“But we’re looking for guys that have processing speed.”

And with those last two words, Pope excitedly jumped into what he later called “a five-minute lecture” on a key attribute that will make a Kentucky Wildcat for as long as he’s on the job.

The right instincts for Kentucky

Pope’s first recruit as UK’s new coach, Collin Chandler, actually committed to him two and a half years ago as a high school senior, before delaying his enrollment at BYU to take a two-year mission trip overseas as a representative of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a journey that left little time for basketball during that time away.

When discussing the importance of “processing speed” to the type of style he likes to play, Pope brought up Chandler and his “unbelievable ability” to see and react to the game in real time.

To illustrate his point, Kentucky’s new basketball coach used a football analogy.

“It’s kind of like a great wide receiver, on a simple level,” he said. “A great wide receiver is actually able to be going full speed. They’re able to calculate — somehow, internally — the velocity and distance of the ball, where it’s going. And then to calculate their speed of when to arrive there just on time. And then also be able to calculate how to create space with their defender, where they actually can put a body into them and then release at exactly the right time to receive the ball.

“The greatest natural receivers can put together all those things in the same format. And in basketball, it can even be more complicated, right? And so those guys that just have this innate ability to process things — they make a huge difference for how we play.”

What Pope is talking about is a merging of the traditional phrase “basketball IQ” with the instincts and ability to perform in the moment. Not only knowing the “right” play but possessing the timing and talent to pull it off in the instant that it’s open, before the opportunity slips away.

“We are very much a decision-making read team,” he said. “We’re not a motion team. But we’re a team where we put our guys in actions that are really familiar — that they really understand on an intellectual, mental level — that they can kind of get on a whiteboard and tell you, ‘If this happens, we do this. And if this happens, we do this.’ But then to actually make the read in real time under the duress of the game, that’s something that’s really important to us. …

“That’s something we really evaluate.”

That’s also the type of thing that takes more time and effort than simply looking at some stats or deeper analytics or even extensive video breakdown. It takes all that statistical and visual research, plus the fact-finding process of getting to know the player himself and how he thinks on and off the court.

Pope watched Chandler extensively as a high schooler and held him up as a standard for being able to process the game on the court. He said he was “really excited” about the addition of Amari Williams — a 6-10 player with a great passing touch and instinctual feel for basketball — after getting to know more about him and his game recently. Pope made it clear before Travis Perry’s all-in declaration Monday night that he wanted the Kentucky kid on his first UK roster.

At the time of his interview with the Herald-Leader, the new coach was not permitted to speak publicly about Richie Saunders, who was still undecided on his future, but Pope has heaped praise on BYU’s former sixth man in the past.

This past season at BYU — the program’s first in the highly competitive Big 12 — Pope employed an offense that was heavy on 3-point shooting, finishing second in the country with 32.0 long-range attempts per game.

While the 3-point shot is expected to remain a key piece of Pope’s offensive approach at Kentucky, he used it last season, in part, to close the talent gap. BYU was picked to finish 13th in the 14-team league during the preseason. They ended up fifth, with a winning conference record, good enough for a 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Pope is almost certain to land more talented — and more athletic — players at Kentucky than he had at BYU, but those principles of execution and attention to detail will remain key factors in what he and his assistant coaches look for on the recruiting trail.

“And we evaluate guys’ capability to work in a locker room,” Pope added. “Their leadership abilities. Their commitment to this game. We evaluate their goals. Like, what is the first thing that they say they care about, and what is the last thing they say they care about?”

Helping Pope recruit to UK

To help put together this first Kentucky team, Pope has turned to some familiar faces.

Cody Fueger and Jason Hart were officially announced as UK assistant coaches Monday. For all nine of Pope’s seasons as a head coach, Fueger has been one of his assistants. Hart, most recently the head coach of the G League Ignite program, was one of Pope’s teammates while an NBA rookie with the Milwaukee Bucks nearly 25 years ago.

They’ll fill two of UK’s five assistant coaching positions next season, and they’ll be two of the three staffers permitted to join Pope for off-campus recruiting activities. They wasted no time getting to work, and Pope’s enthusiasm for what he’s seen so far couldn’t be more clear.

“I’ll tell you the thing I’m most excited about,” Pope said, boundless energy in his voice. “Watching Cody and Jason in the last 36 hours — those two together are dangerous. I’m telling you, it’s really dangerous. This is the ‘artistic’ part of the mix. Those guys are both super humble. They’re both incredible experts in their field. Like on a nationwide level — experts in their field. They both have very distinct personalities. And we’ve already been in a bunch of arguments and confrontations and trying to work things out. And seeing those guys interact together, you’re like, ‘That’s what a team is, man.’ Because, already, a day in, you can see how they just riff off each other, and it feels natural.

“And they’re not the same guy. They’re very different guys. And the chemistry is brilliant. And that’s what we’re searching for on our staff. Is to find something where there’s a synergy, where the whole is way bigger than the sum of the parts. And I can feel that from those guys early on.”

Former Georgia head coach Mark Fox, who hired Pope as an assistant 15 years ago, is expected to be officially announced as one of two non-recruiting assistant coaches later this week.

Baylor’s Alvin Brooks III — a renowned recruiter under Scott Drew for the past eight seasons — has also joined Pope’s staff as associate head coach, filling the remaining assistant spot that will be permitted to recruit off campus.

To start this week, it was Fueger and Hart joining Pope in the UK basketball offices. Pope said he was driving home from an event Monday night with his wife, Lee Anne, already talking excitedly of the staff that is coming together.

“This is exactly what we’re looking for,” he said. “This vibe and this feel.”

Pope noted Fueger’s time as a student assistant under legendary Utah coach Rick Majerus and how that kicked off a promising career.

“He’s a brilliant basketball mind,” Pope said of the 40-year-old assistant. “He was brought up by Rick Majerus — almost like Rick’s adopted son. Like that young. Learning from him, and Rick was one of the best to ever do it. And Cody just keeps pushing the envelope. He keeps pushing the envelope on the offensive side to where we’re getting to the really, really extremes of college basketball. And I dig it, man. I love it. That’s super exciting.”

Hart, who turns 46 next week, has coached several NBA draft picks over his past three years with the Ignite program and was an assistant coach at Southern Cal before that, helping guide the Trojans to the Elite Eight in his final season with the team. The former Syracuse point guard was also an NBA player for a decade.

“You’re not going to find a guy that’s more capable of mentoring basketball players in their development — in every single way — than Jason Hart,” Pope said. “He did it at the highest level for a long time. He earned his way there. He did it at the highest level of college basketball also. He’s done it at an incredibly high level of coaching. He’s got so much joy in his heart.

“He’s exactly the same guy that I got to play with when we were at the Milwaukee Bucks together. He’s just got a couple more gray hairs and a whole lot more war stories. I don’t know a single recruit that’s going to talk to him and not feel like, ‘Man, I want to go play for this guy.’ He’s really special.”

Closing the deal on future Cats

Pope, Fueger, Hart and the rest of Kentucky’s staff won’t have much free time on their hands in the coming weeks. In addition to building the 2024-25 roster from the ground up, the UK coaches will be hitting the trail soon to identify future recruits and form relationships with their families.

The first stop on the Nike EYBL circuit for 2024 takes place this weekend in Memphis, and the first in-person evaluation opportunity for college coaches is just three weeks away, when Pope and his staff will represent Kentucky at major events as they form their opinions on the next wave of high school prospects.

Pope and company will have to juggle that future planning with the roster-building efforts of the present. Saint Mary’s guard Aidan Mahaney is scheduled to visit Lexington this weekend, Utah State big man Great Osobor has already set an official visit to Kentucky for next week, and several other highly touted transfers have been linked to UK in recent days.

Time will tell which of those players emerge as likely Wildcats, and who comes to Lexington for a visit over the next couple of weeks will be worth tracking.

To the outside world, this process must seem exhausting. Pope hasn’t let that show. On every national TV appearance and each time he’s been spotted publicly over the past few days — often with a recruit alongside him — there’s been a smile on his face and pep in his step.

“I don’t know how to communicate the passion and excitement I have about this process,” Pope told the Herald-Leader on Tuesday.

To try and articulate the feeling, he told another story.

Early that morning and after a late night of work, Pope picked up a recruit — he couldn’t say who — from a hotel in Lexington so he could drive the player to Blue Grass Airport and see him on his way home. In the car, the player asked Pope if he had actually been able to get any sleep since taking over the Kentucky basketball program less than two weeks earlier.

According to Pope, this is what he said:

“Imagine taking on the biggest project of your entire lifetime. Like, it will be a defining thing in your career, but also a project where your whole heart and soul — and all your love and all your family — is in it. And it’s so exhilarating. Imagine getting to do what you love most in the world with who you love most in the world, facing the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced in your life. And that’s what we get to do right now.

“It’s pretty special, man,” he continued. “I can’t tell you how excited we are about doing this. We’re doing exactly what we want to do, exactly where we want to do it. And that’s awesome.”

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