KSR Today: Mark Pope is John Calipari's replacement at Kentucky

First, it was Scott Drew opting to turn down the opportunity to roam the Kentucky sidelines and instead return to Waco as a lifer. 21 years to build that program up from rubble and into a national champion is a tough situation to leave, physical and emotional roots tying you down to home. It’s impossible to blame him for not wanting to pack up his life for a fresh start in Lexington — no matter the program’s prestige.

“In our program, we strive to put Jesus first, then others, then ourselves. We truly believe God has called my family and I to continue our work here at Baylor, surrounded by the best people and community anyone could be blessed to have,” Drew announced Thursday. “… We look forward to working together to bring more championships to Waco.”

That’s great for the 2021 championship-winning coach, not so much for Mitch Barnhart and the Wildcats who are looking to replace the 2012 championship-winning coach it just lost to Arkansas — a blue blood like Kentucky, he pretends.

Working down the short list

Then came news that Dan Hurley passed on the job on the heels of a monster offer, choosing life in Storrs over Lexington in hopes of a three-peat as the best coach in college basketball. He’s hungry and passionate about owning the sport, but he made it clear UConn gives him the best chance to do that — Kentucky may be the traditional blue blood, but the Huskies are the blue blood of today. And he’s got that program wrapped around his finger.

Billy Donovan became the next name of interest for fans, the last in a group of clear tier one candidates that previously included Nate Oats, as well — he publicly announced he’d be returning to Alabama. The issue with the Chicago Bulls head coach was, well, he is still the Chicago Bulls head coach. Games are still being played and will be till April 17, at minimum. Even longer with a win, especially longer with a second one, resulting in a full playoff series that brings you through the end of April. Considering he had no roster, staff or recruiting base with the offseason well underway and portal names flying off the board left and right, there was a real chance a rebuild in year one was on the table. The timing just never added up, plenty of talk of Donovan’s potential and likely interest in the Cats, but never seriousness on Kentucky’s side that it was something they legitimately wanted to pursue.

Barnhart finds his guy

And then Mark Pope’s name leaked, a mere hours after UK was publicly turned down by Drew and Hurley essentially back-to-back. A few hours after that, the former Wildcat was finalizing a five-year deal with his alma mater to become the program’s next head coach.

Whiplash.

The initial reaction was, to be totally frank, rough. Fans love Pope as a player, obviously, but the idea of a guy with zero NCAA Tournament wins being John Calipari’s replacement seemed inexplicable on the surface. And it seemed so incredibly out of touch if not tone deaf to leak that news publicly at the peak of impatience and uncertainty, especially when the main gripe with Coach Cal down the stretch of his time here was a lack of postseason success. One NCAA Tournament win since 2019, only to bring in a guy with none. On paper, the timing felt panicky and the conclusion felt rushed — just gotta fill the seat and hit the ground running on the roster. Fans thought Barnhart had just agreed to terms on his next Billy Clyde.

Making sense of the move

And then the digging began. He may not have seen postseason success as a coach, but he sure as heck did as a player, winning a national championship under Pitino in 1996. And he did that amid an 18-year drought in a similar high-pressure environment with fans desperate for success. He knows it because he played in it, knows the fans and expectations, what it takes to get there. More than anything, he knows what it means to this community when you reach those highs. There is a current precedent set for this at other blue bloods, too, North Carolina taking a shot on Hubert Davis and Duke doing the same with Jon Scheyer.

The only difference? Pope has coaching experience with recent success in the Big 12, BYU’s debut season as a high-major program. With legitimate recruiting restrictions as a private Mormon school with a strict honor code that prohibits the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, among other behavior bans, it’s pretty understandable how you reel in one top-100 recruit in five years as a coach there.

But he still won, and won big. 20-plus victories in four of five years, top-20 in KenPom in three with two NCAA Tournament appearances. Pope navigated the move to the Big 12 with legitimate success, wins over San Diego State, Arizona State, NC State, UCF, Iowa State, Texas, West Virginia, Kansas State, Baylor, Kansas, TCU and Oklahoma State. And he did it with one of the most exciting offenses in college basketball — his specialty.

A fresh start

Being cautious and maybe letdown after dreaming big with this coaching search is understandable. It’s a big leap, certainly when you’re just a few hours removed from pursuing two national championship-winning coaches known for being among the best of the best in the sport today. This one is definitely a risk, but the long-term upside is clear and he’ll have the local backing to help close that gap.

You can bet it’s going to lead to the return of Rick Pitino inside Rupp Arena at some point.

Change is scary, but this program needed a fresh start and Barnhart is banking on Pope being the guy to give it that.