Wondering if you guys have seen the outpouring of support from the fans online? Did you see the 20,000+ fans at the press conference on Sunday at Rupp Arena? Mark Pope understands Kentucky basketball, he lived it. He understands the assignment and Big Blue Nation is on board with this hire. No miracle expectations for next season, I assure you. You guys are way off on this. Stay tuned. You'll see.
You underestimate the power of Mark Pope, the Kentucky fans do not. He was highly recommended by Rick Pitino, who he played for before Rick left Kentucky for the Celtics. Pope is the only Rhodes Scholar coaching in D-1 basketball. Let's face it, Pope is smart! He was the Captain of a National Championship team. He played 10 years in the pros. In a mere two weeks he has recruited an awesome group from the portal! I loved having Calipari at Kentucky, but at a time when big money controls coaching departures and hires, Mark Pope was a great replacement! Don't worry, with Pope brilliance and the "Kentucky Brand", Kentucky basketball will do just fine! Great job Mitch Barnhart!
Only the Calipari lovers and those who are afraid of taking risks fans are angry at the hiring of Pope as Ky.’s coach. As us older long term fans who understand that if you want a great reward, (Winning championships), you must take a great risk. And we understand what Pope has to offer is a lot more than we’ve seen from him, but he gets the tradition of Ky. Basketball better than most because he’s played here and won a championship here. He will win and it won’t take a long time for it to happen.
Did you guys say the same thing when Duke hired Scheyer or UNC hired Davis? They had ZERO head coaching experience. Something tells me you just took this opportunity to bash Kentucky without really knowing what you're talking about.
What are you all going on about? lol. Some fans were set aback for a hot minute but by the end of the day, all was good! My stepdad and uncles were some of those fans but each one has said the more they thought about it, the happier they have gotten. My husband and I are pumped! I’m certain Pope is going to kill it! Wait and see. Mark my words! Mark Pope will do great and the most important thing right now is he knows we’re backing him 100%! All the wishy washy bandwagon Negative Nancy type fans need to hop off now. Only blue bleeders from here on out.
And you do??? Wow mitch really shot for the stars on this hire ,(in the most sarcastic tone humanly possible) pope has recruited 1 4 star in his life. We realistically may.end like louisville. That is possible. This will make billy g years look like picnic in candy land. Im sure you idiots will.cheer on the epic.destruction of UK basketball with your big bike helmets on
@@jcritter9295It definitely will be fine and all these bandwagon fans and negative people who don’t have a clue what’s going on or what we really are feeling, will eat their words.
Love it he’d Coach Kentucky for free! Didn’t have to buy a Coach!!! Think he’ll do fine packing largest fan base & deep pockets! 56 year fan & we only ask 3 Hurley,drew Pope Barnhart we’ll never go for any baggage! 💙Go Cats
I live and work in Kentucky, and there was a lot of excitement yesterday at the office. A few people were still "wait and see" but nobody was against the hire. This is the most excited and unified the fanbase has been in YEARS. Those with apathy toward Cal are on-board for Pope!
Yall dont understand colleges "BUY" teams nowadays. %10 of all players entered the transfer portal this year, most in history. Hunter Dickinson was 850k. They go out and get 4 or 5 of those caliber 5 star portal players they will be just fine. Alabama went to the final four and only 2 decent players played on the team before. And mark pope beat kansas with a bunch of BYU nobody players.
They keep talking about Nate Oats. He cam out publicly and said he wasn't leaving Alabama. The boosters made sure that he wasn't leaving. They were willing to give the funds necessary to keep him. These dudes need to do their homework.
Who’s pissed again!? Everyone’s on boarded💪 I think we’re gonna be just fine, and remeber this video there pals, cause KY is never going away. As much as you people want KY to die and go away , but sorry for you, we will always be winning games. We was UK before cals hire and we will always be the big bad cats playing you all that’s you all scared to play . You’ll see! Keep all the jokes coming and you’ll see who laughing last! GO BIG BLUE! 🐱🏆🏀💪
Pope will get it done and get it done big! He's probably the smartest coach in CBB. He was a Rhodes Scholarship finalist, 160IQ. Dropped out of Medical School at Columbia cause he got the Coaching bug. He played for/worked with/under coaches like Pitino, Donovan, Larry Bird, George Karl, Michael Malone, Mark Fox, etc. He'll use that Mensa brain, the work ethic of a journeyman NBA Big Guy enforcer, and passion for his Alma Mater to win and win big. UK raised a load of NIL $$ today cause all the boosters and fans who soured on Cal want to give Pope ever opportunity to make this work. All of the Pitino era players are united behind Mark. They absolutely love him and really sold the UK fanbase today on social media and doing TV and sport radio interviews all day. Im super excited!
The only ones mad is the one that was strictly coach Cal me on the other hand I fell in love with the university the color and name and logo of my Cats and plus my mother attended the university of Kentucky so who ever coach is they have my full support and I’m in on Pope and believe he’s gone shock the World on that note let’s go BBN 💙🏀
Wow mitch really shot for the stars on this hire ,(in the most sarcastic tone humanly possible) pope has recruited 1 4 star in his life. We realistically may.end like louisville. That is possible. This will make billy g years look like picnic in candy land
@@UkbballYou’re clueless. Cal recruited the best players and look how we kept losing. Do you have amnesia? Also recruiting at BYU??? How tf are you convincing somebody to go play at BYU and sign a mormon contract saying you wont drink or have s*x. 23 year old transfers from kansas and 2-4 year players are wayyyyyy better than an 18 year old 5 star.
Pope is dominating recruiting already and assembled the best shooting team in the country in 2 months. As far as that idiot saying UK "will never be the same," Kentucky is the only school that has won titles with 5 different coaches. They've won in every single era. But good call guys 😂😂😂
Thier gonna buy thier team through the portal and get 3 or 4 five star Junior/seniors and pay them 800k.. they received 4 million for NIL this morning from only 2 doners. It will be exciting who get get, his byus team of nobody's beat #7 kansas so he can beat big games.
This looks, smells, taste, exactly what happened at UofL. Lost a hall of fame coach, then hired a x-player in Kenny Payne. Sure hope it works out a lot better.
It wont. Before Calipari Kentucky was fallen off. Take away Caliparis 1 title Kentucky has 3 tities since 1958. Theyre UCLA they won most of those titles 60-70 years ago and are average since.
@@Bob-te3leok? Since 1996 Duke has 3 championships, North Carolina has 3, Kansas has 2 and Kentucky has 3 so the only team since then to have more is Connecticut
40 year fan here, Big honer to land Mark Pope we will support him and love him! The other hard core fans will come along especially if he recruits the right players and win win win. the more time passes the better I feel about hiring Pope maybe even over Scott Drew! Give me the underdog all day long, that's who we was back in the day with the unforgettables and the comeback cats. those years was special and I believe Pope brings some of that magic back to UK! I think we are lucky to land a coach like Mark Pope!
Truth is Ky fans did not want Drew, Pearl, Oats etc. you don’t understand this was not a down the list hire . Drew and Mitch are friends but Pope was actually second choice .
I have talked to a lot of people about the Pope hire and everyone seems very happy. That said, there will always be haters that will never be happy. I think most UK fans wanted Calipari to stay but are happy with the choice of Mark Pope. It seems that the haters are always making all the noise, but sadly, that is often all it is.
Wow mitch really shot for the stars on this hire ,(in the most sarcastic tone humanly possible) pope has recruited 1 4 star in his life. We realistically may.end like louisville. That is possible. This will make billy g years look like picnic in candy land
@@Ukbball dude beat Nc state, Kansas, Texas, Baylor, Iowa State, k state, and San Diego state last year. And that’s with only 1 4 star in his life. You’re just proving how good of a coach he is.
Cal was not looking out for ky all he was interested in the NBA and that's the kind of players he recruited he didn't care about championships or Final 4S NO DEVELOPMENT FOR THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS AND I WAS A CAL FAN AT FIRST BUT GOT OLD FAST GOTTA GET BEHIND COACH POPE THINK HE WILL BE GOOD SURE CAN'T BE NO WORSE LEAST WE WILL LOSE WITH PLAYERS THAT WANT TO PLAY HERE AND THEY WILL HAVE TO PLAY WITH HEART OR THEY WON'T PLAY IT WON'T BE AL ABOUT THE NBA
UK folks are eating humble pie like Bama football fans had to. Kids went to Bama not because of the Crimson A, but because of Saban. Same rule applies with UK and Cal. Outside of the money, UK is not a job established P5 guys will run to because the fans are not realistic.
I have loved the hire from the beginning and to the idiot that said Kentucky basketball is basically dead I just need to say this. Grab a history book.
NIL has changed the recruiting game. If you have the money good players will come. Coach's name and maybe not even the school name will matter if they are playing to get paid.
Can't win with 5 starting freshman. He'll go out and get 4 or 5 five star junior/senior transfer portal players and pay them 850k a year along with trying to keep a couple guys from last year and a couple freshman recruits. UK recieved 4 Million this morning for NIL from only 2 doners. It will be about UK again and not an ego trip about 1st round picks and Allstars. Give him time to recruit and develop his players these teams will actually be progressing better through the year and more players come back and get better from the year before. I say he gets some solid transfer portal guys and a couple guys from last year come back and a recruit or two Kentuckys NIL is about to be INSANELY HIGH. Dodging a 34 million dollar buyout AND not having to pay a coach 10 million a year. For example, Alabama went to the final 4 with almost a completely new team besides like 2 or 3 guys from last year. This is the direction college basketball is going. "Buying" portal players.. They actually might be getting ahead of the curve 5 star portal junior/seniors with experience and pay him 800k each> 5 starting 18 year old kids with ZERO experience. This is the direction college basketball is going portal players will only go to teams who can afford them. Kentucky can afford them.
They arent wrong that people are mad but people are quickly turning around on it. Mitch won ne over with his comments on ksr and Pitinos video helped too. It feels like the 90s. Pope had a huge huge recruiting disadvantage a BYU. Like recruits had to sign contracts to obtain from sex.... Cmon, how are you supposed to recruit with that... Mitch said the have 4 million in NIL monies to use on players. Did BYU have that?
I live in Lexington....every single Kentucky fan I know is pissed and want Barnhart gone. This is a ridiculous hire and just does not "look" like the coach of Kentucky Basketball. Tall, goofy, corny dude. I'm sure he's a good dude and that's awesome for HIM..but this is the end of Kentucky being a powerhouse in the basketball world. It's over.
@@erichdeatherage8069 you're not a serious person...all you have to bring to the conversation is the rebuttal "clueless" tell me why, what makes my own opinion backed up with facts about how the city of where the college is located a clueless statement. Tell me why I am clueless so I can blast your stupid rebuttal back in your stupid face.
A dose of reality is a hard pill to swallow..... and yall laughed at me bc you weren't willing to admit it... so I'll say it again......Kentucky has the "Name" but Kentucky isn't where college basketball is happening these days... which is funny, bc that's the very reason you wanted Cal gone...(bc it wasn't or isnt happening at Kentucky)......getting a 2nd tier coach and one who played his entire college career there may be the Very thing Kentucky needs to getting back to Kentucky basketball and not the glitter and glamour....instant gratification is a beautiful thing unless you didn't realize just how far Kentucky basketball has fallen, and you expected it to be turned around in one game one season ..the Bamas the Auburns and the Tennessee's are constantly at the top of the league...years ago, there might have been 1team that stole the SEC Title away from Kentucky... and that's the point, it's not just one team anymore it's 3 or 4 teams that Kentucky is now chasing... that's how far Kentucky basketball has fallen... Kentucky fans should be asking Mitch why he didn't have a contingency plan in place just in case Cal walked....personally I think he dropped the ball... and he thought the name Kentucky alone would get the best coach possible.......swallow gently
These guy are crazy watch and see he coulent recruit at byu he won somwhere where u cant drink coffee or have sex. Pkus shepard i heared comming back he was his dad roomate
You all are too young to know but every decade since the 70’s. They have said that Kentucky was done. It’s over, lol. You all are ignorant or doing this for click bait, lol
Agree totally on most everything you guys said. As a UK fan, I am 100% disappointed. KY should have been looking at Donovan, or, Pitino. Pope has little to no experience, plus, he hasn't even won an NCAA tournament game. HORRIBLE hire, I'll not be watching UK again until Pope is gone. I'll give him 3 years, he will then be fired. This will hurt the program, even more. I hope I'm wrong.
I cant wait until Kentucky fans turn on one of their own in Coach Pope after hes trash in a couple years. Then while theyre doing it they will preach Big Blue Nation. Kentucky is the only school that lets spoiled fans run a hall of fame coach out of town. Since 1958 Kentucky has 4 titles and Calipari has 1 of them. It aint like kentucky is out there just dominating every year every decade. Kentucky is UCLA they both won most of their tities 60-70-80 years ago and want to act like Blue Bloods.
@@Dayday-qk3sz bigger disappointment than 1 championship in 25 years? Pope will be fine. He was limited at BYU. He's got 4 million in NIL money to play with, at least. He might surprise
Wow mitch really shot for the stars on this hire ,(in the most sarcastic tone humanly possible) pope has recruited 1 4 star in his life. We realistically may.end like louisville. That is possible. This will make billy g years look like picnic in candy land