Some interesting nuggets
- Loves the staff. They have good chemistry
- Mentioned there are 29 portal targets. When target expresses interest, drives more research from staff
- Pope said he has 4 guys he was desperate to get
- Says every new addition leads to re-assessing where they are and what they need
- Some things are out of control, like when a player commits
- Will leave some space on the roster pending the draft deadline
- Right now stepping back to re-assess needs and put puzzle together
- Pushing to go as digital as possible -- using Google Docs (lol)
- They have 5 different colors and several tags -- looks more like a cloud than a draft board
- Teams are like a living dynamic organism
- Feels like a startup environment right now and we are in triage mode. Coach Fox is working on the schedule, but is prioritized in future due to other pressures (as a software guy I love this)
- This is in reference to a question about playing St. John's -- basically it's not official yet but being worked on (as well as rest of schedule)
- Will 100% target the cream of crop freshman "This is the University of Kentucky and that is a massive component"
- Cal redefined the process of doing that and that was his contribution to the University of Kentucky
- NIL is a brand new era and we are really fortunate to be at the University of Kentucky in this new era. It adds a whole new dimension
- On NIL: He was hesitant when asked where Kentucky is with NIL, "In short term, yes (it's in a good state). Longer term, we are growing and we need to grow fast"
- "My job is to galvanize the fanbase to get behind this -- it's not just ownership by words"
- People who are part of Club Blue will have opportunity to meet Pope and Team (this was interrupted by a Pope phonecall & Pope asked his assistant to tell them he will call back)
- Club Blue is real and we have some amazing people helping run this. There is no overhead with this program. 100% of money goes to where we want.
- Can meet the team and Pope on Junet 15 (mentioned the roster should be close to being done, if not, completed by this time).
- Anyone subscribed before May 15 is invited. Pope hopes it's big enough to have at Commonwealth Stadium
- Subscribe at ClubBlueNIL.com
- "Ryan (Lemond) is a legend."
- Ryan Lemond asked "Who is in the house tonight?" --Awkard
- Pope said "UK"
- Expresses gratitude for all KSR does
- End of interview
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