The Kentucky Wildcats basketball team commands the highest NIL payroll in the NCAA this season. However, their on-court performance hasn’t been impressive to start the year. On Tuesday, Kentucky returned to action against the Michigan State Wolverines, a game that ended in a loss that was never truly competitive.
“It was all Michigan State early and it was all Michigan State late, too, as the No. 17 Spartans dominated No. 12 Kentucky in an 83-66 statement win to open up this year's Champions Classic doubleheader. The Spartans led for the final 33 minutes of game action and at one point owned an advantage by as many as 24 points before pulling off the gas late,” CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone wrote.
After the game, senior Otega Oweh made it clear that adversity is already hitting the Wildcats.
“Super disappointed, but that’s a part of basketball. Mistakes happen, bad games happen,” Oweh said. “Unfortunately, we wish we could win all these games and put on a good showing, but we didn’t do that at all. It’s a matter of us responding. Coach Pope always talks about that, responding when adversity hits. Adversity is hitting right now and we’re going to figure it out.”
However, it was head coach Mark Pope’s postgame comments that drew the most attention, particularly his admission that the team lacks an identity just two weeks into the season.
“If you build an organization the right way, then your identity is not about an individual person. Your identity is about a collective group. So it shouldn't matter if we had built a great organization and a great culture. Which I've clearly failed to do up until today. But we won't fail this season. We've just failed up until today,” Pope said.
In today’s era, relying heavily on the transfer portal is a risky approach, and that is already becoming evident for Kentucky. There is little cohesion within the group and, by Pope’s own admission, no clear identity.
None of this reflects well on Pope, who should have established some level of standard or direction by now. It is still early for the Wildcats, but if things don’t get corrected soon, this season could unravel quickly.