Publication gives Kentucky's hire of Mark Pope a C

What grade would you give Mark Pope?

University of Kentucky’s new men’s basketball coach Mark Pope points to the championship banners as / Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY

The dust has settled on the hiring of Mark Pope at Kentucky, and the Wildcats are very happy with what they have gotten. 

Coach Pope has done an incredible job so far in the transfer portal, bringing in veteran talent that has this team looking good. 

Blake Toppmeyer of USA Today gave grades for all of the basketball hires in the SEC, and he gave Kentucky's hire a C. I wonder if his opinion of this grade would change or stay the same after what Coach Pope has done during his short time in Lexington. 

Big Blue Nation seems pretty happy with the hire of Coach Pope and he is excited to show the world that he can win a National Championship at his alma mater. 

Here is Toppmeyer's justification for giving the hire a C, "Let’s start with the bright side of this hire: The Wildcats anointed one of their own. This job features unforgiving expectations, and Pope comes to Lexington as no stranger to those demands, having been a team captain on the 1995-96 team that won a national championship. Kentucky fans recovered from any initial hiring disappointment to give Pope a rousing, full-house welcome at his introductory news conference. He’ll be a breath of fresh air to a stalling program. He effectively transitioned BYU from the West Coast Conference to the Big 12. His offenses promise to supply a barrage of 3-point attempts. Now, the reasons for concern: What evidence do we have that Pope will thrive at UK? Calipari and Rick Pitino arrived at Kentucky with much more polished résumés. I don’t expect Pope to have taken BYU to a Final Four, but I do think he should be expected to beat Duquesne in March Madness. In his two NCAA appearances, his BYU teams earned No. 6 seeds and got bounced by 11-seeds. This hire could work, but it’s a bigger gamble than I would’ve expected Kentucky to take."