Mike DeCourcy is not Surprised by Success Mark Pope is Having

Mark Pope and his team return to action Tuesday night hosting Western Kentucky. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Sporting News columnist Mike DeCourcy took a lot of criticism when he put Mark Pope No. 1 on his list to be the next Kentucky coach when John Calipari left for Arkansas.

The Hall of Fame sports writer knew Pope was a former Kentucky player and part of the 1996 national championship team. He also felt Pope was a rising star in the coaching ranks based on what he had done at BYU.

“Kentucky is still the peak of college basketball. Them and (North) Carolina are the top picks,” he said.

Still, he felt it would be a mistake if Scott Drew of Baylor or Dan Hurley of Connecticut left after winning national championships to coach at Kentucky.

“The dumbest thing ever to do is walk away after winning a national title. It takes a long time for the sparkle to come off the (national championship) trophy at UConn or Baylor,” DeCourcy said. “Maybe it would not take as long at Kentucky. There was no need for them to be put in a situation where fans wonder what have you done for us. It never made logical sense for Hurley or Dew to take the job. But who had not had that level of success who might be able to if he had the resources to do so. That is why I thought Mark was the ideal person for Kentucky.”

That feeling certainly has been validated by the way Kentucky fans have embraced Pope along with the win over Duke.

“I knew finding an identity was going to be important for his team. One, they clearly want to create an overwhelming number, by college standards, of 3-point attempts because they have a vast array of 3-point shooters,” DeCourcy said. “They do not have a lot of low post offense but the more they can stretch the defense, the more Amari (Williams) can go one-on-one and he’s pretty good on the bounce against one defender. They just need to go to whoever is on that night. That is the first identity.”

Number two is hustling, intelligent play. DeCourcy said that was illustrated perfectly by late-game heroics Otega Oweh had against Duke when he made a steal against Duke freshman Cooper Flagg and also snatched an offensive rebound over him on a missed UK free throw.

“That was a tremendous play by Oweh (on the rebound). He buried Flagg under the rim without drawing a foul. It was a really intelligent, decisive play but that’s what this team looks to be good at,” DeCourcy said. “Oweh just has a great understanding of the game. He is not an audacious offensive player but I have been very impressed by him.”

DeCourcy picked Duke to win the 2024 national title before the season started. However, he quickly realized his prediction was wrong because Duke did not have rim protectors. Kentucky has two of them — Williams and Brandon Garrison.

“Getting two big guys gives Kentucky a chance to be competitive in a league that has a bunch of them. You have got to have some size to compete in a league like the SEC,” DeCourcy said. “Two centers and three bigs is enough to compete in the SEC but they cannot afford injuries to any of them.”

Andrew Carr is the third, and most unique, big who can both handle the ball, pass and hit a 3-pointer. He gives Pope plenty of lineup options.

“Guys like Carr are rare,” DeCourcy said. “Usually to have a 4 (power forward) who can hit a 3 you have to go smaller. With Carr, Pope does not have to go smaller to run the offense he wants. A player with Carr’s size with a typical skill set 10 years ago could not run Pope’s offense because he wants at least four shooters. With Carr, he has that.”

Kentucky was picked eighth in the preseason SEC coaches poll behind Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Florida and Texas. DeCourcy thinks UK will fare much better.

“I think they can compete at the top of the SEC. if you can do that, you can play in the biggest games,” DeCourcy said.  “I do think this team will compete in what will be a significant SEC. There are a lot of very good teams and a lot of competition.

“Kentucky being picked eighth was not an insult to Kentucky but more a nod to how good the SEC will be. I had them fourth or fifth and if they do that they absolutely have a shot at a great season because the SEC is that good.”