But I do know that Mark knows how Blueblood programs work. And as much as we see Richie as at best an end-of-the-rotation kid at UK — which is a FAR cry from what his role would be at BYU — I do get that Pope might see him as an extremely important commodity to have on his roster for the next two years. A good many of his best players every year will be looking at UK as a place to stay for one year only.

Pope walking into so daunting a program — with as many potential enemies as he'll will likely have Day 1 (& probably a few active enemies as well) — it's important to surround himself with as many people who he can trust in the absolute. Richie gives him one player who can absolutely be that for him.

And so on second-thought, I'm seeing less & less vindictiveness on Pope's part if Richie does indeed follow him there. I'm also starting to see why it shouldn't surprise us one bit if he ends up finishing up a Wildcat.