Mark Pope Qualifications.

[cathouse]

UK Grad. Check.

Wants to be coach of Kentucky. Check.

HC experience. Check.

NCAA experience. Check.

National Championship player at UK. Check.

Rick Pitino coaching tree. Check.

NBA player. Check.

Plays uptempo fast paced offence. Check.

Teams actually play defense ( even a zone) check..

Not Cal. Check.

What more do you want out of our next coach?????

 

[University-6]

Maybe a NCCA tournament win?

 

[cathouse]

Maybe a NCCA tournament win?

If he gets one in the next 5 years he will match the last guy.

Why not give him a chance to actually see what he can do at KY??

 

[BigBlue1992]

I appreciate your enthusiasm buddy but Kenny Payne could’ve checked several of those boxes too.

 

[cathouse]

I appreciate your enthusiasm buddy but Kenny Payne could’ve checked several of those boxes too.

Very few of them. Kenny Payne is not in the same stratosphere as Mark Pope.

 

[fadkins82476]

His teams have had high offense numbers.

 

[berniecarbo]

Wasn't one of my first picks, but will give him a chance.

 

[Catswin9]

UK Grad. Check.

Wants to be coach of Kentucky. Check.

HC experience. Check.

NCAA experience. Check.

National Championship player at UK. Check.

Rick Pitino coaching tree. Check.

NBA player. Check.

Plays uptempo fast paced offence. Check.

Teams actually play defense ( even a zone) check..

Not Cal. Check.

What more do you want out of our next coach?????

Career Record (major schools): 9 Years, 187-108, .634 W-L%

 

[kywildcatsfannumber1]

Been nice to at least win a Conference Championship, Conference Tournament or a NCAA Tournament game before being hired at Kentucky.

 

[ChicagoCat1990]

Has only had 1 top 50 defense: check
Has never won a tourney game: check

 

[drbubba]

UK Grad. Check.

Wants to be coach of Kentucky. Check.

HC experience. Check.

NCAA experience. Check.

National Championship player at UK. Check.

Rick Pitino coaching tree. Check.

NBA player. Check.

Plays uptempo fast paced offence. Check.

Teams actually play defense ( even a zone) check..

Not Cal. Check.

What more do you want out of our next coach?????

Top notch recruiter?

 

[CrazyCat74]

He may do well.

It would be hard not to do well at a program like Kentucky with its resources and history.

This is like giving your 16 year old that's never driven by himself the keys to your Porsche though.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

If he gets one in the next 5 years he will match the last guy.

Why not give him a chance to actually see what he can do at KY??

First 9 years as coach. Cal won 189 games at UMass and 11 ncaa tourney and beat 96 uk and pope.

Pope has 0 ncaa tourney wins in 9 years and 7 double digit loss seasons.

If you are gonna compare them compare the proper eras.

 

[uk78]

will give him a chance.

Exactly what choice do any of us have....laugh. Hope for the best.

 

[cathouse]

Top notch recruiter?

How many top recruits will go to a Morman school in Utah??

 

[cathouse]

Because Pearl is actually a good coach and Donovan is RIGHT F**KING THERE.

This may well prove to be a greater blunder for Barnhart than Cal's lifetime contract. It sets an unproven alum up for failure immediately and puts Mitch at the head of a ton of Kentucky fans' s**t lists from Hickman to Ashland.

I'd consider myself a usually very patient and loyal person, but Mitch pissed me off with this one.

What took you so long??
Many of us have been pi$$ed at MB since the Joker and BCG fiascoes.
And just like we had no say in Cal's lifetime contract, we will have no say in this hire.

We have two choices. Give the new coach a chance and support the team.

Or be mad and upset every day.

I choose to give the man a chance.

 

[BigRedMachineBigBlueNation]

UK Grad. Check.

Wants to be coach of Kentucky. Check.

HC experience. Check.

NCAA experience. Check.

National Championship player at UK. Check.

Rick Pitino coaching tree. Check.

NBA player. Check.

Plays uptempo fast paced offence. Check.

Teams actually play defense ( even a zone) check..

Not Cal. Check.

What more do you want out of our next coach?????

Well I guess we’ll see. I hope we’re all proven wrong

 

[BigRedMachineBigBlueNation]

What took you so long??
Many of us have been pi$$ed at MB since the Joker and BCG fiascoes.
And just like we had no say in Cal's lifetime contract, we will have no say in this hire.

We have two choices. Give the new coach a chance and support the team.

Or be mad and upset every day.

I choose to give the man a chance.

Being mad at Cal for 5 years took that many years off my life I think. Not ecstatic but w/e I hope we all get proven wrong. Maybe we can revive this thread in 2-3 years 😂😂😂

 

[JPFisher]

What took you so long??
Many of us have been pi$$ed at MB since the Joker and BCG fiascoes.
And just like we had no say in Cal's lifetime contract, we will have no say in this hire.

We have two choices. Give the new coach a chance and support the team.

Or be mad and upset every day.

I choose to give the man a chance.

I tolerated MB for years because I liked his commitment to all athletics and thought he was a decent guy. I didn't fault Mitch for the Joker hire because I trusted Brooks' judgement. I thought Mitch made a good choice by swallowing his pride and picking Cal against his "better" judgement. Sometimes, you need to accept that you don't know best. While I'm sure he's got rock solid character, his decision making is questionable. It's eroded my faith in him and honestly, I was ready for him to retire with the alcohol fiasco.

That said, I deleted my comment because I realized I wasn't being fair to Pope, and I shouldn't do that to vent my anger at Barny. I hope Pope crushes it. I just don't see that happening. At least not without Pope nabbing an ace recruiter or two. BYU-level players won't cut it at Kentucky, obviously.

 

[UK93CarolinaCat]

Don’t agree with this choice, but he does have an impressive resume with BYU and Utah state. Like his hunger and intelligence. Recruiting will be on a Vanderbilt level.

 

[cathouse]

First 9 years as coach. Cal won 189 games at UMass and 11 ncaa tourney and beat 96 uk and pope.

Pope has 0 ncaa tourney wins in 9 years and 7 double digit loss seasons.

If you are gonna compare them compare the proper eras.

Facts are facts.
Wasn't comparing him to Cal. Just stating facts about our past 5 years under Cal.
One win in the next 5 years by Pope NCAA will match the king.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

He will have to be able to get a bunch of great shooters to overcome his defense. Even then, we will be similar to this year. A high scoring team that gives up tons of points.

 

[WeWant9]

He’s one of us, I’ll give him a chance but my excitement level is low. He’s going have to unite the boosters and get that nil rolling, hire a stacked staff.

 

[CatFanInIlliniLand]

How does Mitch keep his job? For real?

 

[BlazerHallsBallsN96]

If he gets one in the next 5 years he will match the last guy.

Why not give him a chance to actually see what he can do at KY??

Valid point

 

[JPFisher]

How does Mitch keep his job? For real?

Pope gets past the round of 64 next year.

 

[JFCats22]

Averaged 12 losses per season as a head coach. Check
Never won an NCAAT game. Check
Never won a conference. Check
Has two top 100 recruits ever as a HC. Check

 

[cathouse]

I tolerated MB for years because I liked his commitment to all athletics and thought he was a decent guy. I didn't fault Mitch for the Joker hire because I trusted Brooks' judgement. I thought Mitch made a good choice by swallowing his pride and picking Cal against his "better" judgement. Sometimes, you need to accept that you don't know best. While I'm sure he's got rock solid character, his decision making is questionable. It's eroded my faith in him and honestly, I was ready for him to retire with the alcohol fiasco.

That said, I deleted my comment because I realized I wasn't being fair to Pope, and I shouldn't do that to vent my anger at Barny. I hope Pope crushes it. I just don't see that happening. At least not without Pope nabbing an ace recruiter or two. BYU-level players won't cut it at Kentucky, obviously.

Even before Cal bailed to Arkansas, I posted in another thread that MB needed to clean up the Cal mess he made and then retire himself and allow a new AD to hire the coach of his choice.

UK is severely lacking in leadership when it comes to athletic administration. MB is always chasing, trying to catch up.

I call it leading from behind. This coach hiring is a perfect example of not being prepared with a viable contingency and successorship plan for a $8M position.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Facts are facts.
Wasn't comparing him to Cal. Just stating facts about our past 5 years under Cal.
One win in the next 5 years by Pope NCAA will match the king.

What about the title and 4 final fours?

And it's 4 seasons. You can count the covid season. Learn math.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

Wonder if Drew bragged on Pope to Barnhart? Maybe that was part of the choice?

 

[JPFisher]

He’s one of us, I’ll give him a chance but my excitement level is low. He’s going have to unite the boosters and get that nil rolling, hire a stacked staff.

This. Hopefully, the interview addressed Pope's plan of sourcing assistants that'll recruit lights out.

Given what we've seen this past week, let's toss in Pelphrey, Ulis, and Rondo. At least one of those options has legit coaching experience.

 

[cathouse]

What about the title and 4 final fours?

And it's 4 seasons. You can count the covid season. Learn math.

I didn't say seasons. I said years. Learn reading. 5 years.

 

[BlueEmpire]

He may do well.

It would be hard not to do well at a program like Kentucky with its resources and history.

This is like giving your 16 year old that's never driven by himself the keys to your Porsche though.

Difference is, he KNOWS and LOVES the keys to what he’s been handed.

 

[cathouse]

Wonder if Drew bragged on Pope to Barnhart? Maybe that was part of the choice?

I suspect that a former teammate that has a son that is making a decision about whether he comes back or not just might have had some input.

 

[cathouse]

Difference is, he KNOWS and LOVES the keys to what he’s been handed.

And he knows it is his responsibility to take care of the Porsche first.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

Bump

 

[know1]

UK Grad. Check.

Wants to be coach of Kentucky. Check.

HC experience. Check.

NCAA experience. Check.

National Championship player at UK. Check.

Rick Pitino coaching tree. Check.

NBA player. Check.

Plays uptempo fast paced offence. Check.

Teams actually play defense ( even a zone) check..

Not Cal. Check.

What more do you want out of our next coach?????

I just want him to be 100% about the success of the program and give 100% of his effort toward that end. That's what I've said for years when asked what my qualifications would be for a coach. If he does that, I'm all good.

You just can't believe in something when the person running it isn't putting much effort into it. That's what we had with Cal. People stopped caring so much. I want to care again and I do already.

 

[Snarks0]

If he gets one in the next 5 years he will match the last guy.

Why not give him a chance to actually see what he can do at KY??

If that’s the bar, he won’t last long here. At least Cal had the first 10 years to offset it.

Also, can Pope recruit?

 

[Snarks0]

I suspect that a former teammate that has a son that is making a decision about whether he comes back or not just might have had some input.

Don’t put that on Reed. He shouldn’t be the reason we hire a coach.

 

[ala_kat2]

Maybe a NCCA tournament win?

Give him the support he needs and you will get your NCAA tournament win. At least give him two years to get there, though. If he can get the players, I feel that he’s going to do well here. He can coach circles around CCC.