Andrew Carr Understands the Importance of Cats Blocking Outside Noise

Andrew Carr likes coach Mark Pope's daily approach with players. (Vicky Graff Photo)

By LILIA SAXENA SMITHSON, Contributing Writer

Kentucky coach Mark Pope has talked a lot about the importance of “finding moments just to be still” to keep the outside noise and chaos during the season for his first UK team.

Wake Forest transfer Andrew Carr, a fifth-year player, understands what his coach  means as UK gets set for its first exhibition game Wednesday night against Kentucky Wesleyan.

“I think going through college basketball for a couple of years, I think it is really important for everybody to block out the noise, and that’s something that we’ve talked about before,” Carr said. “What really matters is the 14, now, 15 guys that we have in the locker room and really tightening our circle.

“We know how important that is, especially as the season gets going. Never get too high, never get too low.  Coach Pope emphasizes that a lot.”

Pope has a unique personality that allows him to not get caught up too much in things that are not that important.

“That definitely is a big part of who he is, and I think it really shows with just the amount of energy and the reliability. You know exactly what you’re going to get out of coach Pope every single day at practice,” Carr said. “He does a really great job of coming in with energy, regardless of what’s going on, and not letting our circumstances kind of define how we approach how we are going to work every single day.

“I think we’ve learned from coach Pope with the way he carries himself and the way he comes prepared and ready to go every single day at practice. It just trickles down into the whole team. We’ve talked about standards all summer and standards aren’t something that you live up to, that’s the floor. The standards are the bare minimum. That’s something that we try to embrace and live by here.”

Carr said Pope recruited “amazing people” who enjoy spending time with teammates on and off the court which helped create connections quickly, especially considering that Pope had to go into the transfer portal to build a roster.

“A lot of that comes down to your judgment of character and how you feel you can connect with the coach. Coach Pope has done a really great job with us setting the baseline during the recruiting process but continuing to make a concerted effort to make that a point of emphasis,” Carr said. “I love these guys. It’s been awesome to get to know all of them, a whole bunch, and I’m super excited to see what we can do.”

Carr had 25 points on 6-for-11 shooting (3-for-4 on 3’s) from the field and 10-for-10 at the foul line, seven rebounds and four assists in UK’s Blue-White Game.