Pope revisits GM topic with rising scrutiny on UK recruiting efforts
With Kentucky Basketball struggling both on the court and in the recruiting arena this season, Mark Pope has been facing criticism he did not receive during his first year as head coach.
After our sister site with On3, KSR, released a piece detailing some of the concerns surrounding Kentucky’s recruiting issues, Pope was asked during his weekly press conference on Friday what the pros and cons of adding a general manager position would be.
“I like it in terms of manpower,” the UK boss said. “I like it in terms of the focus. I like it in terms of the 24/7, just being solely focused on that.”
So why hasn’t it happened yet?
Pope said they have seen examples from around the country where “it’s been an epic disaster, and we’ve seen places where it’s been functional.”
He believes there are potential issues with creating separation between the coaches and players, leading to communication pitfalls.
Finding the right person will be key, if and when it happens. Pope hinted that they’ve been exploring the idea and having “long discussions” with people who may eventually become more involved.
“When it lands right, we’ll do it,” he said. “… There’s the do-no-harm vibe.”
Seemingly in contrast to the published report by KSR, which cited several anonymous sources who felt like Kentucky’s new NIL partnership with JMI has been problematic in closing some major prospects, Pope praised the group’s efforts.
“I’m really blessed, like we have this incredible partnership with JMI that’s enabled us to do so much, and they’re doing incredible work for us,” he said, adding that UK has a whole team of people “working contracts, working possibilities.”
Skeptics will counter, then why does a program of Kentucky’s pedigree have no players committed in the Class of 2026? No other major program in the country has yet to land a single player for next season.
“Complicated,” Pope said, conceding that it’s ultimately his job to get it done.
It appears that UK is still struggling with what is legal and what is not legal in this era of NIL.
“It’s a dynamic process every single day, and we’ll make sure that we always err on the side of doing this legal, which is a guessing game because nobody knows exactly what is legal right now,” Pope said.
“There’s just a million parts to this, but that’s all in the conversation of how we do the management part of this program, and it’s something we spend an inordinate amount of time talking about.”