Chasing Tyran Stokes may cost Mark Pope the season, and his job

There's no doubt that last season didn't go as Kentucky Wildcats coach Mark Pope envisioned. Things did not come together, and it wasn't all his fault, though he got a lion's share of the blame. Mistakes were made without a doubt. He didn't get a backup point guard, and signing an injured Jayden Quaintance backfired. However, injuries played a big part in their lack of success as well.

Heading into this offseason, Pope had a vision. That involved retaining young players that he could develop in his system, and then minimally adding key players. It was a good plan, but it quickly unraveled, and nearly all of those young players left the program.

One player Pope had looked to add very early on was top overall recruit Tyran Stokes. Kentucky was the leader for Stokes for most of the year, and that's when things went wrong.

The Wildcats began to fall behind Kansas in the race for Stokes, but in their pursuit of him, also fell out of the race for other top recruits like Christian Collins and Caleb Holt. They also had to set aside a sizeable chunk of money for Stokes, meaning they could have missed out on top transfer portal players as well.

Rumors have flown that Kentucky could have had Holt and Collins. Donnie Freeman was also in play out of the portal. Other scoring options were likely not even recruited, as not to affect Stokes' decision.

In the end, Stokes prolonged his decision until late April, and by the time he chose Kansas, Pope had missed out on nearly all of the available difference makers, and the roster has a noticeable need for an Otega Oweh replacement as a dominant scoring option.

A large part of Big Blue Nation is ready for Pope to be dismissed in favor of a proven recruiter. Unfortunately, Pope's pursuit of Stokes may have cost the Wildcats a season, and himself a job.

This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Kentucky basketball pursuit of Tyran Stokes my be Mark Pope's undoing