Kentucky men's basketball head coach Mark Pope during the game against No.1 Auburn Saturday afternoon in Lexington, Kentucky March 1, 2025 Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Kentucky's Mark Pope has the right mentality about the changes in college athletics

Originally posted on Kentucky Wildcats on SI
By Andrew Stefaniak | Last updated Aug 26, 2025 3:22 PM ET

The world of college athletics has changed a ton over the last few years, and as the saying goes adapt or die. College basketball is changing a lot due to some players in their mid-20s still in the game instead of going to the NBA.

Some college coaches are more focused on the transfer portal than they are on recruiting elite high school recruits. Over the last few months, many older college coaches have bashed the changes in college basketball.

To be fair, some of the changes in NIL and the portal have taken away from some of the parts that make college basketball special, but at the end of the day, it is the world we live in now.

Some coaches don't like the idea that college basketball is free agency, and players are going from school to school every year based on who is willing to pay the most money.

Every time Coach Mark Pope has been asked about the changes in college basketball, he goes about it with a positive attitude. Deep down, does this mean that Coach Pope loves every change that has happened in college hoops? Probably not, but he is going about it the correct way.

Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Coach Pope has also done an excellent job of still recruiting high school players even though he has been known as a portal wizard during his short time in Lexington.

Some changes in college basketball have led to coaches deciding to stop coaching, but Coach Pope has no intention of doing this any time soon.

College basketball isn't perfect right now, and it doesn't seem like it will be any time soon, but the only option coaches have is to keep trying to hang banners within the parameters of the rules, and Coach Pope is doing just that.

NIL and the transfer portal have led to a lot of changes, but it has also helped a lot of families financially, which is one positive way to look at it. Rather than complaining about the changes, Coach Pope straps up his boots and tries to recruit and win basketball games, which is the right way to go about it right now in college basketball.

This article first appeared on Kentucky Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: