Mark Pope has a war chest to work with, and the Kentucky Wildcats are one of the top names in college hoops. In the era of NIL, those things often go together as those that can pay the most will attract the top talent.
The Wildcats have been one of the blue blood programs for over a decade now, but since the exodus of John Calipari, one that really coupled with the start of the paying of college athletics, the landscape has slightly shifted. Kentucky has maintained a strong reputation and is a top option for many recruits.
Pope and company proved their system this past season, having main transfer portal players on their roster, and they should be able to top that next year. He will have his first incoming five-star prospect in Jasper Johnson.
That said, in a recent report of the $10 million club, Kentucky was named by CBS Sports as one of the “golden” tier programs. Duke, Arkansas, BYU and several others were listed as well. You can see the full rundown in the CBS Sports column here.
The exact numbers of each program were not provided, but many that have covered those teams, like in the instance of Duke having $8-10 million heading into the offseason, are somewhat known.
Fans like to see the Big Blue Nation good at basketball, and in this era, they can virtually pay for that. However, Pope will still be tasked with making sure this team can put a product on the court that can win games in the most competitive conference in college basketball.
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