Kentucky coach Mark Pope answers recruiting questions from X
· Yahoo Sports
On Tuesday, Kentucky Wildcats basketball coach Mark Pope took to the social media app X to request questions from Big Blue Nation. It was a bold move, and, as one would expect, one that attracted a lot of vitriol from fans disappointed in the offseason so far.
Thousands of responses flooded in. Some were polite inquiries about the roster, while others were sometimes funny jabs at what Pope has done. Still more were wicked barbs about the roster, the coaching, and the program in general. To his credit, on Wednesday, Pope released a new video where he answered some of the questions he received, and he didn't shy away from the tough ones.
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When asked if Kentucky was being treated as leverage by players to get money from other schools, Pope quickly, and succinctly answered "Yes." The question was relevant to the recruitment of both Donnie Freeman and Rob Wright, who flirted with the Wildcats, but ultimately took more money to head to St. John's and BYU respectively.
Pope also admitted that Kentucky zoned in on Tyran Stokes, perhaps at the expense of getting other recruits. When asked about having 14 of the top 20 recruits for a visit, but landing none, he had plenty to say. He said they wanted to land some of these elite recruits in the future, then added:
We were chasing a generational talent, and we fell a little short, but we weren't sitting on our hands. We put together a roster that we are gonna love watching crush it in Rupp Arena.
He also took some time to praise Malachi Moreno, who is working out at the NBA draft combine next week. He called him the best center in college basketball going into next season, but added "We are working hard in the portal to shore up this five spot. We're going to have an unbelievable crew at the center position."
Pope also went into the games of Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins, who he called a "dynamic duo" and touting their passing ability. Overall, it was an interesting peek at his thoughts, and an admirable job answering burning questions from fans. The whole video is worth a watch.
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope responds to questions from X