Kentucky Wildcats bid farewell as star forward chooses new path…..
‘Terrific’ is how John Calipari describes Kentucky basketball. Mark Pope’s employment
The new Arkansas head coach and former Wildcats coach had strong feelings about his replacement.
Carter Bahns
CHARTER BAHNS
21 hours 0
When former Kentucky coach John Calipari announced he was leaving the Wildcats program and joining intraconference opponent Arkansas, it upset the power dynamics in college basketball. Following his departure, UK was faced with the daunting task of replacing a Hall of Famer as the head of its program. To meet this challenge, it hired former BYU coach and Kentucky national champion Mark Pope, a rising star in the coaching ranks, as its next leader. With this “terrific” hire, Calipari thought the Wildcats would have an easy transition to a new era.
Although Pope’s playing career ended long before Calipari moved to Lexington, the coach claims to be friendly with the new head coach and mentioned during the SEC spring meetings that Pope would be a good fit for the Kentucky team.
According to Calipari, “I thought it was a terrific hire,” per Brandon Marcello of 247Sports. “I’ve spent some time with Mark. He’s a decent man. Speaking with me on Friday morning when I was at the Final Four, he expressed his pride in Kentucky’s accomplishments, as he was once a player. I believe it’s a great hire, but at that moment I didn’t know he would be the coach. prior participant. They are aware that they have certain things to do right now. There aren’t any choices. Either you carry them out, or—you know. And from what I gather, they are carrying them out.”
With the No. 4 transfer class in the country, Pope is off to a great start in the recruiting process. On Thursday, he added to his haul with a huge portal pickup. Jaxson Robinson, a four-star transfer from BYU, decided to follow Pope to Kentucky instead of entering the NBA Draft, providing the Wildcats with outstanding wing scoring capability. Robinson, the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year, led BYU in scoring the previous season.
In the post-Calipari age, that early momentum might help Kentucky hold onto its position as a perennial national power. The Wildcats haven’t made it to the Final Four in ten years, but throughout the latter part of the old coach’s career, they consistently turned out elite NBA prospects and were a regular in the NCAA Tournament.
“Coach Cal has my eternal gratitude,” Pope stated on College Hoops Today with Jon Rothstein. “I will be appreciative of his actions at the University of Kentucky, where I attended college. My heart should be overflowing with gratitude for him. In addition, he is among the best college basketball coaches in history.”
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At least one matchup between Calipari and Pope occurs in the upcoming season. The 2024–25 SEC basketball schedule has not yet been completed, but it has revealed the teams for the league slate, which matches Kentucky and Arkansas at Rupp Arena. Calipari’s first game back in Lexington following his departure from the UK program will be this one.
