What’s the rush with fans on the portal?

[OmahaCats]

If we already have 9 scholarship players for next year (last year at this time we had 0). And typically, along with last year, we had 12 scholarship players, and you only need 3 maybe 4 more scholarship players. Wouldn’t you want to be very selective with the few more we need to completely fill the team?

We aren’t ever “missing out” on guys, when a ton of great players haven’t even hit the portal yet. You get 3 top 50 portal players and we’re set. And because we’d have 5 returners (last year we had 0). Not to mention our best players probably coming back. A solid transfer already. And 3 freshman who are much better than the freshman we had last year (granted I’m glad they’re coming back, since they will be improved and know the system). Then what are we worried about? We should be a border line top 10 team when it’s all said and done. And with the quality of coaching that Pope gives us, that’s a legit shot to contend for much more next year

 

[ukcatz12]

Dumbass fans

 

[sportspm]

Idk, I thought my wife was impatient until I read this message board 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[BlueSince92]

1729 transfers so far this year and almost all the highly rated ones are already off the board, locked into deals and off the table. Only a smidgeon over 1900 total transfers last season even though that was a longer portal season and had its numbers artificially inflated by covid seniors.

The cavalry……. (of highly talented kids entering the portal late and lining up for us to pick through to suit our needs)


The cavalry isn’t coming.

That’s the rush with the portal.

 

[UKfan215]

The rush is.....all the good players are committing elsewhere! Pretty soon all that will remain are the table scraps. Table scraps won't compete for Final Fours. Something is wrong and whatever it is needs to be identified and fixed, ASAP. I wasn't very concerned at first, but at this point one would have to be a total homer (or an idiot) to not be concerned about the way portal recruiting is going.

 

[ukcatz12]

1729 transfers so far this year and almost all the highly rated ones are already off the board

Highly rated according to who? 247 rankings? Because if you go look at some of key pieces of Final Four and SEC teams this year that were transfers you'd struggle to find one that was ranked higher than like 40. Some of our best players this year were horribly ranked transfers.

 

[Blue wood]

1729 transfers so far this year and almost all the highly rated ones are already off the board, locked into deals and off the table. Only a smidgeon over 1900 total transfers last season even though that was a longer portal season and had its numbers artificially inflated by covid seniors.

The cavalry……. (of highly talented kids entering the portal late and lining up for us to pick through to suit our needs)


The cavalry isn’t coming.

That’s the rush with the portal.

This is so dumb

 

[Blue wood]

The rush is.....all the good players are committing elsewhere! Pretty soon all that will remain are the table scraps. Table scraps won't compete for Final Fours. Something is wrong and whatever it is needs to be identified and fixed, ASAP. I wasn't very concerned at first, but at this point one would have to be a total homer (or an idiot) to not be concerned about the way portal recruiting is going.

Lol

 

[OmahaCats]

1729 transfers so far this year and almost all the highly rated ones are already off the board, locked into deals and off the table. Only a smidgeon over 1900 total transfers last season even though that was a longer portal season and had its numbers artificially inflated by covid seniors.

The cavalry……. (of highly talented kids entering the portal late and lining up for us to pick through to suit our needs)


The cavalry isn’t coming.

That’s the rush with the portal.

Our first transfer last year was picked up on April 21st… so what are you talking about? Do you know how many top players haven’t hit the portal yet? You don’t need a top 10 guy. Get a top 50 or even a few top 100 guys. Pope will coach them to be top guys in our system. A top 100 portal guy is top 5% in the entire portal

 

[OmahaCats]

The rush is.....all the good players are committing elsewhere! Pretty soon all that will remain are the table scraps. Table scraps won't compete for Final Fours. Something is wrong and whatever it is needs to be identified and fixed, ASAP. I wasn't very concerned at first, but at this point one would have to be a total homer (or an idiot) to not be concerned about the way portal recruiting is going.

No they aren’t. We had 0 players at this time last year. We finished with 7 in the top 100. Settle down

 

[twwilliams9]

Most knee-jerk reactions come from youth, and I'd say the average age on RR is 18-30. It's natural to overreact when you're young. I can relate, having been young once.

 

[AshWilliams]

No they aren’t. We had 0 players at this time last year. We finished with 7 in the top 100. Settle down

We only made it to the Sweet 16. What exactly are you defending?

 

[Blue wood]

We only made it to the Sweet 16. What exactly are you defending?

You must be one of the 10 year olds they are talking about

 

[jwphelps]

If we already have 9 scholarship players for next year (last year at this time we had 0). And typically, along with last year, we had 12 scholarship players, and you only need 3 maybe 4 more scholarship players. Wouldn’t you want to be very selective with the few more we need to completely fill the team?

We aren’t ever “missing out” on guys, when a ton of great players haven’t even hit the portal yet. You get 3 top 50 portal players and we’re set. And because we’d have 5 returners (last year we had 0). Not to mention our best players probably coming back. A solid transfer already. And 3 freshman who are much better than the freshman we had last year (granted I’m glad they’re coming back, since they will be improved and know the system). Then what are we worried about? We should be a border line top 10 team when it’s all said and done. And with the quality of coaching that Pope gives us, that’s a legit shot to contend for much more next year

No it all arm chair coaches who want every player who hits the portal without any thought as to how they would fit Pope's system.

 

[Blue_2_the_bone]

Our fans aren’t out of the Cal mode of thinking. They just see currently ranked and lose their mind if we don’t get them.

 

[OmahaCats]

We only made it to the Sweet 16. What exactly are you defending?

you’re defending my point. We have 9 players currently. Last year at this time we had 0. The 9 we have are more talented as well. We need 3 more guys for a complete team. People need to relax. We’re in good shape

 

[HymanKaplan]

The rush is.....all the good players are committing elsewhere! Pretty soon all that will remain are the table scraps. Table scraps won't compete for Final Fours. Something is wrong and whatever it is needs to be identified and fixed, ASAP. I wasn't very concerned at first, but at this point one would have to be a total homer (or an idiot) to not be concerned about the way portal recruiting is going.

I'll bet you're the life of the party.

 

[Mike-D]

Everyone calling the fans a dumbass, hope you're right!

 

[bluedom44]

The funny thing is that if Pope was truly waiting until the end of the month to pursue guys, why is he having guys on campus and having Zoom calls? They talk to him or come here, then they go back home and commit elsewhere. People are just trying to make excuses. There is something amiss.

He's either being a tightwad with the money or recruits don't like him and/or style of play...or maybe he's not a great salesman.

 

[twwilliams9]

The funny thing is that if Pope was truly waiting until the end of the month to pursue guys, why is he having guys on campus and having Zoom calls? They talk to him or come here, then they go back home and commit elsewhere. People are just trying to make excuses. There is something amiss.

He's either being a tightwad with the money or recruits don't like him and/or style of play...or maybe he's not a great salesman.

You do know when Cal was here, it was standard procedure to host recruits without offering them scholarships right? Nobody, especially message board posters knows what Pope’s strategy is. It’s all speculation and everyone is jumping to conclusions. Think about it, who wouldn’t want to play in Pope’s offense? The 3rd ranked scoring team in the country where the Coach encourages his teams to shoot 35 threes a game.

 

[chroix]

It’s too bad that the fans with the weakest nerves are the most vocal. Not just here but seemingly all teams. The emotional weakness of people in the modern era is pathetic.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Other schools seem to be treating the same transfer portal period with urgency. UofL added a few, Auburn feels it necessary to add someone and they've been prepping for a pretty important game this week I believe..

This is like the kid at 11pm saying "what's the rush?" for a paper due tomorrow morning. Idk, I guess I'm kind of the type who would rather not wait until the final hour.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

And it's not like UK is just sitting on the sidelines, not interested in what they see. There's some relief if that's what this was because it means theres a plan, and they know more guys are coming soon. Thay they're telling some guys to wait.

Instead, they've conversed, zoomed, visited with.. how many would we say, that weve even heard of? 20? 30 transfers? They're putting in quite a bit of work to fill the gaps but we're getting a lot of "thanks, but no thanks". Too many my liking. Obviously Kentucky isn't going to get them all, any sane person knows that. We're not going to go 4 for 7. But as of now.. we're 1 for 20. And a lot of fans here and media types thought we had some stone cold locks.. except we didn't. At all. And thats at least a little concerning to me. Doesnt mean we won't fill the spots, just tells me that the transfer portal is going to much tough sledding.. tougher than most of us think.

 

[JPFisher]

It's straight up FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).

"THEY have transfers, so why don't WE?!"

Yeah, it's frustrating. Yeah, I too wish we had another boom. It is what it is.

To be honest, I don't mind the chicken littles as much as the blatant trolls. Like, really? You expected more than a Sweet Sixteen when
1. NCAAT success hinges on guard play
and
2. All of our guards were basically dead?

Hell, you could pretty much see Butler's arm holding on by the tendons.

But, because our last team SUCKED

and we don't have a fully "upgraded" roster in the single week the transfer portal has been open, we're gonna commit seppuku and whine and attack players on social media.

It's 100% fomo and trolls. I have no doubt. We need a lot more Kentuckians to take advantage of medical mj right now.

 

[TTTblue24]

There’s a lot of smokescreens & poker being played with recruiting in the portal I’m sure, and most is to drive the price up on some players that we may not truly want or to keep the price down on the guys we do want. I’ll guess that info that gets “leaked” is for a reason but it does concern me to how many actual good players are still going to enter the portal.
If we miss out on Lee or Pierre, then not sure where we are getting a pg from. Lowe’s shooting #s are not that impressive but we also need atleast 2 bigs to go with garrison & Moreno. But still alot left to go with all this and know the staff has a plan but we will have to be patient to see it.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

It's straight up FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).

"THEY have transfers, so why don't WE?!"

Yeah, it's frustrating. Yeah, I too wish we had another boom. It is what it is.

To be honest, I don't mind the chicken littles as much as the blatant trolls. Like, really? You expected more than a Sweet Sixteen when
1. NCAAT success hinges on guard play
and
2. All of our guards were basically dead?

Hell, you could pretty much see Butler's arm holding on by the tendons.

But, because our last team SUCKED

and we don't have a fully "upgraded" roster in the single week the transfer portal has been open, we're gonna commit seppuku and whine and attack players on social media.

It's 100% fomo and trolls. I have no doubt. We need a lot more Kentuckians to take advantage of medical mj right now.

Ive seen this posted a few times around here... and just want to clarify that for a lot of us, maybe most of us, this past seasons results, and the current transfer portal recruiting, are not mutually exclusive. I'm thrilled with the first, but kind of let down by the latter. I think thats how a lot of people feel right now. Last season could really not have gone better given the circumstances and anyone saying otherwise is silly.. but that doesn't mean that those who are concerned with the transfer portal don't have some very valid concerns.

 

[JPFisher]

Ive seen this posted a few times around here... and just want to clarify that for a lot of us, maybe most of us, this past seasons results, and the current transfer portal recruiting, are not mutually exclusive. I'm thrilled with the first, but kind of let down by the latter. I think thats how a lot of people feel right now. Last season could really not have gone better given the circumstances and anyone saying otherwise is silly.. but that doesn't mean that those who are concerned with the transfer portal don't have some very valid concerns.

I'm let down by the latter too, but it is what it is. We still have more than two weeks for transfers to enter the portal and we didn't get our last transfer last year until the end of May.

If we get to the end of May and we're still looking at Kam Williams and that's it, we might could have reason to panic and get pissed. For now, though, I don't see the appeal. I'd love to have Dent, Gwath, Folgueiras, and Lendenborg.

We don't, so I'll watch tape of the new guys entering the portal like that Xaivian kid who seems pretty solid. I'm not trying to say the portal isn't a concern.

I'm just annoyed by the Debbie downers who see last season as a complete failure and are using it to pile on Pope.

 

[DWMcatforlife]

I honestly feel like this is gonna be every year. Some fans are impossible to satisfy. We’re literally an experienced PG and two front court players away from having a complete roster with plenty of players that still haven’t entered the portal. Trust the process folks

 

[Pelosigalore]

How do we lose out to another football school!

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

I honestly feel like this is gonna be every year. Some fans are impossible to satisfy. We’re literally an experienced PG and two front court players away from having a complete roster with plenty of players that still haven’t entered the portal. Trust the process folks

As 76ers fans how all that “trust the process” stuff turned out.

 

[DWMcatforlife]

As 76ers fans how all that “trust the process” stuff turned out.

This is Popes first full offseason. The final four hasn’t tipped off yet

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

This is Popes first full offseason. The final four hasn’t tipped off yet

And?

I’m just pointing out that was the game plan for years and years of bad basketball in Philly to justify high draft picks and taking a “generational talent” with serious injury concerns.

And they never even got to an ECF and they’re now going to probably blow it all up and start over.

 

[bnewt]

Our fans aren’t out of the Cal mode of thinking. They just see currently ranked and lose their mind if we don’t get them.

Because ccc is gone uk no longer wants the best players?
Keep saying that as Duke wins the title in the next few days

 

[bnewt]

Our first transfer last year was picked up on April 21st… so what are you talking about? Do you know how many top players haven’t hit the portal yet? You don’t need a top 10 guy. Get a top 50 or even a few top 100 guys. Pope will coach them to be top guys in our system. A top 100 portal guy is top 5% in the entire portal

That was because uk had no coach or had just hired one, not sure when pope was hired

 

[DWMcatforlife]

And?

I’m just pointing out that was the game plan for years and years of bad basketball in Philly to justify high draft picks and taking a “generational talent” with serious injury concerns.

And they never even got to an ECF and they’re now going to probably blow it all up and start over.

All I’m saying is there is gonna be plenty more “big fish” to enter the portal. We’re a few pieces away from having a complete roster. Fans were tired of Cal bringing in loads of 5 stars now they’re already fed up with not having enough by the time the final four tips

 

[AshWilliams]

You must be one of the 10 year olds they are talking about

Who's talking about? The Cal supporters pretending to be fans, like the OP? Sucker. I've been a fan for 33 years, champ.

 

[bnewt]

The funny thing is that if Pope was truly waiting until the end of the month to pursue guys, why is he having guys on campus and having Zoom calls? They talk to him or come here, then they go back home and commit elsewhere. People are just trying to make excuses. There is something amiss.

He's either being a tightwad with the money or recruits don't like him and/or style of play...or maybe he's not a great salesman.

Maybe there is no $

 

[DraftCat]

Most knee-jerk reactions come from youth, and I'd say the average age on RR is 18-30. It's natural to overreact when you're young. I can relate, having been young once.

Way off... 95% of this board is over 50.

 

[Wildcats1st]

And it's not like UK is just sitting on the sidelines, not interested in what they see. There's some relief if that's what this was because it means theres a plan, and they know more guys are coming soon. Thay they're telling some guys to wait.

Instead, they've conversed, zoomed, visited with.. how many would we say, that weve even heard of? 20? 30 transfers? They're putting in quite a bit of work to fill the gaps but we're getting a lot of "thanks, but no thanks". Too many my liking. Obviously Kentucky isn't going to get them all, any sane person knows that. We're not going to go 4 for 7. But as of now.. we're 1 for 20. And a lot of fans here and media types thought we had some stone cold locks.. except we didn't. At all. And thats at least a little concerning to me. Doesnt mean we won't fill the spots, just tells me that the transfer portal is going to much tough sledding.. tougher than most of us think.

We offered a lot more guys than 1 and that’s the problem. We’ve been turned down a lot. Popes offered several guys and then shut it down when he realized they were using him for leverage with our programs. “If you want more money get UK involved”.

 

[bnewt]

You do know when Cal was here, it was standard procedure to host recruits without offering them scholarships right? Nobody, especially message board posters knows what Pope’s strategy is. It’s all speculation and everyone is jumping to conclusions. Think about it, who wouldn’t want to play in Pope’s offense? The 3rd ranked scoring team in the country where the Coach encourages his teams to shoot 35 threes a game.

Apparently everyone he's talked with so far hasn't wanted to play in his offense, except Williams and no one has even seen him play