Mark Pope's unique recruiting style will lead to elite players picking Kentucky

Mark Pope will be an elite recruiter for Kentucky.

Mark Pope exits the bus with holding a trophy as he enters Rupp Arena greeting thousands of fans for his introductory press conference on Sunday, April 14, 2024. / Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY

Mark Pope has done an excellent job to this point as Kentucky's head basketball coach, but there is still more to prove to Big Blue Nation. When Coach Pope took over, everyone knew he would be an elite on-floor coach and make adjustments during games. The questions about his ability had to do with recruiting. Coach Pope came from BYU, where it isn't easy to recruit elite players.

Now Coach Pope takes over at his alma mater, where he won a National Championship, and the expectation is for him to bring home the programs ninth. Coach Pope is taking over for a coach in John Calipari, who might be the best recruiter in college basketball history.

Coach Pope's approach to recruiting seems to be a lot different from Coach Calipari's, but Kentucky fans will love what he is doing.

Coach Calipari was all about selling the NBA vision and, how many players he put in the league, and how much money these players are making. You can't knock this approach as it was working, but it wasn't associated with Kentucky.

Coach Pope knows how special Rupp Arena is and what it means to put on the Kentucky uniform. He is selling this to recruits by taking them to the top of Rupp Arena during visits and telling them what it means to play there and how special the fan base is in Lexington. This approach to recruiting will help land the recruits who want to dawn a Kentucky uniform and play in front of the best fan base in all of college hoops.

Coach Pope is going to be able to land elite players recruiting high school players, and this unique approach will be a big reason why.