Kentucky Wildcats head football coach Mark Stoops may run a team at a university that is known primarily for its men’s basketball program, and he is 100 percent fine with that. In fact, speaking to Brett Dawson of Rivals and Jen Smith of the Lexington Herald-Leader, Stoops heaped praise upon Kentucky men’s basketball, saying that it does nothing but help the football program.
Stoops: “Basketball does nothing but help us.” Says basketball atmosphere and John Calipari are great for football recruiting.
— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonWrites) July 15, 2015
Basketball does nothing but help us in recruiting and showcasing the passion of the fan base, Mark Stoops said.
— Jen Smith (@ByJenSmith) July 15, 2015
Though it may not seem obvious, Stoops is absolutely right. Though Kentucky football has not won a bowl game since 2008, nor a winning season since 2009, back when Rich Brooks was head coach, having a successful basketball team with a rabid fan base means that the athletic department benefits as a whole.
Look at it this way. In six seasons under coach John Calipari, Kentucky basketball has posted a record of 190-38 (82-20 SEC) and won a national championship in 2012. On top of that, the team has won three SEC titles and been to the Final Four a total of three times. That type of success surely generates a lot of revenue for the university, which it in turn passes down to the rest of the athletic programs.
Considering how Stoops’ team went from 2-10 (0-8 SEC) his first year in Lexington to 5-7 (2-6 SEC) last season, and with Kentucky coming off a year in which it went 38-1 (18-0 SEC), Wildcats football fans should expect more improvement in 2015.
Kentucky opens the season at home against the Sun Belt’s Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns on September 5.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
