UK Athletics Photo
Kentucky coach Mark Pope has a lot of innovative ideas and is not afraid to think outside of the normal coaching box.
Now he’ll have even more of an opportunity to share his ideas, including a 40-game college basketball regular season, after being named to the National Basketball Association of Basketball Coaches’ Board of Directors.
The Kentucky coach is one of nine new board members and will help provide strategic oversight of the association’s daily operations and advocacy work. Pope is joined by Baylor’s Scott Drew, North Georgia’s Dan Evans, Yale’s James Jones, Pomona-Pitzer’s Charles Katsiaficas, Liberty’s Ritchie McKay, Duke’s Jon Scheyer, Notre Dame’s Micah Shrewsberry and Illinois’ Brad Underwood on the board of directors.
“As college athletics and the game of basketball undergo unprecedented transformation, it’s vital that coaches continue to present a unified voice and demonstrate sound national leadership,” said NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson per NABC’s release.
“These nine coaches were identified by their peers as ideal candidates to represent our over 5,000 members on the NABC Board of Directors, and their diverse perspectives will strengthen the NABC’s efforts to support the profession and grow the sport.”
Pope had a remarkable first season at Kentucky. Not only did the Cats go 24-12 with a totally new team but they won eight games against Associated Press top 15 teams to tie Indiana (1992-93) and Duke (1978-79) for the most top 15 wins in a single season in collegiate basketball history.
To make it even better, five of Kentucky’s eight wins were against top 10 foes, a new program record. Kentucky finished the season ranked 12th and stayed in the top 25 all season. Kentucky finished the season ranking in the top 10 in KenPom offensive efficiency, it also ranked seventh in the nation in points per game and set a program record with 341 made 3’s.
One Response
A 32 game season is more likely. A team could potentially have another 7 to 8 game postseason run bringing the total to 40. 40 regular season games will be too costly for smaller schools and take away too much time from the classroom. The argument will be that nobody is getting a degree anyway. If they are going to be paid like pros, let them play a pro-like schedule. Hence, the NCAA farm team is being created right before our eyes.