It's time to have that talk again, BBN. Just my two cents.

DrewFranklinKSR

Good afternoon, my brothers and sisters in Big Blue Nation. I come to you this Friday afternoon with a message some of you need to read, many for a second time. It’s word-for-word the same message I wrote last April: Take a deep breath.

We had this conversation last April when panic swept BBN. Remember? Mark Pope missed out on early targets in the transfer portal, drawing criticism from many Kentucky fans for being unable to get it done. Pope was new to the job, living in an apartment and working around the clock with a new staff, having never coached at Kentucky. Still, the most impatient of the Kentucky fan base demanded immediate commitments, relying only on transfer portal rankings to fuel the overreactions, without any idea of how Pope was operating behind the scenes.

Here, I’ll even copy and paste my advice from April 26, 2024. We’re three weeks shy of the first anniversary.

Good afternoon, my brothers and sisters in Big Blue Nation. I come to you this Friday afternoon with a message some of you need to read. Not all of you, but certainly some of you, the ones tossing and turning at night because Mark Pope doesn’t have a complete roster with exceptional and experienced basketball players on April 26.

Now, I am not here to tell you how to fan. You fan however you’d like to fan. We all fan differently, and the last thing I want to do is ask you to be someone other than yourself. However, I am worried about the well-being of many of the doomsdayers in BBN, the ones panicking because, on April 26, Pope doesn’t have a top-10 roster in Lexington.

To me, it is unhealthy to panic this early in the process, as many Kentucky fans are doing right now, on April 26. I understand the worry in the uncertainty ahead, and that we live in a society that expects immediate results. I get it. You have every right to be on edge about a roster with three total players but only one with college basketball experience. These are not ideal circumstances for Kentucky.

But, if I may offer a piece of advice: Take a deep breath.

[May I offer some advice, BBN? Just my two cents . – April 26, 2024]

Lamont Butler committed to Kentucky later that day. Otega Oweh followed Butler the next day, then Andrew Carr on that Sunday, Brandon Garrison on Tuesday, and Koby Brea and Kerr Krissa on Wednesday. Jaxson Robinson was added a month later.

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That chain of commitments began more than three weeks after the point in the offseason that we are in now. It’s only Final Four weekend. Mark Pope was the head coach of BYU at this time last year. Once he got the Kentucky job, he was in a much more difficult position than he is now, and that group broke the school record for wins over AP Top 15 teams and made it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament despite more injuries than most teams could handle. You liked Pope’s first team, right?

So, fan however you want to fan, by all means, but consider a little patience for Pope this offseason. I think he earned it. If we have to have this talk every April, we’ll have this talk every April. Again, just my two cents.