Mark needs a stud big splash recruiter and the best portal guy in the country. Outside of that maybe a defensive wiz. One or more need to be prior players (Ulis type) that can relate to the players.
Pope's Assistants
- Thread starter JPFisher
- Start date
We already gave 1 under qualified guy a job because he played here. Let’s not make it two!
Why would Cal possibly want to stay at UK for any role ? He got so much hate from fans. He wanted out of the negativity towards him. Plus he wanted to coach
Most important piece of the puzzle right now. The assistants will be a likely determining factor in Pope’s success or not. Go get Rondo, try to keep Ullis if possible, find some dawg recruiters and roll. Lets go Pope!
Was he not a Rhodes Scholar candidate? I actually did not like the hiring last night and was hoping for Donovan but after sleeping on it I think it does make a lot of sense. Young enough that he will be here for a long time, hungry, energetic, knows the fan base and expectations, can coach big guys, runs a Pitino offense and defense, has the backing of all of the guys from the nineties when we should have won three titles in a row, and he has got a lot of personality.!
So let's hit the portal hard and give him a chance. We are still Kentucky and we are no longer stuck in the quick sand that Cal got us into to. Time to play for name on the front of the Jersey. Fans first program from this point forward!
You're disgusting. He's goofy because he's a morman? What TF are you?
Who's Baylor's best recruiter outside of Drew? Maybe his wife is willing to move.
I think this decision leaking right before sleepy time was a huge tactical move on Barnhart's part.
BS. Everyone knows exactly what you meant
I don't have insider sources on this, but look for maybe Nazr Mohammed, Scott Padgett, and Allen Edwards as far as former UK players go that are currently in the coaching realm
Current assistants at BYU that did NOT play for BYU and don't seem to have long-lasting ties there: Nick Robinson (previously at LSU and Stanford), Kahil Fennel (previously at Louisville), and his top assistant is Cody Fueger, whose resume I'd definitely love to have at UK with Pope, but I'm not sure if he's the likely candidate to replace Pope at BYU or not?
He absolutely HAS to put a name on the bench that UK fans are familiar with. I don't care if that's Tony Delk, Tyler Ulis, Scott Padgett, John Pelphrey, or Jai Lucas.
Derek Anderson has long been rumored to want an assistant coaching position at UK. Maybe Pope would give him such an opportunity?
This!! Plus, take the time to look at the BYU roster and where some of those guys came from; little towns in Utah, places out west Ive never heard of. Probably not 5 stars amongst the whole group if you added them all together, and to take that and go into Allen Feildhouse and beat the Jailhawks, beatting Iowa State, beating a good Gonzaga team the year before, and making the NCAA tournament from the Big 12. Now give Cal that roster and see what he couldve done with it? LOL Id say 9-16 record he set would have been broken. I think if people give him a chance, they will look back and say we did hit a home run. I agree that he does need to get a big time recruiter.
I could see a Scott Padgent from Miss.St. . Good recruiter from the portal and would fit well with Mark imo.
There is a lot of immaturity on this board.
I can't imagine anyone not WANTING this. But I think most have a pretty good idea it won't happen. Why?
Kentucky just hired a dude...
- that has been a head coach for 9 years
- has ZERO tournament wins
- In 9 seasons of being a HC, he qualified for the NCAAT twice
- He won his conference ZERO times
- Conference finishes of...
- 5th, 5th, 2nd, and 2nd in the WAC
- 2nd, 2nd, 5th, and T5 in the WCC
- 5th in the B12.
Read that GD list/paragraph again and let it sink in. Like REALLY let it sink in.
Hope is a strange thing to be banking on for the University of Kentucky basketball team. You shouldn't have to hope. You should hire a proven winner. Barring a Schiano/Tennessee type revolt, this is what we're stuck with it. It sucks.
This is the move.
You look at the top 5 recruiting classes and you target each of their lead or secondary recruiters and hope you can steal 1 guy from each teams class this season to help compliment the portal guys we will get.
I think Nazr makes a TON of sense, and not because he's a UK guy. I think that connection helps. But...
When he tweeted out support for Pope last night, I looked at his Twitter page. His Bio says he's the GM for the OKC G-league team. Wikipedia says he's also the scout for the OKC.
OKC has had one of the best turn arounds in the NBA. They have done an amazing job of identifying and developing young talent.
I would think that role certainly puts you into contact with players and handlers. I think there aren't a lot of college jobs you leave for--but Kentucky/his alma matter might be it.
He would be fantastic for recruiting/scouting/NIL management.
When he tweeted out support for Pope last night, I looked at his Twitter page. His Bio says he's the GM for the OKC G-league team. Wikipedia says he's also the scout for the OKC.
OKC has had one of the best turn arounds in the NBA. They have done an amazing job of identifying and developing young talent.
I would think that role certainly puts you into contact with players and handlers. I think there aren't a lot of college jobs you leave for--but Kentucky/his alma matter might be it.
He would be fantastic for recruiting/scouting/NIL management.
---
Jai Lucas is horrible & current portal & high school players have ZERO idea who those other guys are. Good god we're screwed.
So am I understanding you right that before he has coached a game you are hoping he fails so miserably that it ends quickly?
You do realize that was at BYU, right? That's a world of difference from coaching at Kentucky. You can't recruit to BYU the way you can recruit to Kentucky. Give Pope a chance and he may surprise you. It will be nice to have a coach at Kentucky who actually wants to win and isn't just concerned about being able to brag about putting 1 year players in the NBA.
The big worry for me regarding the hiring of alum is that they're hired based on merit and desire for the job. Not that they're just ex-players.
Being connected to UK is huge for the culture, but shouldn't be even top five in things to consider when hiring them.
I've heard Chuck Hayes's name tossed around. I'm all for it if the hire makes sense.
I suspect that Pope will bring some of his assistants from BYU, but also hire one or two high profile assistants.
Last edited:
I doubt it will happen, but Robic would be the ideal hire. As I understand it, still at the University. Only 60. Would need to load up on recruiters if we could get him
Respectfully, this isn't a Pope vs Cal thing. So just stop with that. Cal needed to go. Ironically enough, Mitch screwed that up too. Cal bailed him out.
And don't give me the "at BYU" crap. They were in the freaking WCC for the first four years. And plenty of coaches have had Pope's success level at BYU. Would you be this happy with Dave Rose? Hell no, you wouldn't. Nobody would.
Of course I'll "give him a chance". What choice do we have? But this is brutal on Mitch's part, and anyone else that supported it. There's no way around that.
In addition to being able to convince players to come (from high school and the portal), UK needs assistants who can identify and forecast good players in high school, not just look at a list of recruiting service rankings.
I didn't want to Hire Pope.
I think Nazr is a great hire, UK alumnus or not. Being a GM and Scout in the OKC Thunder organization is a lot of qualifications/merit.
I think he's a lot more deserving than Chuck Hayes.
I'd agree. Nazr would be a better hire. That said, Chuck is operations manager with the Warriors. Those aren't small potatoes.
UK is a public school, if they’re of legal drinking age, he can’t impose that. Which I doubt he will. I mean, bourbon state an all that….
you must be a complete idiot by the label you just gave to Mark Pope
your attitude is as lousy and good for nothing as ccc's.
maybe you go follow Arkansas
