INDIANAPOLIS — Kentucky basketball’s 78-65 loss to Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 wasn’t the ending UK coach Mark Pope probably envisioned for his first season at the helm. But it’s really just the beginning.
Pope erased any trepidation that a coach who had never won an NCAA Tournament game could handle the spotlight at Kentucky. That the program would regress after 15 seasons of collectively having the best NBA talent just about every year under former coach John Calipari.
That era might not ever repeat itself at UK and that's OK.