At least not in my mind.

Kentucky has always existed. If there was an awesome recruit in Utah, then Kentucky was going to recruit them.

We're just feeling it today due to the circumstances. But the reality is that Pope has a short turnaround to get a team ready to go for next year. And he's reaching for the low-hanging fruit. Next year he'll have a better feel for other areas, and will be less focused on Utah. Primarily due to the distance and there being plenty of good players much closer.

NIL is a much bigger deal than Pope being in Kentucky. Kids might listen to him - but money will do the most talking. Right now the national story is that Duke is losing players like they haven't in the past due to NIL. So just being a blue blood doesn't get you the recruits. Not the top end recruits that Kentucky will expect Pope to go after.