‘Bring Back Sanity’: Mark Pope Calls for NCAA Tournament Action Amid Pro-to-College Pathway

The NCAA is at a crossroads with player eligibility. The newest trend is seeing players who have signed NBA contracts return to college basketball. That’s happening despite NCAA President Charlie Baker recently saying that players who sign NBA contracts will not be college eligible.

Alabama will have Charles Bediako suit up for the Crimson Tide on Saturday after he received a temporary restraining order from a judge on Wednesday to be eligible. Bediako, who has signed three NBA contracts, is one of many players currently making the jump from pro basketball to the NCAA.

After his team’s win over Texas on Wednesday, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope, unprompted, gave his take on the situation.

“I’m going to take a minute to talk about this just so you get our word here on what’s happening in the NCAA right now with eligibility,” Pope said. “We’re all shaking our hands, being like this is so incredibly creative. I’ll give you my two cents, just so you have it. At some point, I don’t have any hard feelings towards anybody making any decision because every single college program and college coach are the most competitive people in the world. They’re going to try and find any avenue they can to find an advantage. It’s what we’re paid to do. It’s what we do.”

Offering the NCAA Tournament Selection as a Solution

Mark Pope has one solution to the issue of professional players coming to college basketball. He wants to put it in the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s hands.

“The one stopgap that is kind of spreading right now that maybe has some legs is kind of a last stand,” Pope said. “The NCAA does get to decide who gets to go to the NCAA Tournament. They get to decide that. They have that power. At some point, when they’ve been very, very clear about what the rules that they’re going to try and enforce. They might lose in court, but they still get to decide what games count towards the NCAA Tournament.”

Pope made it clear. He doesn’t want to “penalize any team.”

“I’m just saying that because, at some point, it is important that we take a stand and regain some tiny ounce of sanity,” Pope said. “Until someone tells me different, I still believe the NCAA has full power over who gets into the NCAA Tournament and what games they count towards your NCAA Tournament bid. At the end of the day, that is what drives all of us.”

Pope preached “sanity” when offering his two cents. He also talked about the importance of the NCAA Tournament.

“Hopefully, we’ll take a stand there and clean this up for everybody, for everybody, because right now everybody is chasing their tails,” Pope said. “I think it’s a place we can take a stand. I hope we will. This game matters too much. The NCAA Tournament is too extraordinary a deal. These high school players, and these young players, and all these players matter too much. College basketball matters too much. It’s just time to bring, just take a stand, bring a little bit of sanity to this deal, say it publicly.”

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