- Arkansas got John Calipari, and Kentucky got served humility. UK hired Mark Pope. His top coaching achievement? A first-round NCAA exit.
- Kentucky fans wanted John Calipari gone. They got their wish. What they didn't get was Billy Donovan, Scott Drew or Dan Hurley.
- Mark Pope's BYU Cougars lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Duquesne.
In the hours and days after Kentucky’s first-round NCAA tournament loss to Oakland, Big Blue Nation unleashed an unrelenting battle cry for athletic director Mitch Barnhart to fire John Calipari.
Barnhart evaluated the situation and decided to retain Calipari, the veteran coach who lifted UK to a national championship in 2012 but sputtered in the tournament the past few years.
Calipari’s $33 million buyout likely influenced Barnhart’s decision, but regardless of motivations, Barnhart called it correctly. Calipari remained Kentucky’s best option.
That became clearer after this week.
Too bad for Kentucky that Calipari gave fans what they wanted: a coaching search.
Calipari vamoosed to Arkansas, and while Razorbacks fans celebrated the hire, Kentucky fans convinced themselves that someone better than Calipari would replace him. Someone like UConn's Dan Hurley, the Chicago Bulls' Billy Donovan or Baylor's Scott Drew.
Those big fish stayed put.
Now the Wildcats are being forced to swallow one giant slice of humble pie.
Arkansas plundered a career winner from its conference rival, and Kentucky hired BYU's Mark Pope to replace Calipari.
Arkansas emerged from the carousel with the better coach.
The Hogs hired a maestro of talent assembly. Calipari will galvanize Arkansas’ NIL investment. Although the pinnacle of his career is behind him, a down season for Calipari is losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Pope has never advanced beyond the NCAA’s first round in nine seasons as a coach, including five at BYU. In fairness to Pope, his 2019-20 Cougars probably were his best team, and the NCAA canceled March Madness that season because of the COVID pandemic.
That’ll be little consolation for Kentucky fans.
How’d this hire go over? You could look to social media Thursday night for the predictable meltdown. Or, take it from the Kentucky fan who texted me: “I’m physically ill."
Better line the stomach, then, because Pope inherits a rebuild.
Calipari’s ballyhooed 2024 recruiting class broke apart after he defected to Pig land. Pope must pick up the pieces of a program that has wounded pride and a roster in need of repair.
At least he knows the terrain. Pope played at Kentucky. He was a Wildcats team captain when they won the national championship in 1996 under Rick Pitino.
What Kentucky basketball's hire tells us
This coaching search serves as a reminder that even a blue blood rarely produces a hire that meets the expectations of a ravenous fan base.
Kansas did it better than most when it plucked Bill Self from Illinois to replace Roy Williams. Even Self, though, had never been to a Final Four before he became the nation’s best coach at KU.
When legends retired at North Carolina and Duke, those schools promoted longtime assistants. Neither Jon Scheyer nor Hubert Davis possessed any head coaching experience when they succeeded Mike Krzyzewski and Williams, respectively.
Fellow blue blood UCLA settled for Mick Cronin in a fallback plan after Rick Barnes turned down the Bruins in 2019.
The truth? Coaches making really good money at good jobs aren’t always eager to leave for even more money at a great job.
Drew cited God and his longtime calling to Baylor for why he's staying put. Donovan has the NBA. Hurley already coaches a blue blood where he rules the sport.
They didn’t need Kentucky as much as Kentucky needed them.
OPINION:Scott Drew chose comfort over challenge of Kentucky basketball — many of us would
Kentucky embraces Mark Pope, not Bruce Pearl
I thought Kentucky had better options than Pope behind Hurley, Donovan and Drew.
I trumpeted Auburn’s Bruce Pearl for the job. I think he would’ve been a smashing success. A coach who took Auburn to a Final Four could win a national championship at Kentucky. Illinois coach Brad Underwood’s career is ascending. Would either Pearl or Underwood have left good gigs for Kentucky? Not sure, but there was a better chance of one of those two bolting than Drew leaving Baylor, where he has coached for more than two decades.
Pope is not without redeeming lines on the résumé. I’m most impressed with how effectively he transitioned BYU into the Big 12, a premier hoops conference. The Cougars winning 23 games this season in their new digs ranks among Pope’s top coaching accomplishments. And still, they lost to Duquesne in the NCAA’s first round. Hours later, Calipari’s Wildcats lost to Oakland.
That night, Kentucky fans demanded change. It took a few weeks, but they got it. I just don’t see how this change is for the better.
Arkansas got Calipari, and Kentucky got served humility.
Blake Toppmeyeris theUSA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him atBToppmeyer@gannett.comand follow him on Twitter@btoppmeyer.
A digital subscriptionwill allow you access to all of his coverage. Also, check out his podcast,SEC Football Unfiltered, or access exclusive columns via theSEC Unfiltered newsletter.
