Almost six months ago now, Kentucky lost to Oakland in the first round of March Madness. The simplicity of that sentence is painfully deceiving, as the game in question was one of the worst losses in the program’s modern era.
We’d seen early tournament exits from the men’s team in recent years; John Calipari had practically made it the standard. But this loss was different, and everybody knew it.
Shortly after that, Calipari would breach his lifetime contract with the University of Kentucky to strike a midnight deal with Arkansas. After a short-lived stint of cautious celebration (from most), chaos set in over Lexington. Who was going to fill his shoes?
A handful of names became very popular: Scott Drew, for his calm demeanor and self-made success at Baylor and Billy Donovan, for his past championship resume and current issues as a coach in the NBA. Even Rick Pitino, who’d gone from loved to hated in his transition from Lexington to Louisville, had his name thrown in the hat.
Yet after all that, the wheel ultimately stopped spinning before Mark Pope. As a former Kentucky player, his heart was out of the question; everyone knew he wanted to be here. But many worried whether or not he actually should be.
He’d been coaching for far less time than anyone on the aforementioned list and had just begun building a tournament team at Brigham Young University out west. For many fans, these reservations drew more questions than answers.
But time seemed to stop when he made his Rupp Arena debut as the first new head coach Kentucky had seen in 15 years. The big blue nation, myself included, waited for hours outside just to get in the building.
People spilled over on steps and stood in aisles as Pope pointed to the banner he’d hung as a player in 1996. He made a promise to take the program back to the promised land, lighting Lexington on fire in a way that it hadn’t been in a long, long time.
Of course, the season still hasn’t begun, but Pope has quickly proven his hire to be more than a hometown shoe-in. He immediately assembled a new, more diverse coaching staff, addressing one of the long-drawn criticisms of the Calipari stint right off the rip.
Next, he and his new crew tore into the transfer portal to assemble a new roster of players looking for a fresh start. As fast as young recruits who were previously nabbed by Calipari entered it to leave UK, an older, more seasoned veteran would take his place.
As a result, the 2024-2025 Wildcats are shaping up to be the most seasoned squad we’ve seen in decades. There are a few freshmen, but for the most part, this is a team assembled of college basketball regulars who’ve made a name for themselves in one way or another.
Another problem with Calipari was his return rate. He’d have a new squad of first-years every season, disallowing any sort of progression or experience to work in favor of the unit. It was always a crapshoot, as was the norm with the so-called “one and done” recruiting method.
Under Pope, Kentucky looks to forge a new identity composed of reliably established ones. But that isn’t to say that he’s stopped going after the top prospects.
On top of managing to assemble a full roster of highly sought-after talent in just a few months, Pope has already begun checking boxes for his sophomore season as well.
Namely Malachi Moreno and Jasper Johnson, two five-star recruits with bluegrass roots who Pope has added to his seemingly evergreen repertoire.
Both guys were being chased by other high-profile schools with coaches who’d been there for years, yet Pope still stood out among them. It seems Kentucky fans aren’t the only ones excited about a reboot.
The real test of success will come on the court, but Kentucky fans truly couldn’t have asked for a better start with a new coach. With a clear heart for the blue and white and a bevy of big recruiting wins under his belt already, Mark Pope is on his way to being a Kentucky legend two times over.
As I stood outside Rupp Arena in the blazing summer heat just to get a glimpse at the new coach’s first press conference, people all around me sported shirts and shook signs with “Hope in Pope” emblazoned across the front of them.
It was then that I realized this may be more than a simple replacement. This is a full-on revival.
