coaches. Until Pope actually accomplishes something, his pitch is only they'll play with great players, they'll play at Kentucky, and we'll get you top NIL $$$.

Pope cannot say "look at my coaching success in the NCAA tourney as a HC and how many players I personally have developed into NBA draft picks". That would be inaccurate and false. Guys going to play for him can't have the confidence they should with a proven Tier I HC, like Calipari, Drew, Hurley, et al