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WCS says Cal drew recruits not UK.

How many #1 classes has Pitino had in his career? How many did Cal have at UK?

Again, a coach can fill a team at UK with good players but nobody has proven to recruit like Cal. I’m not saying Cal killed it in other areas, but you cannot argue the fact the man can recruit.
And exactly how has that helped UK, especially the last six years or so? It is analogous to having a great looking car but the AC is not working while driving in a Florida summer. I think pitino's first year we were like 14-14 but you knew we were in for more to come. It feels like those days again, thankfully
 
Who gives a crap how Cal recruits at Arkansas? I assume Cal will bring in top shelf players. I also assume Cal will continue to coach the way he has for many years. Ugly in Arkansas is not nearly the same as at UK so Cal will actually feel relief. If Cal loses 10-15 games per year at Arky then the fans will simply sing their pig-suey chants and be fine.
The question I worry about is can you win without ever being able to get top level recruits. Pope is a good coach, but it does take great talent to beat other top talent whether the kid is 18 year olds or 24.
 
Like Willy but he is crazy, I guess he never saw some of the greats from UK's past play any. I know Billy took the roster down but even Tubby who hated to recruit the big time players because of all the hype etc, brought in NBA talent here and there.
 
And exactly how has that helped UK, especially the last six years or so? It is analogous to having a great looking car but the AC is not working while driving in a Florida summer. I think pitino's first year we were like 14-14 but you knew we were in for more to come. It feels like those days again, thankfully
I never said it did, but quite frankly, it helped a ton as we were in the crapper when he got here. Let’s not act like we all weren’t singing his praises the first 7-9 years and whether we agree with the one and done model or not, having a ton of kids in the nba never hurt. All I said is that there is nobody that can recruit better, which isn’t a shot at anyone and it honestly isn’t calling Cal a great coach. Some years that method killed it, some sucked really badly.

Again, nobody has ever brought so many high profile recruits in here on a consistent basis. Others have had a sporadic highly ranked recruit or two. Cal brought 3-6 in yearly for a decade and a half. Recruiting is the only thing that I praised him for and if Pope can win on a high level, I don’t care if he has the #1 class or nothing but walk-ons. I love what he has done in his short time here. Hopefully we are as high on him in the next 5-6 years as we were on Cal and he has hung a few banners in that timeframe like his predecessor.
 
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I never said it did, but quite frankly, it helped a ton as we were in the crapper when he got here. Let’s not act like we all weren’t singing his praises the first 7-9 years and whether we agree with the one and done model or not, having a ton of kids in the nba never hurt. All I said is that there is nobody that can recruit better, which isn’t a shot at anyone and it honestly isn’t calling Cal a great coach. Some years that method killed it, some sucked really badly.

Again, nobody has ever brought so many high profile recruits in here on a consistent basis. Others have had a sporadic highly ranked recruit or two. Cal brought 3-6 in yearly for a decade and a half. Recruiting is the only thing that I praised him for and if Pope can win on a high level, I don’t care if he has the #1 class or nothing but walk-ons. I love what he has done in his short time here. Hopefully we are as high on him in the next 5-6 years as we were on Cal and he has hung a few banners in that timeframe like his predecessor.
A few things. After the first 7-9 years I was plenty unhappy. With the amount of talent Cal brought in and only 1 national title? We had a lot of losses that were simply shocking, and as the years went by things simply got worse as coaches adjusted around the 3 pt line etc, but Cal never did. Even as Cal nudged a little as far as getting a few more experienced players he was enamored with athletes instead of skill and played his inexperienced players at the expense of losses, and he could not even try more defenses, making us easy to prepare for. And he still stuck to man to man on opponent out of bound plays, which put us in a 6 or 8 point hole every game almost. He also had way too few quality players so any injuries simply crippled us. You mention nobody can recruit like Cal, hell, I want the type of recruits Connecticut is getting. That is turning out pretty good.
 
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@flacat22
 
Rupps A List of recruits traverses 3 decades if not almost 4. Hall had no trouble getting talent, no trouble at all. Sutton got talent. Pitino got talent. Tubby got tons less talent, Billy Clyde was so drunk he actually offered a scholarship to a golden retriever only to wake up the next morning to realize he was watching Air Bud.

Cal was going to bring talent, we knew that. Since it had been about 8 years since getting some of the top talent people went nuts.
Pope will bring in his guys, the talent he wants to fit his system, his style, his way of thinking. It todays age there are not as many guys out there that want to play for the name on the front of the jersey, hence NIL. Now it is all free agency. You better be able to put up some $$. You will always have the guys, very few now, (most instate) that will play for the name on the front. The biggest crux of the issues will be who adapts, not just coach but administration for NIL players. Now more than ever you need solid team guys and get a couple of high * talent and finish off in the portal. I would hope Kentucky pays a person to just scout the lower ranks of college basketball looking for the late bloomer, finding that guy that everyone missed.
 
Cal will continue to recruit at a high level at Arkansas. He will also continue to flame out in the tournament. Arkansas is going to take a major step forward in talent all the while taking a big step back in coaching. At the end of the day Cal is going to continue to lose 10 games a year at Arkansas and he will be explaining to the media about every other year how he let a directional school come in to Bud Walton and spank them. Arkansas isn't UK but they will grow tired of him soon enough too. He may beat UK every year but he never sniffs the final four again. For that reason I will take my chances on an unproven coach who wants to be here and WIN over a guy who wants to constantly speak about himself and cash checks.
 
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No true Kentucky fan is switching allegiances to Arkansas because of Cal. You guys are just making up reasons some fans are less optimistic about the future now that he's gone to convince yourself, not others, that they are the ones being unreasonable.
Hence I said “fan”. I’m not making up stuff at all. People follow men all the time. Hell that’s how cults are formed. Seems to be a popular thing these days, cults.
 
The question I worry about is can you win without ever being able to get top level recruits. Pope is a good coach, but it does take great talent to beat other top talent whether the kid is 18 year olds or 24.

Cal did get the recruits. I thought everyone was in agreement with that
That's why we wanted him to leave is it not?
No, it’s what he didn’t do with them.
 
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Watching Arkansas fans slowly turn on this guy is going to be so much fun.
 
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