And if all that\u2019s the case, it\u2019s inevitable that things need to look different for Kentucky in 2026\u201327. Barring a truly catastrophic finish, that doesn\u2019t mean firing Pope. It does, however, mean structural changes to how the staff looks around him. That starts with a general manager to help lead roster construction efforts alongside Pope. Last season, Kentucky was still playing in the NCAA tournament when its first portal addition (Tulane wing Kam Williams) committed. Recruitments happen faster than ever in the portal, and if the football cycle is any indication, the pace may ratchet up even further this year. Asking coaches already in charge of scouting, game planning and player development to also be handling all recruiting efforts isn\u2019t realistic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pope told reporters in December<\/a> he has had exploratory conversations with multiple potential candidates, but was noncommittal about making a hire or the timeline that would come with that. One can only wonder if these latest setbacks against Missouri and Alabama speed up the timeline. North Carolina\u2019s hire of Jim Tanner as its GM was made official in late February last year. If the process runs much longer than that, any new GM\u2019s impact on the 2026\u201327 roster could be limited with the portal opening in late March. That timing is also impacted by who the hire is; the less in the weeds the candidate is with the current landscape (i.e., someone from the NBA), the more runway before the portal is likely needed.<\/p>\nWhoever\u2019s involved in this year\u2019s spring roster build will be tasked with a fairly significant overhaul. In a best-case scenario, Kentucky at least brings back point guard Jaland Lowe (hopefully healthier after nagging shoulder trouble) and center Malachi Moreno (who could emerge on NBA boards with a strong finish). A handful of role players seem likely enough to return around them. But the Wildcats this season lack both star power and the type of skill that helped Pope win big at BYU and succeed in his first season at Kentucky. Costly portal whiffs on targets like Yaxel Lendeborg (starring at Michigan) and Lamar Wilkerson (leading Indiana in scoring) will go down as the story of the 2025 portal cycle as much as overpaying Denzel Aberdeen or Mo Dioubate will.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But perhaps more important than anything for Pope\u2019s future at Kentucky is him ensuring that this season\u2019s issues getting his Wildcats to play with consistent effort are an aberration. Pope is the head coach at Kentucky in large part because he understands Big Blue Nation and what it means to put on a Kentucky uniform more than just about anyone. This season\u2019s roster has rarely seemed to understand the gravity of that, and blooper reels of low-effort plays have exploded on social media multiple times. For one year, that can be chalked up to the wrong guys or a bad locker room. Beyond that? It becomes a Pope problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s usually best not to overreact to individual regular-season college basketball games. After all, Calipari lost to UNC Wilmington and South Carolina in his final season at Kentucky, last year\u2019s title-winning Florida lost to Missouri and Georgia, the season before it was UConn that managed a defeat to Seton Hall. But it\u2019s hard not to call what\u2019s happening to Kentucky right now a trend, and it\u2019s one that has the chance to quickly heat up Pope\u2019s seat and send a once-promising tenure into toxicity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 1980, Ronald Reagan famously asked voters if they were better off than they were four years ago as a referendum on Jimmy Carter\u2019s single term in office. It won\u2019t take long for Kentucky fans to start asking the same question about their basketball program if things don\u2019t turn around quickly. And as things stand today, the answer to that isn\u2019t a favorable one for Pope.\u00a0<\/p>\n