Two one and done as are the sweet spot imo. You can go after other fringe five star guys that may be on a two year plan, but if you end up with 60% of your starting lineup being OAD guys, you end up in the same roster retention cycle we were in before. Id even be okay with one OAD per year starting in the ‘27 season. I think you might need an extra next year
I like Coach Pope's strategy so far. I think he'll go for one or two per year. The thing about Pope is that he has something that a lot of coaches don't have...that is CHARISMA!!!! I like it!!! His enthusiasm is contagious!!
I agree with your post. I voted for two (2) a year. Of course, with NIL$$$ and the portal now, one-and-done players are not solely limited to highly-related Freshmen.
I agree wholeheartedly. 2 top level OAD’s is perfect. In that Athletic article in another thread it seems like that’s what Pope is looking to do. He wants to mix up the best of the best with freshmen that can contribute but maybe be more of a 2-year guy and then guys that are willing to stick around and be those junior & senior leaders. The 2012 team is a good example; you had AD & MKG, you had Jones and Lamb, and then you had Miller. Ideally you’d have another Miller or 2 but you can see how that mix turned out and frankly AD was so good he made up for any deficiencies.
I agree with your post, but one thing is different now ... NIL$$$ and the portal. It will remain to be seen if players are just as inclined to stick around and grow with a program. If not, it will not be a reflection on Pope, but a simple reflection of the reality of today. It will be very interesting to see how it all unfolds. GO CATS !!
Good point ... I should've said SIGN. I edited the title. Thanks for the correction. GO CATS !!
I'm not in the everyone category.
I understand your sentiment and I probably should’ve said many/most.
That is the big difference. Can our staff close the deal on elite players? It was the big question initially after the hire and still remains.
Not all 5 stars are one and done. Once NBA lets kids be drafted after HS everything will change. Why waste a year in college. To me once you sign an agent, your college days are over. Now you have NIL agents. Thats just the system being run by the inmates.
There’s a difference. You want the top 10 freshmen. You don’t want the fringe top 20-25.
Pope has one more thing most coaches dont have. A Championship of his own, that he earned with hard work. The Pitino coaching tree has Blue roots.
Thank you for accepting this in the way it was posted.
If every 5 star kid was Tyrese Maxey I wouldn’t mind Kentucky basketball going back to being a nursery but we know there’s a lot more Chris Livingston’s at the top than the rest when you get down to it.
I agree, I think he will recruit a top few players but unlike Cal I think he will also recruit players who come to UK for multiple years and have roles.
So in order to stay away from the Bradshaw's, Edward's, and Boston's, you're fine with also missing out on the Reed Sheppard's, the Dillingham's, Maxey's, Murray's, the Fox's and Bam's?
Yes I'm fine with missing some of them. Still wouldn't have missed all of them; I am not saying don't recruit any 5 star players. I'm saying don't recruit ones that are only 5 star because of perceived potential for their size and athleticism and will only be around for one year. For instance, neither Bradshaw, Edwards, or Wagner were ever good in game 3 point shooters in coming into college. When they were taking them at UK they were all trying to become good in game 3 point shooters for the first time at our expense; trying to prove it to the NBA with no thought of making their current team better. I'm saying we shouldn't try to recruit any raw athletes that are rated to be around only one year that don't already have offensive skills. I wouldn't recruit any highly ranked player that wasn't an excellent shooter coming out of high school; if they don't have it by then they probably won't develop it in the short time they are at UK.
More so, 5-stars, rather than being NBA OADs.
