Mark Pope Shares Radical Idea to Fix College Basketball

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Andy Patton | Last updated Aug 14, 2025 6:16 PM ET

Few coaches have benefitted from the transfer portal as much as Kentucky's Mark Pope the past two years.

After taking the job following John Calipari's move to Arkansas, Pope rebuilt Kentucky from the ground up and led the Wildcats to a 24-12 record and an appearance in the Sweet 16 in his first season - doing so primarily on the backs of star-studded transfer portal additions Otega Oweh, Koby Brea, Amari Williams, Andrew Carr, Jaxon Robinson, and Lamont Butler.

Despite his heavy reliance on transfers, Pope told CBS reporter Matt Norlander on the "Eye On College Basketball" podcast he would make radical changes to the transfer portal window if given the opportunity.

"If I could change it, I would probably change it to the day after the national championship game and make it a really tight window," Pope said. "Make it a five day window. That way everyone has had time to evaluate...the process is already crazy fast."

If @CoachMarkPope had his say, the transfer portal would only be open for FIVE days—after the end of the NCAA Tournament.

The @KentuckyMBB edition of Summer Shootaround, featuring a 70-minute convo with Pope, is LIVE.https://t.co/HcL8buMKAA pic.twitter.com/fOotwa3gbF
— Eye On College Basketball Podcast (@EyeOnCBBPodcast) August 14, 2025

Last year the transfer portal window opened up the Monday after the second round of the NCAA Tournament and was open for 30 days - a change from the previous year when it opened the day after Selection Sunday and was open for 45 days.

Pope believes the portal being open during the NCAA Tournament not only forces head coaches to split their focus during the most important part of the season, but is also confusing and stressful for the players as well.

However, Pope also acknowledges pushing the window back is not ideal either, as it leaves many players waiting up to a full month before they can even begin exploring where their next stop will be.

"I say that, knowing that answer raises a lot of issues too," Pope continued.

"There's no perfect answer."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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