Reed is such an outlier it’s hard for me to bank on the improbable when making a projection. Every pull of the slot machine could be a jackpot, so the chance exists.
Jasper johnson nears commitment after peach jam
- Thread starter BStockfan01
- Start date
I've seen several of his games. I'll admit I'm not sure what to make of Johnson. He's a 5 star in-state legacy recruit and you take him if you can get him, for the look of it, alone. But if he goes elsewhere I won't cry about it.
Tons of 2nd gen players decide to go elsewhere. They want their own legacy and do not want anything to do with their parents school. He might be in that category. One of my 3 kids like UK. One got her Doctorate at Central Michigan U and is there for life, the other went to UofL. He does not follow any sport from any school (like his grandfather (wifes side)). My middle son and I are UK fans. I typically watch games alone and am on the phone with my brother. My wife does not watch any UK sports. She does not like sports what so ever. Time have changed with these guys.
Haven’t we learned anything. I’m more concerned with what transfers we can get to put together a team that can win number nine . Five star freshmen don’t get it done in one year and then they are gone . If he wants to come for a year and earn his spot that’s ok.
So no red flag on ANY freshman.
So no red flag on ANY freshman.
I think it's going to be different with CMP. He bleeds blue, and loves to talk about UK. The previous coach did NOT bleed blue and constantly talked about the NBA and talking down to the fans.
This is an extremely deep class with guards/wings. If you land Johnson, good win for Pope for optics and people in the state who want to make this #1 priority. If you don't, you can land several guys who are as good if not better.
Story by Jasum Marcum says that AL and NC lead for Johnson. Also said that IU leads for Moreno. He said it would be 'devastating' if Pope loses them. That is crazy. Has Marcum not seen all the players that Pope is recruiting? It would be nice to get a couple of Kentucky boys but there are several better players Pope is recruiting if they don't want to be a Cat.
As many have said. NO HE DOESN"T.. The world is not going to end. UK will still play basketball come fall.... Life s we know it will move on and Pope will have plenty of success. This is not University of CAL anymore.
Perception matters. If Pope wants to run with the big dogs, he needs to break into the 5 star world at some point to prove that he can get it done at the highest level, going against the best recruiters in the world.
Downplaying that provides a nice emotional parachute, but it also denies the reality that Pope will have to start landing top 10 guys at some point if he wants to get it done at Kentucky. I get that BBN is providing some nice padding for Pope right now, but that shelf life will wear off soon and people will start analyzing his recruiting like they did with Tubby Smith.
Watch and see. That's how BBN works and will always work.
We'll see. Trilly has Indiana leading for Boogie Fland and had us leading for Chaz Lanier. He's certainly more connected that Marcum and yet he was still wrong.
Lol, could not disagree more. You can sit and bitch and moan all you want. Who cares. The rest of us will cheer on UK, pope, and the guards he gets that want to play for us.
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While I think getting Johnson and Moreno is important, I don’t think it’s critical.
As long as Pope gets us back to the Final Four in the next few years and gets us a title.
That’s the only “must” for Pope. He better get us back to regularly getting to Final Fours and win at least one title within the next decade or he needs to move aside and let someone else give it a try.
As long as Pope gets us back to the Final Four in the next few years and gets us a title.
That’s the only “must” for Pope. He better get us back to regularly getting to Final Fours and win at least one title within the next decade or he needs to move aside and let someone else give it a try.
In a CBB realm of One&Done freshmen, wide-open transfer portal, and NIL, I really question the premise that Pope ever needs to land a high school kid ranked in the Top 10 of the current recruiting services to compete for National (or SEC) titles. Is there proof of this in the current environment, or is it some conventional wisdom tied to a bygone era where top recruits stayed multiple years and developed more of that talent upside into winning production? Personally, I think I would take the highly skilled, hard-working, proven winner, high floor/lower ceiling 4-stars over the OAD almost every time. Multiple years of development, experience and maturity are hard for projectable talent to beat before that talent is no longer mostly projectable.
UNC has been recruiting this kid for years. Pope 2 months, since he had to spend his first 2 months hete compiling a team for this year. To say this is a MUST get make or break guy for Pope is ABSURD.
All for the instate guys but there are players in the 2025 class better than either and likely fit Pope's system better.
Seriously, many 2025 guys are just now being offered by coaches. If you say Pope came in late to Johnsons and Morenos recruitment, wouldn't you have to say the same for every recruit he has offered. Johnson and Moreno have visited UK unofficially and officially since Pope has been here. I will consider this a big miss if he can't get both of these guys.
If I paid over a million balloons to ANYBODY it would be to a PROVEN top portal guy after the season, not a high school kid that NOBODY can predict his college performance. We don't NEED 5 star high school kids any more to compete for a title. The new portal has changed all that people need to catch up
Pope is TWO years behind on the next two recruiting classes. He was not in the mix for the top of the rankings in his previous job. Any of the top kids he goes after for the next two classes have had contact with our competition for the last two years.
If he can catch lightning in a bottle this year that could help or if we just flat out outbid for mercenaries. The former is a long shot and I don’t think the latter is in Pope’s playbook.
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