Official: Hurley tells UK, NOPE

[JMick]

It’s a solid hire and I think he can do really well there. The fanbase is going to lose their G-D minds though.

Drew would have been a disaster there. Idk how Pope will work out but I think it will be better than Drew would have been.

 

[The Viking]

This reminds me of my search for a wife.

 

[jorge34]

Pope going back to his Alma mater would be a solid move if……his alma mater was any other school but Kentucky

The toxic bunch is already roasting the move

 

[Hurleyman216]

Couldn’t wish for anything more for a washed out program in a football first conference. It’s gonna take a long time for the Calipari stink to wash off of their program.

It’s funny because last year before DH won his first championship I had a conversation with a UK fan who told me “Dan Hurley was a nice little hire for UConn, but he’s crazy”. He was literally talking down to me like we have a nice little psycho mid major coach, that fits UConn pretty well.

UK really hasn’t been relevant since the 1990’s save the one year they won a championship with AD. What an entitled delusional fan base thinking they can steal the coach of the best basketball program of this century.

 

[That Guy]

They are so concerned about it being a big name. Pope is young and a good coach. He also played there so he knows what the fans expect. Only concern for me would be , seems like when an alum returns more times than not it ends badly.

Problem is that he hasn't had enough success in the tournament to convince anyone that he has elite potential as a coach. I just think a blue blood like Kentucky should only be going after proven winners like Beard, Pearl, or Sean Miller. That fanbase is STARVING for tournament success after these last few years with Cal and I'm not sure that Pope will be able to give them that success early on and soon enough that entire fanbase will want to run him out of town.

 

[JMick]

Couldn’t wish for anything more for a washed out program in a football first conference. It’s gonna take a long time for the Calipari stink to wash off of their program.

It’s funny because last year before DH won his first championship I had a conversation with a UK fan who told me “Dan Hurley was a nice little hire for UConn, but he’s crazy”. He was literally talking down to me like we have a nice little psycho mid major coach, that fits UConn pretty well.

UK really hasn’t been relevant since the 1990’s save the one year they won a championship with AD. What an entitled delusional fan base thinking they can steal the coach of the best basketball program of this century.

I think Cal checked out and refused to change but I only put half the blame on him. The fan and booster situation over there is a disaster and they still don't get it. The reason people don't want to take the job isn't because of the Calipari stink. It's because of the environment.

 

[controlfade]

There was definitely no need to rush and hire Pope. He would have been available next week . ITT makes no sense that they aren’t looking at tier 2 coaches and going right to the possible next Hurley

I still like Pope as a hire but i understand why their fans aren’t thrilled

 

[jorge34]

Problem is that he hasn't had enough success in the tournament to convince anyone that he has elite potential as a coach. I just think a blue blood like Kentucky should only be going after proven winners like Beard, Pearl, or Sean Miller. That fanbase is STARVING for tournament success after these last few years with Cal and I'm not sure that Pope will be able to give them that success early on and soon enough that entire fanbase will want to run him out of town.

He will have ZERO success early on. The lunatics are screaming that it’s “now a rebuild!!”

Once they drove Cal out; it was always going to be a rebuild.

 

[Hurleyman216]

He will have ZERO success early on. The lunatics are screaming that it’s “now a rebuild!!”

Once they drove Cal out; it was always going to be a rebuild.

Every year with Cal was a rebuild. He just isn’t a good enough coach to build a team capable of winning it all, even with all the NBA talent he had. You can blame it on freshman which may be part of it, but who thinks if Calipari had UConn’s roster this year that he would have steamrolled teams by 20+ on his way to a national championship? I don’t, and I loved our roster, but we were so well coached on both sides of the ball and that was a huge advantage

 

[UChusky916]

the amount of copium being huffed over on their forum is hilarious. they're gonna get stuck with mark pope!

Called it

 

[superjohn]

Oates is in the middle of a divorce and he’s trying to acquire joint custody of his kids. I’m sure he would need his ex-wife to agree and move as well or give up shared custody if he left

Do you have any proof this is true?

 

[gsmooth]

What about Willimantic?

I went to Willimantic every now and then, but I didn't really hang out with people my age. I usually went to Willimantic to work out at a gym there and do my errands. My dad used to work at Windham Hospital and he was a part time medical consultant for the UConn men's basketball team which is why I am such a big fan of UConn basketball.

 

[CL82]

How well off is the school? Will a raise of Hurley's magnitude affect us?

Well I can't speak for everyone, but it's going to make me very happy.

 

[gsmooth]

How the hell do you hire Pope before going after guys like Sean Miller, Bruce Pearl, Chris Beard, or even Shaka? Kentucky fans are going to riot lol.

That's a really good question. I believe they already got turned down by Beard if I am not mistaken. But they should at least try for those other coaches as they are far more established than Mark Pope. Pope hasn't won a NCAAT game. Shaheen Holloway is a very good coach is a better choice. The only advantage Mark Pope has over any of these other coaches is that Kentucky fans might have some nostalgia for him since he was on that great 1996 championship team.

 

[Woodson]

That's a really good question. I believe they already got turned down by Beard if I am not mistaken. But they should at least try for those other coaches as they are far more established than Mark Pope. Pope hasn't won a NCAAT game. Shaheen Holloway is a very good coach is a better choice. The only advantage Mark Pope has over any of these other coaches is that Kentucky fans might have some nostalgia for him since he was on that great 1996 championship team.

Beard literally just re-upped, we’d have to assume theres a massive buyout, not that money seems to be of any concern

 

[Kolumbo]

Regarding Bags of Cash. Anyone can go to Kentucky and you just don't know how it will pan out. Whatever Calipari was, he had a pretty good track record and they still hated him.

Dan Hurley is gold in Connecticut. He is only 6 years in and walks on water. He is the hottest coach in the country and is only getting started. Outside of salary, there are endorsements. There are speaking engagements. Consulting gigs. Books. His earning potential is immeasurable right now and has a much greater chance of growing here in Connecticut than leaving.

Nevertheless, the kentucky clowns obsessed with cash, just priceless.

 

[gsmooth]

He will have ZERO success early on. The lunatics are screaming that it’s “now a rebuild!!”

Once they drove Cal out; it was always going to be a rebuild.

That's what most of the Kentucky fans did not understand. Some of them did, to be fair. I understand their frustration with not getting into the Sweet 16 since before the pandemic. I was saying in my head "if you want Calipari out, fine, but finding a coach that can produce results at their ceiling to match Calipari's ceiling is going to be tougher than you think".

 

[gsmooth]

Regarding Bags of Cash. Anyone can go to Kentucky and you just don't know how it will pan out. Whatever Calipari was, he had a pretty good track record and they still hated him.

Dan Hurley is gold in Connecticut. He is only 6 years in and walks on water. He is the hottest coach in the country and is only getting started. Outside of salary, there are endorsements. There are speaking engagements. Consulting gigs. Books. His earning potential is immeasurable right now and has a much greater chance of growing here in Connecticut than leaving.

Nevertheless, the kentucky clowns obsessed with cash, just priceless.

And that's what these idiot Kentucky fans couldn't get through their thick heads, not all of their fans to be fair, but the ones on that particular forum. Hurley has not just won one championship, but back to back at a prestigious elite basketball program, blue blood, new blood, whatever. Winning at Kentucky wasn't going to make him feel any better. He is going to make more money with a raise, which he and the staff deserve and have earned, and all those other opportunities you just mentioned.

Why would he ever consider going to Kentucky for a more lucrative contract and be under the gun of that pressure cooker. He wouldn't be able to rebuild that program the way he wants in his mold because that fanbase has no patience and would want his blood if he didn't win it all immediately. Then he would risk having his reputation tarnished on some level if he had to flee like Calipari did.

 

[HuskyFich]

Called it

Except they CHOSE Mark Pope, they didn’t get stuck with him. I think he’s a good coach, but this is so below UKs standards. We can make fun all we want, but this historically has been a top 4 job, and still is a top 6 job.

NIL has shockingly stabilized tier 2&3 coaching gigs, because you can always just “reload.”

Tier 1 programs are fighting with many more sharks in the water now.

The timing of the Hurley hire could go down as truly a miracle. Got him right before NIL becomes a thing, and he has soared our program to the top of the sport just at the time where everyone is now competing on a much more even playing field.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

“Winning back-to-back championships in 6 years and then telling Kentucky to pound sand” is so far beyond the best-case scenario when UConn hired Hurley, I can’t even wrap my head around it.

We were coming off a sub-500 season where we lost to Arkansas by 35 on a neutral court!

Also, Hurley turning down $100/8 to stay at UConn just made the KO payout (to get Hurley) look like a rounding error.

 

[Kolumbo]

the amount of copium being huffed over on their forum is hilarious. they're gonna get stuck with mark pope!

 

[phillionaire]

Unfortunately my powers of prescience are wasted on basketball coaching decisions

 

[Kitaman]

Hurley is staying because fan base.

 

[tzznandrew]

UK really hasn’t been relevant since the 1990’s save the one year they won a championship with AD.

I wish that were true, but it is not. They were undefeated in the Final Four in 2015. Basically from 2010-2017 or so, they were always among the top basketball stories because they had all the top prospects. The Wall-Cousins team, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015 were all headline years.

I'm very happy they hired Pope. He's a good coach and may do well there, but he's well beneath what they think they deserve, and so the hire is already in some ways a disaster. Chasing Cal out will also likely be seen as a disaster and a reason they couldn't get a bigger hire.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

This Kentucky coaching search shows how much the world has changed with NIL and the Portal. 5 years ago, if they ran Calipari off they could find the next dirtbag in waiting to take over their Blue Blood program and out spend everyone else on recruits.

Today, recruiting is 10x more complex than just passing out bags of cash to the burger boys. It has passed Calipari by, and a lot of other coaches too. Being a Blue Blood barely matters now, and teams are winning with men rather than boys.

At least 5 coaches turned down Kentucky, and for all we know, Kentucky back channeled the Beard and Smart level of candidates and found no interest there too. There are many schools that pay their coaches well. Why go to Kentucky with it’s demented fan base if Kentucky doesn’t really have any inherent competitive advantage anymore?

I think the Blue Blood Club membership is closed, possibly forever. No school will ever win 6 championships in 26 seasons again. Talent is too fragmented and the competition is too intense for it. Older players that stay for NIL will have a bigger impact. There will continue to be innovations like Luke Murray’s offense which will make it possible for teams to win without multiple future NBA superstars.

Unless college sports gets blown up by a money grab by the P2, I think basketball will look more like the NFL going forward, where many teams have a shot to win it over time.