Can Mark Pope land five-stars at Kentucky? He hadn’t leading up to his time as the head coach in Lexington. Can he find postseason success with the Wildcats? Again, he hasn’t up to this point beyond his playing days as captain of the 1996 championship team under Rick Pitino.
Those were the two biggest questions surrounding the hire when Mitch Barnhart made it back in April, why the move was met with early skepticism before Big Blue Nation quickly rallied behind Pope in the form of a sold-out introductory press conference inside Rupp Arena.
There’s nothing he can do about the postseason concerns until the games are played and March rolls around. He understands that. As for the recruiting, Pope responded to those worries by building a competitive portal-heavy roster in year one while adding two quick top-25 commitments ahead of the early signing period. Factor in the final list cuts and momentum Kentucky is …