No coach has nor probably ever will recruit like Cal did in his 15 years at UK. BEFORE Cal came to UK in 8 years at UMass he signed 1 McDonald AA. In 9 years at Memphis he signed 3. At UK he signed nearly 40. It should be remembered when comparing how other UK coaches did (or probably will do) in recruiting, none most likely won't be recruiting to nearly empty rosters every season (as Cal did).
During the early 1970s (Joe Hall's era) there were no official recruiting class rankings but one could look at various classes and make intelligent guesses. Hall's best classes:
1972 Top 2 with 5 state POY
1974 #1 with Robey, Givens, lee, Phillips
1978 #3
1979 #1 with Bowie, etc
1980 #1
1983 Top 5
1985 #1
Eddie Sutton
1987 Top 10 with Manuel, Leron Ellis
1988 Top 5 with Shawn Kemp, Chris Mills
Pitino maybe had the weakest top recruiting classes, but:
1992 #1 with Delk, Rhodes, McCarty, etc
1995 top 5 with Mercer, Turner
RSCI Rankings for Tubby (even with his well known dislike to getting down in the AAU mudhole) RSCI Rankings
1998 #6
1999 #5
2000 #12
2001 #12
2004 #2
2006 #14
Even BCG did OK:
2007 #11
2008 #14
As the above shows, EVERY UK coach with any drive at all (which Pope certainly seems to have) will excel at bringing in top players. Guess we will see.
During the early 1970s (Joe Hall's era) there were no official recruiting class rankings but one could look at various classes and make intelligent guesses. Hall's best classes:
1972 Top 2 with 5 state POY
1974 #1 with Robey, Givens, lee, Phillips
1978 #3
1979 #1 with Bowie, etc
1980 #1
1983 Top 5
1985 #1
Eddie Sutton
1987 Top 10 with Manuel, Leron Ellis
1988 Top 5 with Shawn Kemp, Chris Mills
Pitino maybe had the weakest top recruiting classes, but:
1992 #1 with Delk, Rhodes, McCarty, etc
1995 top 5 with Mercer, Turner
RSCI Rankings for Tubby (even with his well known dislike to getting down in the AAU mudhole) RSCI Rankings
1998 #6
1999 #5
2000 #12
2001 #12
2004 #2
2006 #14
Even BCG did OK:
2007 #11
2008 #14
As the above shows, EVERY UK coach with any drive at all (which Pope certainly seems to have) will excel at bringing in top players. Guess we will see.
