Four-star tight end Kaleb Edwards has secured four visits from SEC schools.
Though locking El Dorado Hills, California, Oak Ridge tight end Kaleb Edwards is scheduled to travel this weekend, he will make two stops at SEC schools.
during formal visits…
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John Calipari is not like Mark Pope, but that could work to Kentucky’s advantage.
Before moving to Kentucky, Mark Pope was the head coach at BYU for the previous five years, during which time he guided the Cougars to two NCAA tournaments.
It was not Scott Drew, Nate Oats, or Dan Hurley. Rick Pitino and Billy Donovan allegedly never received any real attention. Rather, Mark Pope will take over as Kentucky’s next head coach after John Calipari.
Before moving to Kentucky, Pope was the head coach at BYU for the previous five years. During that time, he guided the Cougars to two NCAA tournaments, including one this season after they concluded their first Big 12 season with an overall record of 23-11.
Before graduating in 1996, Pope—who was supposedly athletic director Mitch Barnhart’s personal choice—played two years at Kentucky and won a national title under Rick Pitino. Furthermore, it’s true that he is essentially the opposite of John Calipari.
Pope lacks the personal brand that Calipari and other of the more well-known candidates Kentucky was said to be pursuing during their search, there is no doubting that. That means that the first inquiries regarding Pope’s credentials will probably focus on his capacity to maintain Kentucky recruiting.
That’s a legitimate question. In actuality, though, Calipari’s relationship with Barnhart and Kentucky in general did not soure because of a decline in his recruiting abilities. More than anything, the Wildcats’ previous postseason failure was the main reason why things went wrong.
There are numerous reasons why those March troubles occurred. After Kentucky’s first-round defeat to Oakland last month, Calipari criticized his own dedication to the “One-and-Done” strategy. However, a more prevalent criticism has been on Calipari’s play style and how it hasn’t changed.
In terms of the Xs and Os, Mark Pope may also be the antithesis of John Calipari.
Calipari was frequently chastised for his offensive, outmoded ideologies. The team’s spacing decreased as a result of the frequent usage of two bigs together and the low priority given to 3-point shooting. Despite being the greatest 3-point shooting team in the nation this year thanks to Reed Sheppard and Robert Dillingham’s surprising takeover of the backcourt, the Wildcats only placed 179th in the nation (in the lower half) in terms of the total number of 3-pointers they attempted as a team.
Regarding Mark Pope, the BYU teams shot over fifty percent of their shots from beyond the three-point arc. Despite the fact that they only made less than 35% of them, this ranks as the fourth-most of any program in the nation. Because all five of the players on the floor were regularly putting up threats from three, their spacing was perfect. Pope was able to apply contemporary “five-out” ideas in which all participants were positioned outside of the arc.
Although Kentucky played this year at a really fast pace, it wasn’t typical of what we’ve seen in the past few years. The last time they placed in the top-140 of Division I basketball’s overall tempo before this season was between 2016 and 2017. They were ranked 256th in the nation in that statistic the previous year. It was also odd that a club that recruits so well would play at such a leisurely pace. The side with higher talent should theoretically have more opportunity to set themselves apart if they possess more possessions.
In four of his five years at BYU, Pope’s teams finished in the top three in terms of pace, and they became quicker every year. The BYU offense appeared to follow the popular “pace and space” theories that were first implemented in the NBA during Lebron James’ time as a player for the Heat. They don’t, however, just shoot a ton of threes and try to flee. They aim to chase threes. In transition, BYU was frequently observed tossing the ball forward and letting it fly before it ever entered the arc. The Cougars actually tried more threes in transition than they did in the half court on average.
The transition between Calipari’s and Pope’s half-court offense and transition is another important difference in their offensive schemes. Over the years, those were frequently two very different segments at Kentucky. Pulling the ball out and setting something up was their plan if they ran and failed to score. Pope’s half court offense at BYU is seamlessly integrated into his transition game, which makes use of the five-out spacing to allow the trailing big man to rush to the top of the key and be frequently used as a passer. This generates driving lanes and makes room for cutters and other aggressive maneuvers.
Despite shooting a lot of threes, BYU is extremely effective when it comes to two-point shooting (ranked eighth in the nation this year). This is because all five of the opposition defenders are frequently drawn away from the paint by their spacing. They rank sixth in the nation overall and are a superb passing team as well. Once they have the opposition reeling, they not only make plays within their actions but also extra passes around the perimeter.
Would Mark Pope hire people similarly to John Calipari? Perhaps not. However, that may also not be his goal. Given that he will have easier access to talent at Kentucky, his system there may not be exactly the same as it was at BYU, but it will probably be comparable in that it will probably place an emphasis on skill, shooting, and feel. In the event that this offensive scheme produces a more contemporary offense that is more likely to win in March, supporters could be prepared to forgo the elite, pro-ready recruiting classes that characterized Calipari’s era.
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