It was Announced Earlier Today That Mark Pope On Automatic Suspension For Allegedly Involving In The Wildcats will make the effort worthwhile for Pope, despite the high expectations in Lexington (just ask former coach John Calipari). Kentucky recently made available the specifics of Pope’s contract, and he has multiple financial and contractual incentives to ensure the Wildcats make multiple deep runs through March Madness.
As reported by On3, which cited Kentucky’s release, Pope’s five-year, $27.5M (AAV $5.5M) contract is loaded with performance-based incentives, such as an additional year added to it each time he leads the Wildcats to the Sweet 16. This accomplishment will also earn him a hefty $250K bonus each time.
Pope will receive a bonus of $500K if he wins the entire tournament for the Wildcats in addition to $250K for each Final Four participation. Pope will get $50K for each SEC tournament victory and $100K for winning the SEC regular season as part of the Wildcats’ commitment to keeping “big blue” competitive in the SEC.
Bonuses notwithstanding, Pope is aware that his primary responsibility is to increase Kentucky’s championship haul. Even though Calipari was well-known, Kentucky hadn’t won the championship in over a decade, and Coach Cal’s teams had a recent history of blowing out in the NCAA Tournament.
