When Kentucky handed Mark Pope a $22 million NIL war chest, the message was simple: build a winner. However, after their shaky performance against No. 12 Louisville Cardinals , costing the Wildcats their first loss of the season (96-88), has left everyone questioning the cost of Pope’s new era.

Talking about the Wildcats’ recent match, Randolph Childress of The Field of 68’s Shooters Shoot podcast said, “Kentucky had guys that can make shots. Louisville looked like a team that just had flat-out shooters. It looked like night and day.” Pope made some major moves in the transfer portal to build a team with depth and a lethal shooter like Jaland Lowe, Kam Williams, and Jasper Johnson. However, in a game against a team with almost half the budget, the Wildcats’ empire crumbled, and th

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