better in Big12 than expected. Well, with the blue-blood and blue-chip connections available at UK, he won't be in that scenario, so they are entitled to expect he'll do "more with more" from this point on.

If he continues to pursue sub-par LDS recruits (by their standards), they should rightly question why he's inclined to do so. He'd already sold Chandler on him as a coach, and out of desperation is having $$$ thrown at Richie as a stop-gap measure. UK fans should also question why Hall, the highest rated BYU portal player, has no interest in/from UK...it makes no sense if Pope is such an awesome coach.

I honestly don't see Pope being successful long-term at UK, so don't see him having as much impact down the road on BYU recruits as others worry. I could be wrong, but I think at some point his shtick will be exposed, and his slick salesmanship won't bail him out for not producing in crunch time. He didn't with us even though positioned to do so multiple times.