Pope’s First End Of Season Report Card
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Mark Pope and UK’s season ended in the NCAA Sweet 16, the farthest a UK team has gone in five years.
Austin Cocanougher
Contributing Writer
With a loss in the Sweet-16, Mark Pope closes out his first season as the head coach of the University of Kentucky Basketball program. A Wildcat alumnus and rising star in the world of coaching, Pope was seemingly made to sit in the most oversized chair in the world of college basketball.
However, regardless of his pedigree or love for the program, only success (at the highest level) can satisfy Big Blue Nation’s ravenous fan base. If Pope wants to keep his dream job, he will have to do what is expected of the leader of Wildcat country—win.
At first glance, one might look at a record of 24-12 and a Sweet 16 exit as “okay.” Fans might label it a “B-” performance with no context. But that would require being willfully naive about the circumstances surrounding this season. So, let us break down everything that went into Pope’s first campaign and give out a final report card.
