Is Mark Pope an early favorite for Coach of the Year? One hoops expert thinks so

Mark Pope impressed Big Blue Nation in his first full month of basketball, and he's also impressed much of the college basketball world. He took a group of transfers that had never played together and taught them how to win together in just a few weeks. He then coached victories from his newly built Wildcats over #6 Duke and #7 Gonzaga. It's impressive, and it's a bit unprecedented for newly hired coaches.

Does this make him an early favorite for the NCAA Coach of the Year award? Adam Finkelstein of CBS Sports and 24/7 Scouting thinks so. "I think it's Mark Pope, not only beating Duke but then going to Seattle and beating Gonzaga. If you take away that Clemson , they'd be undefeated right now. They are ninth in offense, 24th overall in defense, and they've gotten buy-in from the roster." He goes on to say that his concern going into the season for Pope was the depth and the lack of a clear hierarchy. That it would be difficult to figure out roles, "Mark Pope has handled that."

The last time Kentucky had a head coach win the Naismith Coach of the Year award was in 2015 with John Calipari. Tubby Smith was the only other Kentucky coach to win it; he did so in 2003.

Why has Pope proved he's a candidate through one month and that he should be added to this list? Finkelstein says it's because of everything he said above, but he's also handled adversity with Lamont Butler and Kerr Kriisa going down. "He tells Jaxson Robinson to play the point, and it goes exceptionally well. On top of that, they are playing modern basketball, which Kentucky fans are delighted about."

The full interview has so many more insights, but one more noteworthy note is how he talks about Pope. That he is "galvanizing" the fanbase and doing it with humility. He not only makes really good schematic decisions and roster decisions and helps his team win, but he does it as an exceptional human being.