Former Kentucky coach predicts Mark Pope to win a National Championship

Big Blue Nation, for the most part, was upset about the hiring of Mark Pope to be Kentucky's next head basketball coach, but the tide has quickly turned.

We heard Mitch Barnhart and Rick Pitino talk about Pope, and now Kentucky fans feel a lot better about this program moving forward.

Coach Pitino, who coached Pope when Kentucky won a National Title in 1996, had this to say about the Wildcat's new head coach, "You have one of the premier young coaches in the game. Relish it because he will do you proud. I know I sit here today at St John's, and I couldn't be any more proud than to see Mark Pope lead the Kentucky Wildcats to another championship. He'll get it done."

Pope will be motivated to win a championship because that is his job, but at the same time, he will be motivated because he loves the University of Kentucky and wants to get the Wildcats their next National Championship.

Pope's offense is a thing of beauty, and it won't be hard for him to recruit the players necessary for it to work at Kentucky.

Hopefully, Coach Pope will be able to hit the ground running when he gets to campus on the recruiting trail and put together a competitive roster for the upcoming season.

While he isn't proven like some of the other candidates, the Wildcats are getting a fiery young coach who wants to get this program back to where it was when he was a player here.