Kentucky social media was sent into a frenzy late Thursday night when reports surfaced that athletic director Mitch Barnhart had zeroed in on Mark Pope to be the next head coach of the Cats’ men’s basketball team.
Pope, despite being a national championship winning player for Kentucky, was negatively received by most fans due to his unproven nature, having yet to win a single NCAA Tournament game as a head coach.
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, at 9:33 p.m. ET with a report of breaking news that Barnhart hoped to get a deal worked out and done by the end of the night.