Calls Mount Against Mark Pope After NBA Insider Reveals Kentucky Wildcats’ Secret

11 years now since Kentucky made a Final Four appearance. They came close this past season with a roster Mark Pope had to build from scratch. New season, another try, the head coach is looking to recreate his magic for the team he won the national championship as a player; or at least break the drought. To come as far as he did in his first season, Pope had some help. And going by the reports, it is more than double that now. So, can we get our hopes up? Well, the fans wouldn’t bet on it.

When Pope arrived in Lexington last year, he received a massive welcome. No, we aren’t talking about the Rupp Arena mania where the arena filled to the brink. We are talking about the $4 million pledge the new head coach had received in NIL for recruitment. After John Calipari had left with his squad, that was essential. And Pope put it to good use, bringing in 9 new faces in about a month’s time. They made it to Sweet 16, and the coach was erased of his ‘not-so-fine-recruiter’ reputation. But was he really? There are two sides to this.

First, in a show of positive progress, Kentucky NIL payroll has improved by a good margin, insider Jeff Goodman reveals.

“The most important thing we do is probably raising NIL money,” said Pope in his final season with BYU. “That’s just the job that’s been created for us in the last couple of years. I think that’s probably the most important thing we do. It probably should take up the most time and it probably does.”

By the looks of it, the coach has been awarded plenty for this season. In Goodman’s words: “I’m not sure anyone is gonna touch Kentucky’s NIL payroll this season … not even BYU.” Not sure about the entirety of the claim, but Kentucky did see an impressive tally. In a report by CBS Sports, the Big Blue Nation program was named one of the “golden” tier programs after hitting the $10 million club.