Mark Pope jokes about $200M NIL budget -- but genuinely wants Kentucky to 'win at everything'

“What’s the — if you can say — NIL valuation of your current roster?” one reporter asked Mark Pope during his first press conference of the offseason, just to see what would happen. Maybe the Kentucky head coach would be refreshingly transparent in an era where rumors of ridiculous numbers are thrown around both individually and for teams across all sports? At minimum, it could lead to a rant about the current state of college athletics and the difficulty of roster construction in recent cycles before the House v. NCAA settlement hopefully calms down what has been the Wild Wild West every offseason.

Pope’s response?

“It’s close to $200 million,” he joked, holding back a belly laugh.

Fair enough.

Then came the insight, Pope using the insane NIL estimate as part of a bigger and totally serious point: Kentucky deserves the best at everything. We can joke about NIL asks and agents taking over the world, but at the end of the day, the winningest program in college basketball history should have the best talent and the money it takes to build championship rosters. If that’s what it takes, that’s what the Wildcats need.

When Kentucky is included in lists highlighting the most lucrative budgets and expensive rosters, that’s a good thing.

“We would like to win at everything. We really would,” Pope said. “This is the flagship program in the country, so I’m fully onboard with all of it.”

It’s not just about NIL, either — it’s everything that comes with having the winningest tradition and biggest brand in the sport. He wants all of the smoke, ranging from the top talent to the toughest opponents to the coolest uniforms.

Everything.

“We want to play the hardest schedule, we want to play the best teams, we want to win the most games, we want to have the best players, we want to have the highest NIL, we want to have the coolest uniforms, we want to have the most media attention. This is Kentucky,” Pope continued.

He used that opportunity to confirm the program’s support has been overwhelming from the very top to help make that happen. No complaints about not being on the same page with administration — they’re giving him everything he needs to be successful leading the Kentucky Wildcats.

“We’re going to do this the very best we can,” he said. “We’re blessed, we’re really blessed to have President [Eli] Capilouto and Mitch Barnhart and some of the most committed, generous fans and donors and supporters in all of college basketball. We have the best donors in college basketball. We have the best fans in college basketball. This is the University of Kentucky. I never forget that. We should be the best at everything.”

To come full circle, yes, the program is doing just fine when it comes to NIL — whether it’s a $200 million budget or not.

“Put NIL, put the transfer portal on the list,” Pope continued. “Our job is to go be the best at everything. We’re not shying away from that. It’s important to us.”