Not gonna lie. Losing Cal so abruptly and the timeliness of it sucked for me. But...

[Jamal Sunburn]

These last few months have been pretty freaking awesome!

Mark Pope galvanizing the fanbase.

Pope and staff's tireless work ethic.

Seeing how them being genuine and hard workers resonate with the recruits and their families.

Watching all the former players come together across generations and coaches.

SEEING THE REASON I AM A KENTUCKY FAN.... Rick Pitino back in blue!

Inject this $hit into my veins.

 

[bbncal02]

Like I said, our spirits have been lifted.
But now, it's time to go to work.

Time to go win games.

 

[Jamal Sunburn]

Like I said, our spirits have been lifted.
But now, it's time to go to work.

Time to go win games.

It's gonna happen. Can't fail. It was written.

 

[bnewt]

These last few months have been pretty freaking awesome!

Mark Pope galvanizing the fanbase.

Pope and staff's tireless work ethic.

Seeing how them being genuine and hard workers resonate with the recruits and their families.

Watching all the former players come together across generations and coaches.

SEEING THE REASON I AM A KENTUCKY FAN.... Rick Pitino back in blue!

Inject this $hit into my veins.

Hope coach pope continues to keep the former players involved in some way. No better way to display the tradition

 

[bbncal02]

Hope coach pope continues to keep the former players involved in some way. No better way to display the tradition

And that includes Cal dudes too. I want Wall and Boogie and Ulis and all those guys to feel welcome.

 

[Myth Buster51]

And that includes Cal dudes too. I want Wall and Boogie and Ulis and all those guys to feel welcome.

Calipari’s crew? The ones who as adults post photos of wearing maroon pig gear? The ones who publicize that they ‘donated’ green sneakers to the Michigan State basketball program during the NIL era? Meh, that’s not my definition of Kentucky loyalty. Count me among those who are content if they stay away.

 

[Mdnerd]

Abruptly??? Most of us wanted that “pig” gone for years. His departure took way too long!

 

[bbncal02]

Calipari’s crew? The ones who as adults post photos of wearing maroon pig gear? The ones who publicize that they ‘donated’ green sneakers to the Michigan State basketball program during the NIL era? Meh, that’s not my definition of Kentucky loyalty. Count me among those who are content if they stay away.

Some of them have done that but not all. Wall has never btw.

 

[know1]

Losing Cal abruptly? I feel like I never waited so long for anything in my life. Should have happened 6 years before it did.

 

[Mike-D]

I was tired of losing myself.

1-5 or 6 in the last 6 or 7 champions classics. 3 straight losses to Gonzaga. Kansas State, Saint Peters, Oakland. It was time.

 

[UKortho]

Losing in the first game of the SEC tournament (and the NCAA tournament) was no longer a shock. That speaks volumes.

 

[UK90]

“So abruptly”?

Jeez, that was not my impression at all. The Cal era lasted several years longer than it should have. And the final phase was a painfully drawn out slog.

 

[CatPatrick13]

Abruptly??? Most of us wanted that “pig” gone for years. His departure took way too long!

Most?..... Prob not for years.... A lot of us are late adopters... But I will say, there were people that saw the future 5 years ago....

 

[STL_Cat]

Man I'm with these guys. Losing Pitino in 97 was abruptly. Losing Cal felt like death by 1,000 cuts until the guillotine named Oakland put us all out of our misery

 

[SemperFiCat]

You say "abruptly". I say Kentucky basketball was slowly bleeding out, and the coaching change was a couple years too late. Most fans new the emperor had no clothes. Mitch couldn't have scripted a better way to get a coaching change. It's amazingly poetic how the Cal era came to an end. What a jabroni.

 

[yoshukai]

These last few months have been pretty freaking awesome!

Mark Pope galvanizing the fanbase.

Pope and staff's tireless work ethic.

Seeing how them being genuine and hard workers resonate with the recruits and their families.

Watching all the former players come together across generations and coaches.

SEEING THE REASON I AM A KENTUCKY FAN.... Rick Pitino back in blue!

Inject this $hit into my veins.

What “sucked” for you was one of the happiest days in my life! lol . I’ll never understand the few of you that were so attached to Cal .

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Man I'm with these guys. Losing Pitino in 97 was abruptly. Losing Cal felt like death by 1,000 cuts until the guillotine named Oakland put us all out of our misery

This! Losing Pitino is 1997 was heartbreaking! Losing Cal recently was heartwarming! Lmao

 

[kyrx]

I agree with the initial shock, then enthusiasm, and now the excitement.
But Coach Pope HAS to win, now that we have settled in.

Will he be a Matt Doherty, a Scott Drew, or a Dan Hurley?

I think one of the latter two...

 

[STL_Cat]

I agree with the initial shock, then enthusiasm, and now the excitement.
But Coach Pope HAS to win, now that we have settled in.

Will he be a Matt Doherty, a Scott Drew, or a Dan Hurley?

We all understand that, Pope more than any of us.

 

[JPFisher]

Hope coach pope continues to keep the former players involved in some way. No better way to display the tradition

I want to see Hawkins, Polson, Wall, Biggie, Willis, Bledsoe, Bam, Liggins, Harrisons, Harrellson, Miller (my personal fave wildcat), Ulis, WCS, KAT, AD, MKG, Lamb, Knight, Poythress, Jones, Washington, Book, Herro, Sheppard, Dillingham, Tshiebwe, and more for years and years to come.

In time, I think we'll accept Cal back as well. It was time for that era to end.

In its place, the Pope era begins. Last night was cathartic.

 

[LmdCat]

Abruptly??? Most of us wanted that “pig” gone for years. His departure took way too long!

I agree with you. If you have a cist on your butt causing you pain, the elimination of the pain is appreciated however it happens. Lol

 

[catsfanbgky]

Love Pope's energy and endless work. He will do fine,,,, he did not have a lot of time to put it all together. But, some things I am concerned with :

Least athletic team in years, by a long shot.

Better hope we hit shots (lots of 3's), not going to be much creating / driving , just not athletic / strong enough.

Defense will be the key, IF we are not solid on D, it may be a less than great year.

NOT ready and may never be OK with Pitino coming back. You can't erase what he did at Louisville, my opinion it is a bad look having a
former coach that tainted his legacy with some pretty damning things back at UK.

Not going to pretend it was a "Madness never seen before", actually it was one of the worst. The dunk contest was pretty embarrassing.

I hope I am wrong, but it is my opinion. No way shape or form meant to shit on coach Pope or the team, he did the best he could replacing a whole roster in a short period of time. I am just being honest in my opinion of what I believe.

 

[ORCAT]

I have to admit, I was a big Cal fan when he was first hired and his first 10 years or so were really fun, along with winning a title and hopes of getting another. But, I was ready for Cal to go the past 5 years and was tired of his coach speak, hearing the same old thing on the radio after games. It was time for him and UK to part ways. I don't hate the guy but I'm happy he's gone. Pope has regenerated all the excitement we used to feel about Kentucky basketball and I sure hope he succeeds. He is a true Cat himself and seems like a super quality person as well. Can't wait for the season and the Pope era to begin.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Even with all of RP’s dirty laundry, he’s still more respected in the coaching community than Calipari. You know why?! Because the man can actually coach, from the bench.

RP brought UK back from the ashes of probation. Not many coaches would’ve taken that job. Certainly not any elite coaches. RP did us an absolute solid!

 

[UK90]

Not going to pretend it was a "Madness never seen before", actually it was one of the worst. The dunk contest was pretty embarrassing.

Good. I'm hard pressed to think of anything that I could care less about than a silly madness dunk contest. That stuff stopped being entertaining years ago.

I'm all for less focus on that extraneous nonsense and more on winning actual games.

 

[nascarforthedead]

Calipari should have retired. His style and roster formation just doesn’t work now. I figure one of the main reasons he has kept coaching is Brad.

He became the exact coach he didn’t want to become when he first came. I will remember him reviving the program, some good memories and what he did for tornado and earthquake victims.

But I will totally lukewarm when he comes as a rival coach. I figure he has 3-5 years left in him before he’s done. I feel like he hurt his legacy some staying in-conference and taking so many players, but whatever. He recruits to the University of Calipari.