When the Kentucky Wildcats replaced John Calipari with Mark Pope, the fan base wasn't thrilled. Yes, Pope had the Kentucky connection as a player, and had done a nice job at BYU, but the SEC is a whole different ballgame, so it made sense for fans to be a little skeptical.
It's safe to say Wildcats fans are now fully sold that Pope is the guy, as the team has made a run all the way to the Sweet 16. The job isn't finished, obviously, but the Wildcats hadn't made it thus far under Calipari since the 2018-19 season. For that reason alone, the team's run to the NCAA Tournament's second weekend has been refreshing.
The players deserve an immense amount of credit for the job they've done getting this far, but the job Pope has done as the head coach cannot be overlooked. In fact, when comparing what Pope has done with a roster that has zero minutes returned from last season compared to other high major programs in that exact same situation, Kentucky's head coach deserves even more credit than he's already getting.
High major teams with zero minutes returned from last year:
— Evan Miyakawa (@EvanMiya) March 24, 2025
0 tourney wins - Louisville, USC, West Virginia, DePaul, Cal.
Sweet 16 - Kentucky.
It's not easy to find success with an entirely new roster. Mark Pope has made it look easy.
Mark Pope deserves more credit than he's been getting for outstanding debut season at Kentucky
Six big-name programs had zero minutes returned from last year. Kentucky is the only one of those six that has won a single tournament game, and they have two wins (so far) under their belt.
It's one thing to transition to a brand new program while also taking over for one of the greatest head coaches in college basketball history. It's another to do so with an entirely new roster. In addition to getting himself comfortable, Pope had to figure out a way to get his brand new team to learn how to play together. He did that, and has them playing at a level few programs can match.
Having Jaxson Robinson transfer from BYU alongside Pope certainly helped the Wildcats during the regular season, but Robinson suffered a season-ending injury down the stretch, knocking him out for the entire NCAA Tournament. They've been able to go on this run even with him on the sidelines, and he was their second-leading scorer in the regular season.
Had it taken a year or even two for Pope to find his footing in Kentucky, it would've been frustrating, but it would've made sense. Pope leading this team farther than they've gone in a half-decade with an entirely new cast of characters is extremely impressive and is something he needs to be praised more for.