UK Athletics
Kentucky coach Mark Pope had no choice but to go heavy into the transfer portal after being hired by UK in mid-April since he had no returning players on the roster and only one incoming freshman scheduled to stay with the Wildcats.
However, Pope seems to have a definite recruiting plan going forward which is no huge surprise considering the way he values analytics and so does his staff.
“We’re just out here recruiting the best players we can get, and the best players you can get at Kentucky are the best players,” Pope told The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker at the Nike EYBL in Indianapolis last weekend. “I’m used to working with a relatively limited pool, and Kentucky has a relatively limited pool also. It’s just a little different kind of pool.”
Translation: Kentucky’s high school recruiting pool is the nation’s elite players and he is adjusting to the ability to attract elite players to his team. However, his plan is not the same plan for elite players that former coach John Calipari had.
“The guys who belong at Kentucky are the very best players in all of college basketball, so those are the guys you’re chasing. And then from that group, we’re chasing guys that really fit us, the way we’re attacking the game and the way we’re playing,” Pope told Tucker.
Pope is not infatuated with recruiting stars and how many top 10 players he can bring to Kentucky if he does not think those players will fit together on the court. Calipari preferred to just load up on talent and then try to figure out how to put the puzzle pieces together.
Pope promised at his introductory press conference that he would not shy away from recruiting elite players and is doing that. However, he’s going to have a more diversified approach to recruiting that might lead to no more than three high school players being signed per year to leave room for players in the transfer portal the coach wants.
“We’re actually tiering kids,” Pope told Tucker. “The kids we think are one-and-done that we really want to try and grab; another tier of guys we think can come be in the rotation as freshmen; and then a tier of guys you say, ‘Man, I’m telling you, that kid is going to come add something to our program as a freshman, even if he’s not in the rotation, and then he’s going to win us the biggest games in college basketball as a junior or senior.’
“So we do our best to tier guys and then go hunting and be super deliberate about the guys in each of those pools that we recruit really hard.”
21 Responses
Coach Mark Pope puts UK FIRST in his plan to mold a TEAM to make UK a winner
What a contrast to a fraud who NEVER put UK 1st in any decision he made.
It’s just great to have a coach who has already uplifted the excitement to the level of Rupp, Hall & Pitino – the ONLY coaches who wanted to win every game, get to the FF,
& win National Titles.
What a contrast to anyone paid millions who said “FF’s don’t matter” and another who said draft day was the greatest day in UK BB history,
The house has been swept clean of a lot of debris. Barnie is riding & hiding on the coattail of Pope & hope his secret contracts which cost UK a lot of money & wins are forgotten.
Press conferences have never won a single game in the history of baseball. It’s probably best to take a wait and see approach. This is the first time in the modern era of the program thar UK has ever hired a men’s basketball coach who has won 0 regular season conference titles, 0 conference tournament championships, and 0 NCAA games. Just seems to me that the vast majority of his next years roster chose the program due to it was their best N.I.L. scenario. I don’t see any other previous era coaches having the vast majority of this roster in UK uniform. Plain and simple! This is not 1996 SEC and College basketball. The conference alone is better than it’s ever been its entire history! Add Texas and Oklahoma to the mix and it gets rugged! 💯
Maybe he should have hired you to be a consultant since you have apparently walked that road of reconstructing a complete roster.
Right on ! 👍
Crazy. Especially since he’s talking about basketball and not baseball. If you’re going to be critical, at least be correct.
The 25 and 26 seasons will give us a better idea of what his teams will look like in the future. I hope we sign the Vinson kid. He is ready to play significant minutes and being a freshman, he will be ready to step up to a starting role his sophomore year. I see the same for Perry, Collins, and Garrison. I haven’t seen Noah play much as a high school senior, but I would not be surprised to see him compete for the starting 3 spot as a sophomore. This could lead to us having 5 returning starters as juniors and a real shot at No. 9. Kentucky basketball is in good hands. Go CATS!!!
I’m all in with Coach Mark Pope !!
Me too Harry
He’s talking about Trent Noah and Travis Perry when he says they will be valuable their junior and senior years. They are very good players I just don’t know if they are ready for SEC ball. The players are big fast and athletic. They will have to be able to create their own shots and u just don’t think they are ready for it this year. I think next year you start seeing who they are as basketball players for Kentucky.
Travis Perry can create his own shot. Period
yes he can WildWest
Yes he can, and so can Noah.
It will be nice having a coach like Pope, telling kid’s if they are not ready for NBA they should help themselves by coming back! That will help the kid’s and KY Basketball, Get back to winning the conference and tournament again with experience! Instead of chasing everyone off after their freshman year and starting over again every year like calipari! Really looking forward to a zone defense this year instead of playing man to man all the time when we need to! Exciting times for KY Basketball again!
Travis Perry will be a big surprise to anyone who does not expect for him to create his own shot. He is not only a smart & quick BB player but also more intelligent than the majority of players he will face.
The Kentucky raised boys will do wonders for UK BB.
Banners #1 thru #8 ALL had a key player who was a big time KY HS player/
I’m not saying he’ll be like Reed and go pro after his first season. And, I know the SEC competition he will face will be stronger and more experienced.
But, he is a tremendous competitor. He wears down anyone that tries to guard him. If a defender doesn’t pick him up early he’ll shoot a 35 footer and make it.
✔️👍
I agree Vinson has great potential. UK really needs him .
We shall see! Its a new beginning! One n dones were exciting to Watch! But they didnt win as many Championship’s as folks thuoght that they shuold have!
New is the key word Edwin
Not sold on it! This isn’t 1996 SEC and College basketball.
We all need to give coach Pope our full support, he has a difficult challenge in front of him and it won’t be easy street by any means, but I am happy to know that I won’t hear about robots or computer or he hasn’t seen him or there so young or anything resembling what our former coach would be blathering. What I hope to hear after we whip them hogs is I GOT OUT COACHED!!!!!! GO COACH POPE GO CATS !!!