The University of Kentucky's men's basketball program is reportedly receiving an infusion of cash to aid in recruiting efforts.

According to Matt Jones of Ky Sports Radio, two boosters have pledged a combined total of $4 million up front to the university for the purpose of name, image and likeness (NIL) payments to student-athletes.

The donations come on the heels of longtime head coach John Calipari leaving for Arkansas and the hiring of his replacement.

ESPN's Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello reported Thursday night that Kentucky was nearing a five-year deal with BYU head coach Mark Pope to make him the Wildcats' next head coach.

Following Calipari's departure, Kentucky reportedly pursued Baylor national championship-winning head coach Scott Drew, but he decided to stay at Baylor.

Kentucky then turned its attention to Pope, who played two seasons at Kentucky in the 1990s and won a national title in 1996.

Pope spent the past five seasons as the head coach at BYU after going 77-56 with three CBI appearances in four seasons at Utah Valley. He led BYU to the NCAA tournament twice, including last season when the Cougars went 23-11.

During Calipari's tenure, Kentucky enjoyed enormous success, going 410-123, reaching the Final Four on four occasions and winning a national title, but the Wildcats last won a championship in 2012 and haven't made it to the Final Four since 2015.

The Wildcats haven't made it past the second round of the NCAA tournament since 2019 either, and the final straw for Calipari's time in Lexington was third-seeded Kentucky getting upset in the first round of this year's NCAA tournament by 14th-seeded Oakland.

Calipari consistently landed top-flight recruits and put together top recruiting classes during his time at Kentucky, but it was both a blessing and a curse.

While landing elite prospects helped the Wildcats compete for national titles early in Calipari's tenure, the results weren't there in recent years.

It can be argued that having so many one-and-done players was detrimental since Calipari was unable to establish continuity from one year to the next.

Still, programs can't compete for national titles without strong recruiting, and the reported $4 million infusion of NIL cash could go a long way toward helping Pope hit the ground running once his hiring becomes official.