Many people were questioning how Mark Pope would do as head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats, being that his only previous coaching experience was at BYU and Utah Valley before coming here.
So far, he has exceeded many fans’ expectations and potentially outperformed some. With that in mind, many people were curious how this roster would look since it doesn’t have the NBA talent like it usually did under John Calipari. However, with the way Pope has his team playing on offense, they look great, and people are taking notice.
Jay Bilas believes this year’s Kentucky basketball roster is a top-15 team due to the way Pope assembled his team and his offense. Bilas released Thursday morning “The Bilas Index, Vol. 1,” where he ranked the top 68 teams currently in college basketball.
At the time of volume 1, he played Kentucky at No. 15 due to Pope’s system.
“There is renewed energy in Lexington due to the arrival of former Wildcat Mark Pope to replace John Calipari at the helm. Pope played at Kentucky for Rick Pitino and won a title in 1996 on one of the all-time great teams in college basketball. Pope is an offensive genius, and there will be 3s raining down in Rupp all season. Pope is a positive influence and thinker, but he does not have a superstar or surefire NBA draft pick on this completely new roster. What he has is loads of very good, very skilled players who can shoot the ball, and that will be nothing but fun. Kentucky will not be star-studded, but the Wildcats will be fun and joyful.”
Bilas believes there are a couple of reasons why Kentucky is so successful and it deals with them having experience but also great at defense.
“Transfers Jaxson Robinson (BYU) and Koby Brea (Dayton) can both fill it up, and Lamont Butler (San Diego State) provides Final Four experience, leadership and defense. Kerr Kriisa (Arizona and West Virginia) is a daring passer who will have freedom to create, and Otega Oweh (Oklahoma) is a physical defender who will put his body on the line for Big Blue Nation.
Bilas’ rankings placed nine SEC teams in the top 25, four of them ahead of Kentucky, the highest being the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide. He also has Kentucky’s Champions Classic opponent — the Duke Blue Devils — ranked No. 5 overall.
