Coaches do NOT think Mark Pope is one of the best X's and O's minds in college basketball

Kentucky men's basketball head coach Mark Pope before the game against No.1 Auburn Saturday afternoon in Lexington, Kentucky March 1, 2025. © Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

When he got the Kentucky job — a massive surprise at the time — there were many questions about Mark Pope‘s qualifications leading the winningest tradition in college basketball history. He’d never won an NCAA Tournament game, nor had he recruited a five-star or put a player in the NBA, those things being obvious staples in Lexington over the years, all of them overlapping beautifully in the early days of Coach Cal, especially. Fans were ready for a change, but maybe not that drastic of a change.

What ultimately sold Big Blue Nation, however, was Pope’s passion for the program as an alum and former champion himself, obviously, but more specifically, his basketball mind. One video in particular stole the fanbase’s heart after it became clear he was Mitch Barnhart’s guy, highlighting BYU as a “team that plays offense like a video game,” led by the former Wildcat. Certainly not “archaic,” as John Calipari’s system was described toward the end of his time at Kentucky. Maybe that’s exactly what this program needed as it looked for a fresh start?

It lived up to the hype, finishing the year ranked No. 4 in scoring and No. 10 in offensive efficiency while breaking the program record for most made 3-pointers in a season with 341, six players averaging double-digit scoring for the first time in school history. And that was with a late start in the portal and zero recruiting base to work with after being hired in April. Imagine what Pope could do with a full roster-building cycle the following year and beyond?

BBN feels good about its new leader, but how do other coaches feel about the 53-year-old? Out of over 100 coaches polled in CBS Sports’ Candid Coaches series, Pope was not among the top 15 names brought up by his peers when asked about the best X’s and O’s coaches in the sport.

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Purdue’s Matt Painter was considered the best in college basketball, followed by UConn’s Dan Hurley and Creighton’s Greg McDermott among the most popular names. Even lesser-discussed coaches such as Iowa’s Ben McCollum, Saint Mary’s Randy Bennett, Northwestern’s Chris Collins and St. Bonaventure’s Mark Schmidt earned multiple votes.

Pope did not. In fact, the best we can assume is that he was included in the “other” category making up seven percent of all votes — but not enough to be included individually, the minimum there being two percent, seemingly indicating more than one supporter.

Take a look at the full list, which includes other iconic names such as Kelvin Sampson, Tom Izzo, Bill Self, Rick Barnes, Nate Oats and Rick Pitino — but not Pope, Jon Scheyer, Todd Golden, Mark Few, Scott Drew or Coach Cal, interestingly enough: