When Mark Pope was announced as Kentucky’s head coach, the hire came as a shock. Many wondered if he was ready to lead the winningest program in college basketball history. After all, Pope had never won an NCAA Tournament game, recruited a five-star prospect, or sent a player to the NBA. Compared to John Calipari’s early dominance in those areas, the résumé looked thin.
What Pope did bring to the table, though, was passion for the program as a former Wildcat national champion — and a reputation as a sharp basketball mind. A viral video even hyped up his BYU teams as running “video game offense,” a clear contrast to what many had labeled Calipari’s outdated system. That promise of a modern, fast-moving, high-scoring attack gave Big Blue Nation the sense of a much-needed reset.
And in year one, Pope delivered. Kentucky finished top-5 nationally in scoring and top-10 in offensive efficiency, while shattering the school record for made threes in a season (341). Six Wildcats averaged double figures, something that had never happened before in program history. All of that came after Pope was hired in April with virtually no recruiting base and little time to work the transfer portal.
It left fans asking: If he could do that with a late start, what might Kentucky look like once he has a full cycle to build the roster?
What the Coaches Think
While Big Blue Nation has rallied around Pope, not everyone in the coaching world is quite as sold. In CBS Sports’ annual Candid Coaches poll — where more than 100 coaches vote on the best X’s and O’s minds in college basketball — Pope didn’t make the cut for the top 15.
Instead, Purdue’s Matt Painter led the way (19%), followed closely by UConn’s Dan Hurley (18%) and Creighton’s Greg McDermott (16%). Other popular names included Houston’s Kelvin Sampson, Saint Mary’s Randy Bennett, Kansas’ Bill Self, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, and even long-time veterans like Rick Pitino and Rick Barnes.
Pope’s name? Nowhere to be found. At best, he seems to have been lumped into the “other” category, which accounted for 7% of the votes. That suggests at least a handful of coaches may have mentioned him, but not enough to reach the two-percent minimum needed to appear individually on the list.
The Bigger Picture
The omission is striking given Kentucky’s offensive leap under Pope in year one. Meanwhile, some other notable names also failed to crack the top 15, including Jon Scheyer (Duke), Todd Golden (Florida), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Scott Drew (Baylor), and even Pope’s predecessor, John Calipari.
For now, BBN isn’t concerned with outside opinions. Pope’s system, energy, and connection to the program have given fans hope that Kentucky basketball is trending back toward national contention. And if year one was only the beginning, it may not be long before both fans and coaches start viewing him as one of the sharpest minds in the game.
Final Thought: Agree to disagree, coaches. Kentucky likes its guy.
