I get what you're saying and I'm very optimistic that Pope is the right guy. But let's be honest, he didn't get to UK based on his body of work. He got the job because our top two choices turned us down and Pope played here. He had no NCAAT wins and never won a conference title. BYU finished in 6th place in the B12 his last year there. Most of us thought that was a pretty good year for BYU but his replacement has them in the top 10 in the nation two years later.
The issue with that though, is that Arkansas had him in their short list. That was according to Arkansas guys who report at the time. Pope was quietly making a big name for himself he just jumped before then. I don’t think, had he not played here, he would have been offered but he was good enough to that point given the circumstances. That’s mainly because we wouldn’t have known him to that point and the resume wasn’t there. But we knew to look. The NIL is why he was so appealing.
What I think most forget is this isn’t the era where you need a calipari recruiter. The NIL, the conference, and the brand recruit, you need a coach who players wouldn’t mind playing for who kills it on the court. As we saw last season, pope had a limited roster literally thrown together and beat Duke (final four) and Florida (Champ) and Tennessee’s best team ever, twice. I’m not sure many other coaches in the country could have done that with the roster we had. Pope is exceptionally gifted, it’s a unique situation that I think everyone will see in time.
Pope is already, after 1 year, likely to sign the top recruit in the country due to the brand, NIL, and coaching philosophy. He hasn’t really begun either so when you really think about Pope was the most perfect hire we could have landed. No learning curve as a UK coach, has a war chest, and known as an analytical genius. WITHOUT the NIL, he couldn’t coach here. But with the NIL, there might not be a better hire. Former player, champion, NBA pedigree, analytically intelligent and known as a modern offense guru. And he’s maintaining the family way during an era where another coach couldn’t. In context, no way you leave that on the market. And I was all in on Donovan, and wildly pissed off when we hired him. But there’s something about this and when taken in context with the era and after Calipari’s attempt to destroy us, I be damned if he isn’t the perfect hire.
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