Did you see what former Kentucky great Dan Issel said the other day?
In a nutshell, he said it was harder for Kentucky to win when everyone else could pay players, too.
It was hilarious, brutally honest, and also completely lines up with what former Indiana player and coach Dan Dakich said about Wildcat basketball the other day (he predicted some time ago that NIL would make Kentucky irrelevant for exactly the same reason).
Adolph Rupp really established Kentucky’s program. He coached there from 1930-1972,
and built the tradition and expectations of and for Kentucky basketball.
The program has remained relevant until quite recently, nearly a 100-year run, and even today, UK is typically very dangerous.
But there’s no question the talent has slowed down, and there’s no question that Big Blue Nation is somewhere curiously between horrified, furious, and resigned.
This article from ASeaofBlue.com talks about that in a quieter way than we would have expected.
It frames the article around John Rothstein’s recent argument that there are only two Blue Bloods left in college basketball: Duke and UConn.
Our argument would be this: Duke and UConn got quite lucky in their hires.
Well, it’s not luck exactly. Mike Krzyzewski and Jon Scheyer planned the transition meticulously, and Duke remains potent. As for UConn, they made a great hire in Dan Hurley, then at Rhode Island. They didn’t go after a flashy name; they identified the best coach they could possibly get, and got him. This is much like what Iowa did last season, incidentally and now Ben McCollum has a six-year extension.
Here’s what we think will happen at Kentucky.
Coach Mark Pope will be under immense pressure this season. He tried to spend big and get a big roster last time, and that didn’t work. He’s gathered less highly regarded talent this year, and it’s entirely possible that might work better.
It’s just that he still might not keep his job.
You may remember that Kentucky fans were sure they’d get Hurley, or Tommy Lloyd, or, well, some great, established coach, because it’s Kentucky. Everyone wants that job…or at least that’s what Kentucky fans thought.
If Pope is fired, then we’d hope that Team Kentucky would focus on getting a coach who has proven he can adapt to the modern environment.
Or maybe they should go completely off road.
This would obviously be risky on many levels, but look at the insane job that Luke Loucks did at Florida State last year. That guy started with no assets, and finished with a team that could scare the pants off elite teams. He showed tenacity, imagination, and an ability to motivate his team to its highest possible level.
If they ever get over the entitled mentality and look for the best coach possible, we’d have him on the list, record and experience be damned.
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