiencing do things, and we don't.

2. After missing out on Hurley and Drew, you can tell he had a clear goal: to make Kentucky basketball a program about Kentucky basketball - not stars, not NBA projections, not a coach who thinks they're bigger than the program - he wanted a return to what made Kentucky basketball, Kentucky basketball.

 

[know1]

I've noticed some are finding these threads from Thursday night and bumping them. You can speculate on their motivation.

They are attention seeking losers for the most part.

 

[CatsFanIL]

The "no, I wasn't throwing a fit and posting phone numbers and talking about getting people fired because I didn't get my coach, I was just really sad for our beloved Mark Pope being thrown to the wolves" BS is laughable. Don't even try that. We were here, and we saw the posts. Nobody played the "poor Pope" card for quite a while. Y'all lost your ish and were acting like toddlers who didn't get the toy they wanted. Balderdash. Some spin doctors.

It's the same for a lot of the UK "media" too. Shawn Smith and Jack Pilgram were beyond disappointed with the hire. Then they said they spoke to other people in college coaching and coaching circles and they were blown away by how much respect Pope has and how highly the coaching world thinks of him, and how Sampson said Pope's offense is the best in college basketball

Point being: They didn't know jack sh*t and had to be told by people who actually know basketball. Too many, whether its UK "media" or posters here, have been conditioned in the Cal era to only think about stars, or splash hires, or "home run" recruits/coaches, etc. We've ignored what makes something right, something correct, something as a best fit, because we're used to pursuing headlines instead

 

[Mdnerd]

What makes one " qualified " in your opinion?

SOS won’t be able to answer that in a coherent way. Kind of like asking a trans activist what a woman is, useless blathering is guaranteed to ensue…

 

[CaptnMorgan]

The squeaky wheel always gets the most attention, warranted or not.

 

[robo222]

Sports is a vampires graveyard of coaching hires… Many coaches die at “wherever U” only to rise again somewhere else… You can’t kill a coach… Barney has made a couple of bad hires. He’s in a full room of other AD’s that have done the same… I like this hire. The guys that we were after and others mentioned were “Mark Popes” not too long ago… I’ll give him a shot and if it doesn’t work out maybe a new AD steps up to the plate to give it a try… 15 years, 1 Natty Camp, a boat load of BS, and millions of dollars… It was time and thank you JC for the memories… Time to move on.

 

[Big BlueBeard]

No one is upset with Pope. For him, it's the chance of a lifetime.

But he's simply not qualified for this position.

So tell us, who should they have hired?

 

[Cold Stout Beer]

The "no, I wasn't throwing a fit and posting phone numbers and talking about getting people fired because I didn't get my coach, I was just really sad for our beloved Mark Pope being thrown to the wolves" BS is laughable. Don't even try that. We were here, and we saw the posts. Nobody played the "poor Pope" card for quite a while. Y'all lost your ish and were acting like toddlers who didn't get the toy they wanted. Balderdash. Some spin doctors.

Couldn't have said it better! SOME of the ones calling Barnhart (not the OP) claim they are the majority and the rest of us are the minority. LMAO!! Insanity. Less than 1 one hundredth of 1% tried to contact Barnhart. There's your minority.

 

[CHAMPCAT11]

So you're one of those fans as well.

So you’re one of those posters as well.

 

[CHAMPCAT11]

But you left the door wide open to later say that you told us it was a bad hire. Funny.

Also. I’m as real of a UK fan as there is but the minority were the ones that acted like you weren’t a UK fan unless you publicly declared, multiple times daily, that you hated Calipari to the point of vommiting projectiles and called him silly names. You seem to have the minority mixed up, but I for one am not interested in revisiting that gibberish again. It’s a new day, time to let this “you’re not a real fan unless you did it my way” garbage go.

Nope. I’ve seen a lot of posters give you grief and I questioned them. I messed up … you don’t know how to read OR comprehend. I didn’t leave the door open for sh*t. I’ll go slow so you can try to understand. I said Triple C was/is/ and always will be an ass. He set UK basketball way back. I said a lot of fans said Pope sucked and they should give him a chance. If he becomes Adolph Rupp II I’ll be happy. If he becomes Billy Clyde or coaches like you post then it was a bad hire. None of it affects my life so I won’t gloat either way. I just think he deserves a chance.

 

[Jakerz]

One thing I know is true.
This new generation of “fans” are some of the damn softest bunch of pansies ever born.
Why get on this board and make a post like this? Nobody cares. Read what you want and move on. 99% of the bullshat post dissapear within thirty minutes anyways.

I got news for you though. A huge portion of those fans that were there for the press conference feel a lot of what you’re talking about but the university comes first. Cal was slimy sack of potatoes that I couldn’t stand and let it be known. But not once did I ever take a dump on my Alma mater.

Stuff like this wouldn’t even be brought up if these cringey self righteous post wasn’t made so someone can feel better about themselves.

It’s a message board. Move on or go to Fayetteville.

 

[BasketBallJunkie-UK]

I get it, Mark Pope's Career thus far has not been high level. But I can tell what I know about Pope.

1. Obviously he bleeds blue
2. He's going to work his ass off
3. I believe he will call Pitino a lot for advice as well as his inner circle of former team mates.
4. He's not going to alienate the fans, the UK admin, Alum and the media.
5. You won't hear him making excuses. He will own his misgivings and learn from them.
6. He's going to get the best coaching staff he can.
7. He's going to get players that fit his system and the best he can.
8. What he did in his first year of the B12 with what he had was pretty darn good.

6 and 7 will improve as time goes on.

 

[Warf2012]

Due dilligence? Unless you haven't been paying attention, he put quite a bit into this search. Offered to make Hurley they highest paid coach in college athletics, was turned down by Drew, reports that Billy wouldn't even seriously discuss the job until after NBA elimination and refused to tell UK whether he'd be leaning towards UK or not. Oats was out of the picture, but allegedly contact was made. And conversations were had with other coaches as well.

At the end of the day, in MY personal opinion, 2 things are true about this hire:
1. Barnhart and his staff know far more about high level coaching hires than all of Rafters put together. That's a fact - he has decades of experiencing do things, and we don't.

2. After missing out on Hurley and Drew, you can tell he had a clear goal: to make Kentucky basketball a program about Kentucky basketball - not stars, not NBA projections, not a coach who thinks they're bigger than the program - he wanted a return to what made Kentucky basketball, Kentucky basketball.

1.) Barnhart knows absolutely jack shit. When he first got here he even admitted basketball wasn’t his thing. He has a track record of making bad hires and decisions: Joker, Billy, Elzy, the contractual details with Stoops, and Kal’s horrible lifetime contract. The one good hire he made, Cal, he had to be forced into. I’d love nothing more than Pope to work because of who he is but I have next to no confidence in him. Hes just not qualified and if he actually turned down having Antigua on staff then he’s just making it even harder on himself and maybe even less qualified for the job than i thought.

2.) After Drew and Hurley he jumped straight to his safety net. He wanted to get a hire down as quickly as possible and didn’t like the optics of being rejected. The fact that he wouldn’t even look at Beard/Pearl and went right to Pope/Shaka Smart after the top 2 is pathetic on his part. He has no business being the AD at a SEC school. He needs to resign and go be a Sunday school teacher somewhere.

 

[know1]

So you’re one of those posters as well.

Nope. Others here have said the same as what I did.

 

[ukcatz12]

So tell us, who should they have hired?

Easy answer. Jay Wright as coach, hire Brad Stevens to be the guy managing the roster/NIL/transfer portal, and Pat Riley as a recruiter for his NBA connections. Maybe Nate Oats can be an assistant if we felt like hiring a non-hall of famer, but this is Kentucky our standards should be higher. So just an assistant position for Oats.

Just offer them all $20 million a year and say "This is Kentucky, you're lucky we're even offering" and they'll crawl to Lexington.

 

[Big BlueBeard]

Easy answer. Jay Wright as coach, hire Brad Stevens to be the guy managing the roster/NIL/transfer portal, and Pat Riley as a recruiter for his NBA connections. Maybe Nate Oats can be an assistant if we felt like hiring a non-hall of famer, but this is Kentucky our standards should be higher. So just an assistant position for Oats.

Just offer them all $20 million a year and say "This is Kentucky, you're lucky we're even offering" and they'll crawl to Lexington.

Haha!! Sad thing is, there's prob people on here who actually believe it's that easy.

 

[BBUK]

But you left the door wide open to later say that you told us it was a bad hire. Funny.

Also. I’m as real of a UK fan as there is but the minority were the ones that acted like you weren’t a UK fan unless you publicly declared, multiple times daily, that you hated Calipari to the point of vommiting projectiles and called him silly names. You seem to have the minority mixed up, but I for one am not interested in revisiting that gibberish again. It’s a new day, time to let this “you’re not a real fan unless you did it my way” garbage go.

Now LOOK Beer Belly... 🤣


I "ain't" got the sense God gave a goose. (This would have come off way better in person as I know you'd laugh with me.)🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂

ROTFCGU (The Senior version.)

 

[Cold Stout Beer]

Now LOOK Beer Belly... 🤣


I "ain't" got the sense God gave a goose. (This would have come off way better in person as I know you'd laugh with me.)🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂

ROTFCGU (The Senior version.)

haha. What's funny is that I never drink more than more beer a day and am a flat belly. I love a cold beer with dinner. Just one.

 

[catsfanbgky]

No one is upset with Pope. For him, it's the chance of a lifetime.

But he's simply not qualified for this position.

Answer this for me, was Dan Hurley qualified for the UCONN job when he was hired ? Look back at his coaching results before answering.