It is nice to follow along with Kentucky basketball and not be saddled with a perpetual ice cream headache. Kentucky has always been good, outside of the occasional down year. While the Wildcats had success in my childhood with Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith calling the shots, I have long associated UK basketball with their former head coach John Calipari. I am so glad that is over with...
While Calipari has had success in his first year leading the Arkansas Razorbacks, Kentucky seems to have gone back to the basics under his replacement in former BYU head coach Mark Pope. Although Pope did have success leading the Cougars over in Provo, he might be exactly what Big Blue Nation was hoping for. No distractions, no failures, no fear, just wins. He has them back in the Sweet Sixteen.
Admittedly, this is a tough job, and one that can eat you alive if you are not careful. With great power comes great responsibility. Kentucky is the biggest and baddest blue-blood on the hardwood in the SEC. Even when the league is down, the Wildcats are usually up. It is why a more steady hand in Pope has brought in some much-needed stability to Kentucky, as opposed to Calipari's perpetual chaos.
If the results are going to be at worst the same, then I think the Kentucky faithful are going to like this.
Kentucky basketball should be lucky to have Mark Pope as its head coach
While I would not say that Kentucky basketball was overly beholden to Calipari, but he had been in charge for the better part of two decades for a reason. An early adapter to the one-and-done era of the sport allowed for Kentucky to continually recruit at the top of the sport. It has its moments, as well as countless future NBA stars come through Rupp Arena. They only got him one national title.
So if Kentucky is measured in that department, and not just NCAA Tournament appearances, then who cares how you get to March Madness? Pope has done it much more quietly than Calipari ever has. It may be a move back to the program's roots of being every bit no-nonsense. In a way, I kind of respect it. If you want to be here, then be here. It is a privilege and not a right to play for the Wildcats.
I cannot wait to see what Pope can do with the resources at his disposal in Kentucky. I felt like Calipari never got anything close to what he had working with him for years in Lexington. It may have been a result of the way he built and ran his program. For Pope to have essentially an entirely different team heading to the Sweet Sixteen after last year's squad, we can only believe he will have staying power.
My growing theory is this will help raise Kentucky's ceiling and make the SEC even better of a league.