That's the main thing.

I agree that none of us want the best LDS talent in Basketball going to Kentucky, but I don't see that being a major problem for several reasons. First, it's not like there's a slew of LDS lottery picks that we're tapping into that may be lost, not to mention we've already been losing most of the recruiting battles for the big name LDS BB athletes that were clearly destined for the NBA. BYU can be successful as a collective of solid players with one or two very good players that are well-coached and working as a team. We've never been a program built on one-and-done lottery picks. That's been Kentucky's MO for several years now.

If Pope had gone to a big name school out West or even another B12 team, then I would be a lot more concerned. He'll be playing in the SEC in venues with small LDS populations, which means families won't be able to see their kids play live unless they travel to Kentucky and the games in SEC country just won't get much visibility for most LDS recruits who will be predominantly from out West. Also, there's little that Kentucky has to offer an LDS recruit outside of Basketball (they're basically similar to WVU or Cincinnati in that respect). Pope was all about BB and making it to the NBA and so that path made sense for him, but it's definitely not for everyone and BYU is a better option than almost anywhere else for players that fit the BYU mold.

I'm honestly more concerned about our team for next year getting gutted if a player or two follow Pope and then there's a domino effect with other players leaving while BYU slowly figures out Pope's replacement. That could quickly move us from a pre-season top-25 team to basically a rebuilding project for the new coach. I was really excited for next year and I'd hate to see that happen, but that's the way this business works.