The expectations are high in Lexington — just ask former coach John Calipari — but the Wildcats will make the effort worth it for Pope.
Kentucky just released the details of Pope’s contract with the school, and he has several financial and contractual reasons to make sure the Wildcats make several deep runs through March Madness.
According to On3, which cited Kentucky’s release, Pope’s five-year, $27.5M (AAV $5.5M) is laced with several incentives for performance.
For instance, he’ll get an extra year tacked onto the contract every time he takes the Wildcats to the Sweet 16. That accomplishment will also net him a nice $250K bonus per trip.
Pope will get a $250K for each Final Four appearance and if he wins it all for the Wildcats, that will net him a $500K bonus. The Wildcats also want to make sure that “big blue” stays competitive in the SEC, so Pope will get $50K every time he wins the SEC tournament and $100K for winning the SEC regular season.
Ultimately, bonuses aside, Pope knows that his job is to bring more championships to Kentucky. For as high-profile as Calipari was, it had been over 10 years since Kentucky won it all and Coach Cal’s teams had developed a reputation for flaming out in the NCAA Tournament as of late.
