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The College of Kentucky has its new males’s basketball coach, officially announcing the hiring of BYU’s Mark Pope on Friday night time to interchange John Calipari following the latter’s departure to Arkansas.
Pope was positively not Kentucky’s first selection, however a number of of the highest coaches within the nation – together with Scott Drew (Baylor), Dan Hurley (Connecticut), Nate Oats (Alabama) and even Billy Donovan of the Chicago Bulls – confirmed zero curiosity within the job. It’s also a slightly uninspiring rent on the floor when you think about the thinness of Pope’s resume.
However that doesn’t essentially imply it’s a dangerous rent. No less than not but.
Whereas Pope lacks NCAA Match success and main outcomes, he’s going to convey an lively and thrilling model of basketball to Lexington that includes tempo and an enormous reliance on the three-point sport. These have been his workforce’s calling playing cards at BYU and so they helped earn this system NCAA Match bids in two of the previous 4 seasons, plus a spot within the top-25 in 4 of his 5 years with this system.
The dearth of match success is an enormous purple flag nevertheless, particularly going right into a program like Kentucky the place the purpose is not simply showing within the NCAA Match, however truly going far and competing for nationwide championships.
Pope has by no means received a single match sport as a head coach within the NCAA.
Whereas he’s getting into an surroundings the place that form of resume isn’t going to final lengthy, he’s additionally getting into a scenario that ought to give him one thing he hasn’t needed to work with earlier than – a significant program that could be a draw for the largest and greatest recruits within the nation. Particularly with NIL cash now in play.
Pope’s system and offense can positively put factors on the board even with out elite expertise. If he can convey that to Kentucky and get top-tier expertise to suit into it he may need an opportunity to make this work.
At this level although it’s all nonetheless hope and potential. It has to really work on the ground.
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