Mark Pope's recruiting gamble backfires as Kentucky's loyalty turns into hot seat rumors

Mark Pope's recruiting gamble backfires as Kentucky's loyalty turns into hot seat rumors originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats basketball program thought they had the upper hand in the Tyran Stokes sweepstakes. An emerging talent who's native to the Bluegrass State and has a tied partnership with Nike. Why would he ever consider going to Kansas?

As it turned out, Kentucky was the runner-up for Stokes, which puts Pope's future under the microscope. When they said there was a must-win recruiting situation brewing, there were no jokes applied. The dynamics of Stokes "leaving" for Kansas are baffling.

A Nike athlete committing to an Adidas school over a thousand miles from home when another right in his own backyard who is aligned with Nike is knocking with a similar offer, is a sign something is wrong. Pope might not like losing out on an easy win, but this might be the one that got away.

For Kentucky, the reported $20 million-plus spent on the roster last year resulted in a 22-14 record with no real noise. The program was holding out for Stokes' decision, and rightfully so. The nation's top recruit could've flipped the outlook going into Pope's third year. This was another unwanted setback after striking out a few times in the transfer portal.

Could Pope already be in the hot seat? Absolutely.

Welcome to the new state of college athletics. If Kentucky made an Elite Eight run last season, this entire conversation carries a much different tune. But taking a step back after a Sweet 16 appearance in his first season in Lexington started rumors about Pope possibly getting replaced.