Portal Superstars

[The_Catfather]

The portal's been open 1 week and all the usual doom and gloomers are freaking out! Sometimes I'm embarrassed to be a Kentucky fan when I read this board.

Reminder: We have a decent nucleus coming back (compared to the past 15 years), two freshman guards every school in America wanted, a McDonald's All-American freshman center and a wing from Tulane that has a ton of potential.

We had zero players this time last year. Things will work out! Be patient.

 

[Worf88]

I think the ones saying this could take a month or two are forgetting the ruling that the judge will be making in a week. Once she rules, players will have their NIL capped. That means players are going to want to commit asap and get their NIL deals before the ruling so they can get more money in NIL.

Pope definitely shouldn’t have made the superstar comment. He’s yet to land a superstar in his entire coaching career. He needs to learn to under promise and over deliver.

 

[G-PIP]

By now, I think our fans should have gotten used the way Pope talks. He is very nice guy that likes to over express his feelings about Kentucky. BBN and people that he generally cares about.

He uses a lot of epithets, big words, and many adjectives and sometimes exaggerates.

He definitely set high expectations for himself when he gave the acceptance speech in Rupp Arena but that is part of his selling strategy to overbuild confidence in BBN , who was down after last 5 years of Cal.

Obviously, there are no superstars in portal unless we talk about NBA portal. There are not even stars in college portal because those will already declared for the top 5 of NBA draft.

In college portal are only players that cannot go to nba and yes some of them have potential and aspirations that one day would go to NBA.

I am assuming that Pope is going after these type of players with potential and maybe aspirations that one day make it to nba. If he would have said that, it would not sounded sexy and exciting,

He needs to keep the excitement around the program in his ability to recruit and inspire confidence in boosters so, I understand his choice of words. Just don’t expect the next Michael Jordan to walk in the college portal.

The term “stars” or “superstars” is being used in relation to college, not the NBA. Moreover, the term is being used to reference guys who have the biggest impact on winning games in college, not first round NBA draft picks (almost exclusively freshmen who are being drafted on potential). So, if there are any “superstars” in college those players are either on current college All-American/All-Conference lists or have a chance to be next season. Most of those now come from the portal.

 

[bucsrule8872]

What I saw in these 4 games was not "system basketball."

I saw superstars carrying their teams. Sharing the ball, yes. But studs making plays.

We can't just moneyball a championship. Won't work.

What we saw were several guys that have been in the same system for 2+ years.

Auburn’s core has been together for 3-4 years.

Florida has had Clayton Jr. for 2 years and Richard has been there 3 years with over 100 starts for the Gators.

Cryer has been with Houston for 2 years. Sharp has been there 3 years. Roberts has been there 5 years and has over 100 starts.

Duke is the main team with the superstar power. But they wouldn’t be poised to cut down the nets without Proctor, who is a third year starter with almost 100 starts as a Blue Devil.

Bottom line, you want to compete for a title, get players to stay for multiple years in your system.

 

[NociHTTP]

What is it that Pope said that's being referenced in this thread?

 

[ImTheVillageIdiot]

He’s yet to land a superstar in his entire coaching career.

Superstars come in different forms, man. We don’t know if he has landed a superstar yet or not. As much as I love recruiting and portal seasons, these rankings go out the window when the play starts. You don’t have a crystal ball and neither do I. We have no idea whether or not this time next year we’re talking about Acaden Lewis, Otega Oweh, Malachi Moreno, Jasper Johnson etc as a superstar. Let’s let the stuff play out a little and see where things are…

Example, Otega Oweh…I don’t know many people who had the guy pegged as a starter this year — ends up our leading scorer and second team All-SEC. Let it play out.

 

[BassProCat]

The portal hasn’t been open a full week and I’m already tired of the same ones having the same silly conversation every time. Let our coaching staff get the team first then make judgments. Some have no patience or couldn’t evaluate talent at all.

Bruh it’s literally the same posters as last szn. Low key it’s kinda hilarious but only this time Pope has an actual whole off szn to get his guys.

 

[bucsrule8872]

The portal's been open 1 week and all the usual doom and gloomers are freaking out! Sometimes I'm embarrassed to be a Kentucky fan when I read this board.

Reminder: We have a decent nucleus coming back (compared to the past 15 years), two freshman guards every school in America wanted, a McDonald's All-American freshman center and a wing from Tulane that has a ton of potential.

We had zero players this time last year. Things will work out! Be patient.

Great post.

The biggest Portal recruits are the guys already on our team.

In other words, the most important thing is keeping guys from leaving for the Portal. That’s the only way to build a contender, IMHO.

Get guys to come back and build around them.

Last year, Pope had no choice but to try to get the best, most experienced guys in order to compete.

This season, he better make sure the five underclassmen come back, then supplement them with Portal players.

This is why we have seen Pope talking to so many rising Sophomores and Juniors this cycle instead of just loading up on Seniors. He is trying to play the long game. Sure he wants to win next season, but he wants to build for the future as well.

Kam Williams might seem a little underwhelming as a first Portal signee, but he will be a key part of building our long term success.

 

[track42]

What is it that Pope said that's being referenced in this thread?

He said he was going to get a couple of superstars out of the portal.

 

[NociHTTP]

He said he was going to get a couple of superstars out of the portal.

Thanks. That could be a big bite in the ass.

 

[AJG-15]

What is it that Pope said that's being referenced in this thread?

Here is the quote about superstars and link.

“In terms of the roster in the future, we have some really, really important pieces that we’re excited to have back next year, and kind of have a foundation of guys that know what we do, how we do it, what we do in the locker room, what we do at shootaround, what our daily cadence is like,” Pope said Monday night. “We have three incredibly talented rookies coming in so far — and we’ll see how that high school recruiting finishes up. Then we’ll be really, really aggressive in the portal at a couple of positions to bring in a couple superstars“

Mark Pope says Kentucky will add 'a couple superstars' while describing 'winning formula' for roster building

Kentucky's got the core pieces set with returning talent and high school signees. Up next for Mark Pope? Portal season.

www.on3.com

 

[BBNinSC]

Let’s trust in the coaching staff to determine our superstars. They get to meet these players and see them up close. You can’t have that experience from a Google search.

 

[Wildcats1st]

The real studs in the portal don't need to rush there decision, they have plenty of options and would be foolish not to explore them. It will be a while before this all shakes out

There’s room on the roster for a couple of projects. That’s what makes programs. Those guys who stay 3-4 years in the program that make up a couple spots every year. The only thing I don’t know is what popes ability to develop players. This year there was little to draw on.

 

[Wildcats1st]

Here is the quote about superstars and link.

“In terms of the roster in the future, we have some really, really important pieces that we’re excited to have back next year, and kind of have a foundation of guys that know what we do, how we do it, what we do in the locker room, what we do at shootaround, what our daily cadence is like,” Pope said Monday night. “We have three incredibly talented rookies coming in so far — and we’ll see how that high school recruiting finishes up. Then we’ll be really, really aggressive in the portal at a couple of positions to bring in a couple superstars“

Mark Pope says Kentucky will add 'a couple superstars' while describing 'winning formula' for roster building

Kentucky's got the core pieces set with returning talent and high school signees. Up next for Mark Pope? Portal season.

www.on3.com

I think pope looked at Kerr Krissa as a superstar. Same with amari Williams butler Oweh. He’d say they’re all superstars. Brea another superstar.

 

[AJG-15]

Let’s trust in the coaching staff to determine our superstars. They get to meet these players and see them up close. You can’t have that experience from a Google search.

Agreed. After all, Pope got the job and he is rewarded substantially for it to make the right decisions.

We are just fans, even if some of us have coaching experience or played basketball , or refereed, we are just fans.

So trust in coaching staff.

 

[AJG-15]

I think pope looked at Kerr Krissa as a superstar. Same with amari Williams butler Oweh. He’d say they’re all superstars. Brea another superstar.

That’s Pope talking . For him everything about Kentucky is very very at superlative! I dont mind it ! He loves this program.

 

[bucsrule8872]

I think pope looked at Kerr Krissa as a superstar. Same with amari Williams butler Oweh. He’d say they’re all superstars. Brea another superstar.

And none of them were top 10 Portal guys, according to the gurus.

But they fit the system. That means more than what some “guru” says about them. Rather have #84 who fits thee system than #4 and he doesn’t fit.

 

[AJG-15]

And none of them were top 10 Portal guys, according to the gurus.

But they fit the system. That means more than what some “guru” says about them. Rather have #84 who fits thee system than #4 and he doesn’t fit.

I am too tired tonight but I would like us to discuss the “fit the system “. I might open a discussion on this in the future .

 

[SkyPrince1]

Could not beat UCLA for Dent even though we are suppose to have all the money we need. What happened to Elijah Freeman? We have the money for a guy like that don't we? Wilkerson is wanting to leave and with plenty of money for this can't miss guy why the talk of ARK if we have plenty of money? We are certainly spending plenty of time on a lot of non superstars. I thought we would get our superstars first and build around them?

To quote Cal, "They're not robots"
You can't lose a kid who already had his mind made up.
Dent committed to UCLA without taking a single visit.
This was probably in the works for months since he's an LA kid
Wilkerson could be in the same boat.
He's from Arkansas.
Maybe he rooted for Arkansas growing up and dreamed of being offered by them when he was in HS.
It may be the Lanier situation again.
He'll also be paid well by Arkansas if that's what he chooses.
If he goes to Arkansas you can't spin the narrative that Pope " let" him get away.
These kids(men) do what they want to do.

 

[bluedom44]

The word "superstar" is subjective, so a superstar to him may not be to others. Maybe he thinks Kam is a superstar? 🤷‍♂️

 

[KentuckyMildCats]

The portal's been open 1 week and all the usual doom and gloomers are freaking out! Sometimes I'm embarrassed to be a Kentucky fan when I read this board.

Reminder: We have a decent nucleus coming back (compared to the past 15 years), two freshman guards every school in America wanted, a McDonald's All-American freshman center and a wing from Tulane that has a ton of potential.

We had zero players this time last year. Things will work out! Be patient.

Agreed, these people can't be serious. Man, shew weeeee we havent signed 7 portal guys yet wtf?!? 😤😤

 

[cats#1again]

I’m with you. I completely understand fans feeling that a couple unanswered questions remain about Pope. He has yet to land a Blue Chip top 10 high school player. He has yet to land a consensus top portal class. Fans can debate all day long about how important or unimportant these kind of things really are — and I promise that the conversation won’t offend me. What does irk me is the all-out panic attack, hot take meltdown machine that some fans are addicted to when we are…checks watch…two days past our season ending. I thought the regular season was rough with the freak outs but I can see portal season might bring out the worst in some.

I'd say this year was a pretty darn good portal class. Good lord. If you are looking for more than that you may be disappointed

 

[BlueSince92]

As long as we get one I’ll be happy. Some authentic grade-A kid that leaves fans of other serious title-contender schools going, “We really needed him but you can’t blame him for accepting the purse Kentucky threw at him.” A Chaz Lanier. And if not that then Nate Ament.

It doesn’t have to be some massive Fab Five haul. But if we really can’t get ONE legitimately top tier kid then we’re in trouble, even if we get this thing going on like David Carradine at the end of Kill Bill 2 and we get to take a few steps before it really hits us.

As long as we really can land one legitimate superstar, I don’t care a whiff when we get him.

BUT with pretty much every other school trying to get all their portal hauls tied up before April 7th due to the anticipated rule change, I’m not going to be too optimistic about our chances if we haven’t gotten it done by then….or at least by April 22, which people are looking at as the final final hammer drop date.

 

[Tf2217]

I'll take a wait and see approach with no panic. Dude might sign 4 transfers who I've never heard of. I had never heard of oweh now he's possibly my favorite. I'll let it all shake out.

 

[kywildcat41035]

Superstars come in different forms, man. We don’t know if he has landed a superstar yet or not. As much as I love recruiting and portal seasons, these rankings go out the window when the play starts. You don’t have a crystal ball and neither do I. We have no idea whether or not this time next year we’re talking about Acaden Lewis, Otega Oweh, Malachi Moreno, Jasper Johnson etc as a superstar. Let’s let the stuff play out a little and see where things are…

Example, Otega Oweh…I don’t know many people who had the guy pegged as a starter this year — ends up our leading scorer and second team All-SEC. Let it play out.

Don’t get me wrong I love Oweh I really do my favorite player on the team. Probably has something to do with the 00 and just the way he plays. I would have to disagree about the whole example though. I mean I understand the SEC was tough this year but “ Superstar” status would make 1st team in any league. I mean Pope did do great on assembling a team last minute but he does need to take that next step in the type of players he brings on going forward. Especially if UK is going to be on the level of the teams that are still left dancing in the tournament.

 

[Bluegrassking]

If they were superstars in the terms being implied then why would they be in the portal rather than the draft?

People are always talking Knect but he wasn't the outcome he ended up being when signed either.

You mine them and polish the gems up, they aren't necessarily going to be the ones with high rankings that want a few million while the iron is hot.

Garrison was our "highest" ranked guy.

Let the coach make his evaluations and set his own priorities, I'd say so far better than so good, we returned ZERO and were beat up all season in the toughest league so a lot more than some are pretending went really right.

 

[Fox2monk]

I think the ones saying this could take a month or two are forgetting the ruling that the judge will be making in a week. Once she rules, players will have their NIL capped. That means players are going to want to commit asap and get their NIL deals before the ruling so they can get more money in NIL.

Pope definitely shouldn’t have made the superstar comment. He’s yet to land a superstar in his entire coaching career. He needs to learn to under promise and over deliver.

I don’t think that is entirely accurate as Acaden Lewis, Johnson, and Moreno all have the talent to be superstars. Maybe not right away by 2026 I believe they will be surefire All conference level players, at least 2 of them.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

The other thing we might not want to hear: this might take another season or two before things really start flowing. We had a great season, and that helps a ton, but that doesn't mean we just show up at the top of everyone's list. Look at Hurley, took him 3 or 4 years. We also still have HS recruiting to look at for next year and the years beyond.

 

[Runnin'Ramel]

Did Pope make things unnecessarily more difficult by promising a couple of superstars from the portal?

He's given us no reason not to have the utmost faith, but one has to wonder if that comment was said spur of the moment. Problem is BBN is unrelenting and doesn't forget. Expectations were high but that's a bold double down.

Thoughts on how it plays out?

"Portal superstars" doesn't have to mean guys from Duke, UConn, Auburn, or Florida, etc. .... but that's how BBN interpreted it.

 

[Runnin'Ramel]

The other thing we might not want to hear: this might take another season or two before things really start flowing. We had a great season, and that helps a ton, but that doesn't mean we just show up at the top of everyone's list. Look at Hurley, took him 3 or 4 years. We also still have HS recruiting to look at for next year and the years beyond.

Agree w/ that. At the end of the day, UK made the Sweet 16. Duke, Auburn, Florida are the "it" teams right now ....

 

[bigbluedon]

Here is what 24/7 says about Thomas

1. DEDAN THOMAS, UNLV​

(Photo: Getty)
2024-25 Stats: MIN: 35.8 | PTS: 15.6 | REB 2.0 | ASST 4.7 | FG 41.3% | 3FG 35.3% (2.6 ATT)
Overall Portal Ranking: No. 4
Thomas is undoubtedly the top point guard remaining in the transfer portal with Donovan Dent off the board. He led the Rebels with with 15.6 points and 4.7 assists per game en route to third-team All-Mountain West honors. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
"Kentucky is a team to watch for Thomas," national basketball analyst Travis Branham said on the College Basketball Show. "Florida and LSU are also two other teams to watch. Florida assistant coach Carlin Hartman recruited him out of high school. The Tigers are making a strong push."

The Peterson kid looks really good. Wonder if we have made contact.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

Dent is from Cali and Wilkerson is from Arkansas. Use your brain a little before looking dumb.

So now where they are from trumps money? Thought it was all about money and getting to the pro's? Now for the better players it's where they are from. Lanier was an exception last season wanting to go home. But on the whole in the past most could care less where they are from as long as they get money or get to go to a blue blood.

My statements is in relation to the reports that we had all the money we would need to get who we wanted and that Pope is in position to pick and choose who he wants. Those reports just a bunch of crap. Pope wanted two superstars to build around. Hopefully they will eventually enter the portal.

 

[trueblujr2]

Could not beat UCLA for Dent even though we are suppose to have all the money we need. What happened to Elijah Freeman? We have the money for a guy like that don't we? Wilkerson is wanting to leave and with plenty of money for this can't miss guy why the talk of ARK if we have plenty of money? We are certainly spending plenty of time on a lot of non superstars. I thought we would get our superstars first and build around them?

Dent was a west coast kid from California. he wanted to go home. UCLA's campus sits in LA right below a whole bunch of billionaire and celebrity mansions. It's not like it's an unattractive place to go, Cali politics aside.

 

[JwUKFan11]

So now where they are from trumps money? Thought it was all about money and getting to the pro's? Now for the better players it's where they are from. Lanier was an exception last season wanting to go home. But on the whole in the past most could care less where they are from as long as they get money or get to go to a blue blood.

My statements is in relation to the reports that we had all the money we would need to get who we wanted and that Pope is in position to pick and choose who he wants. Those reports just a bunch of crap. Pope wanted two superstars to build around. Hopefully they will eventually enter the portal.

You continue to prove your ignorance in all of this. I don't have the numbers and neither do you, but lets suppose the reports of Dent getting somewhere around 3 million are real and UK and UCLA both offered around that. He clearly wanted to be at UCLA as that is where he is from and his announcement was he was "Coming Home". Do you expect Pope to offer way over what he's worth when there are similar players out there?

 

[trueblujr2]

Bigger names are still to come for the transfer portal. I'm not gonna freak out unless a month passes and we still just got the Tulane guy.

Have to think some back channel deals are being made among agents for some of the bigger names that might come out. I think there will be some big surprises that seem to just pop up out of nowhere. Not just for us, but other high level programs. Superstars would probably rather have the deal worked out before they put their names in, to avoid being bombarded.

 

[trueblujr2]

The portal hasn’t been open a full week and I’m already tired of the same ones having the same silly conversation every time. Let our coaching staff get the team first then make judgments. Some have no patience or couldn’t evaluate talent at all.

These are the same people who went into panic mode one week after Pope was hired because we didn't have a full roster yet.

 

[kywildcat41035]

Dent was a west coast kid from California. he wanted to go home. UCLA's campus sits in LA right below a whole bunch of billionaire and celebrity mansions. It's not like it's an unattractive place to go, Cali politics aside.

Didn’t Dent also say we were his dream school?

 

[RuppnRoll]

I bet when Florida signed Walter Clayton from Iona no one thought he would be THE BEST portal player (if not overall PLAYER) in this tournament.
You sign who wants to come be part of something ... they develop or they don't.

I'm glad UK got Brea INSTEAD of Chaz.
Both of them are great shooters ... both had a terrible last game.
As did Sears from Bama ... it happens.
Hopefully, in the future, we will have a team full of shooters and DEFENDERS but ....
MOST IMPORTANTLY DAWGS FOR REBOUNDING.
Go Big Blue !

 

[trueblujr2]

He's been after the top portal players and will get some but Cooper Flagg is not walking through that portal. Pope was clearly using "superstar" the way most of us use "star". There really aren't any real superstars in the portal and there haven't been any in the past either. Also, "star" doesn't necessarily mean for the other team last year but for UK next year.

What people fail to realize sometimes is that if these guys are in the portal, they aren't (at least for the moment) NBA caliber superstars. We got spoiled by the one and done freshmen who have gone on to have some pretty amazing NBA careers. that seems to be the gauge these people use. Are these guys NBA caliber? If they were, that's where they'd be. Not saying many won't end up there, but their path is a lot longer than some. The portal "superstars" are generally really good college players who lack some metric or tangible that would make them an NBA prospect.

 

[Padsfs07]

I bet when Florida signed Walter Clayton from Iona no one thought he would be THE BEST portal player (if not overall PLAYER) in this tournament.
You sign who wants to come be part of something ... they develop or they don't.

I'm glad UK got Brea INSTEAD of Chaz.
Both of them are great shooters ... both had a terrible last game.
As did Sears from Bama ... it happens.
Hopefully, in the future, we will have a team full of shooters and DEFENDERS but ....
MOST IMPORTANTLY DAWGS FOR REBOUNDING.
Go Big Blue !

That’s where losing Robinson hurt us. We had two great shooters so if one was off, the other could be relied on.