The most scrutinized job in college basketball didn’t go to someone whose coaching résumé is littered with Sweet 16s and Final Fours.
Kentucky hired a men's coach who has yet to celebrate a conference title or win a single NCAA tournament game.
Into the unsparing Lexington limelight steps Mark Pope, a former Kentucky player who captained the program’s powerhouse 1996 national championship team. Pope has nine years of head coaching experience, building Utah Valley State into a winning program before posting five straight seasons of 19-plus wins at BYU.
Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart’s stunning decision to hire Pope raises obvious questions: Is this the best Kentucky could do?