Pope has decisions to make and soon

[Matt Dillon]

We won't know until it happens. But whoever is saying that is just throwing out negative speculation to make UK and Pope look bad with no substantiation.

Not necessarily. He was the lead recruiter for both.

[Pete Hogwallop]

Not necessarily. He was the lead recruiter for both.

The lead recruiter part is likely accurate. The negative part is just speculation.

[KentuckyWild2020]

Besides having UK ties, I still don't see what qualifications they really have. If they were top tier recruiters, they would have that role somewhere and be successful doing it.

Qualifications. People like Rondo and Wall ,a few others know the modern day game of basketball and all that goes on behind the scenes with these kids these days. Plus someone like Rondo is a genuis, NBA champion. To think that some of these young players who have ambitions to get next level won't take advice from some of our own is being nieve.

Bottomline, either way we slice it, we need STAR POWER on the court and STAR POWER behind the scenes putting it all together.

Something happened with Calipari on the court at Kentucky but off the court he still had STAR POWER and great influence. His past few years missing out on Cunningham and a few others could have came down to money (even though NIL wasn't a thing) or the riff in the back of the house with MB, something changed...

[KentuckyWild2020]

No way Jasper can play PG !

No way he could sit on the bench and learn without pouting and painting a picture he's all world 1st pick NBA draft. Dude just isn't as good as he thinks he is...

[SCBlu]

No way Jasper can play PG !

I'd like to have him return as our backup PG, but absolutely not as our #1 PG.

[SCBlu]

I just read that Hart's leaving may cause us to lose out on Stokes and Pate.

Might be true, but ask yourself, if Hart really believed he has a good chance of pulling in Stokes, why would he quit just days/weeks before Stokes' decision. I believe Hart figured he'd be fired if he wasn't able to bring Stokes into the fold....and bailed out before he likely would have been fired.

[Matt Dillon]

Might be true, but ask yourself, if Hart really believed he has a good chance of pulling in Stokes, why would he quit just days/weeks before Stokes' decision. I believe Hart figured he'd be fired if he wasn't able to bring Stokes into the fold....and bailed out before he likely would have been fired.

On the other hand, he may think he can get Stokes to sign with SMU.

[SCBlu]

On the other hand, he may think he can get Stokes to sign with SMU.

Possibly, but if he has Stokes so tied up that he'd go to SMU with him, why couldn't he lock him up at UK? If he could have delivered Stokes to the Cats, he'd be here for years to come.

[Matt Dillon]

Possibly, but if he has Stokes so tied up that he'd go to SMU with him, why couldn't he lock him up at UK? If he could have delivered Stokes to the Cats, he'd be here for years to come.

True, but there are always two sides to a coin. Stokes or no Stokes he may have only been here one more season depending on what the Cats do next season. Take Vince Marrow for example, highly regarded recruiter but he saw the handwriting on the wall and got out while the getting was good.

[Jload]

Glad Hart gone.To be a recruiting ace he sure didn't deliver much.

[WeWant9]

I think the lead recruiter for Stokes is Benjamin Franklin.

[TrueblueCATfan]

hearing rumors on X That Jasper Johnson wants to return so he can prove himself

[WeWant9]

I was pretty fatigued (lol) with UK basketball this season. While I will say it was overall a big disappointment, I have had some time to step away and chill out. I might not think Pope is the long term guy for UK, but know he will be back next year and I will be there to root on the Cats. Never in a million years would I want to see UK lose because of a coach, etc, etc. There were some factors at play like injuries, drama, whatever; but I will leave that to the staff to figure out. If Jasper's mindset is he wants to put in the work and return, I would welcome him back with zero issue.

[EKYCat]

I was pretty fatigued (lol) with UK basketball this season. While I will say it was overall a big disappointment, I have had some time to step away and chill out. I might not think Pope is the long term guy for UK, but know he will be back next year and I will be there to root on the Cats. Never in a million years would I want to see UK lose because of a coach, etc, etc. There were some factors at play like injuries, drama, whatever; but I will leave that to the staff to figure out. If Jasper's mindset is he wants to put in the work and return, I would welcome him back with zero issue.

I see what you did there!

I've kind of resigned myself to the fact the Pope isn't going anywhere at this point. I'll root just as hard for them as always next season and hope he gets it worked out. It'd be a great story for a guy that really does genuinely seem to be a good human being.

[WeWant9]

I see what you did there!

I've kind of resigned myself to the fact the Pope isn't going anywhere at this point. I'll root just as hard for them as always next season and hope he gets it worked out. It'd be a great story for a guy that really does genuinely seem to be a good human being.

Agreed. I think it works itself out next year. Either he fields a competitive team that is up to UK standards, or this time next year we are all posting our coaching wish lists again.