For the last few years, Mark Pope has not been able to get much success for the Kentucky Wildcats in the high school recruitment front, famously losing point guard Acaden Lewis last year after he had signed with the program.
Now, Pope is in a tight race against Kansas’ Bill Self to get No. 1 prospect Tyran Stokes, with Stokes possibly picking the Jayhawks.
With Self with a slight lead over Pope for the race for Stokes, many believe that the pressure to land the No. 1 prospect could spell the doom for Pope should he fail.
One of the people who believes this might happen is recruiting insider Jeff Goodman, who stated during a podcast appearance that the coach could be “done” if he fails to get Tyran Stokes.
“There is no in between for Mark Pope. This is either gonna be the year he gets everybody back on his side, and everybody loves Mark Pope, or he’s going to be done,” Jeff Goodman stated.
Goodman also believes that Stokes will ultimately choose Kansas and added that he also believes Mark Pope would not know how to coach Stokes anyway. The analyst noted that Pope is just too nice and believes that with somebody like Stokes, a coach needs to be firmer, and he does not see that in the Kentucky head coach.
Tyran Stokes Already Visited Mark Pope and Kentucky But Still No Commitment
The pressure on Mark Pope got even bigger after Tyran Stokes went to Lexington for a visit and met with the coach himself. Pope reportedly gave Stokes a very big pitch and it ultimately led to the No. 1 prospect leaving UK still uncommitted.
This swings the momentum back to Kansas, though this could also mean that Stokes is still weighing in his options and may decide soon. However, this uncertainty could be bad for Pope, as he is clearly the one at a disadvantage in this situation.
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