I understand how Mitch Barnhart came to this decision. Though he's normally a guy with the long view in mind, it seems, he was probably very influenced by the desire to get started quickly this offseason. If you believe Pope is going to run good stuff in this era and will benefit from NIL, maybe it helps Reed come back, there are some positives. If he wins, he may stay at Kentucky forever. Jon Scheyer and Hubert Davis have been hires without that kind of executive experience that Pope does have.
Kentucky has not typically made a hire like this. Some big name programs have. UK has tended to be looking for the next big thing (maybe Pope is), that Rick/Cal personality, or guys with a lot of accomplishments already. He hasn't won a tournament game. A lot of this will probably be who Pope surrounds himself with.
I didn't see it coming. Honestly had no clue that he would be so high on Barnhart's list, but if you believe what we said about Donovan being a non-starter at the beginning even if he had interest, and with Hurley out, Drew out, Oats out ... But that only gets to a small number of coaches that dominated a social media discourse Barnhart probably didn't pay any attention to.
Very interesting move, going to be difficult to create a lot of money for NIL giving if people are upset. Pope will have to strike the right notes immediately, people will be wise to give him a chance to impress because some smart people do think highly of him.
Kentucky has not typically made a hire like this. Some big name programs have. UK has tended to be looking for the next big thing (maybe Pope is), that Rick/Cal personality, or guys with a lot of accomplishments already. He hasn't won a tournament game. A lot of this will probably be who Pope surrounds himself with.
I didn't see it coming. Honestly had no clue that he would be so high on Barnhart's list, but if you believe what we said about Donovan being a non-starter at the beginning even if he had interest, and with Hurley out, Drew out, Oats out ... But that only gets to a small number of coaches that dominated a social media discourse Barnhart probably didn't pay any attention to.
Very interesting move, going to be difficult to create a lot of money for NIL giving if people are upset. Pope will have to strike the right notes immediately, people will be wise to give him a chance to impress because some smart people do think highly of him.
