Vicky Graff Photo
Kentucky’s 20 -point loss to Ohio State last week has caused a lot of anguish in the Big Blue Nation.
Kentucky fan Sara Perry Wilson, who lives in Florida, says she was “literally born” into UK fandom in West Liberty and that didn’t change when she moved out of state. However, she’s been a fit frustrated with some social media posts she has seen and one comment she made on X this week got my attention.
“If you’re jumping off the bandwagon after one tough loss, I’ll buy your seats,” Wilson posted.
When I reached out to her, she said a “big goal” for her remained being able to get “great seats” at Rupp Arena so she can take her parents who have never been to a game to see coach Mark Pope’s team play.
“I remember being 3 years old watching (UK play) with my mom and dad,” she said. “Just knowing I was cheering for the blue team … so it’s been 30 plus years. My parents used to tape the games on VHS and named them like ‘revenge on duke.’”
That passion and love for UK basketball is what has her frustrated over the way some fans are questioning the team so harshly even though UK is still 10-2 and ranked 10th this week.
“I love BBN but we act like entitled little brats sometimes,” she said. “We forget so easily. I’ve weathered lots of good and bad years and this is just part of the experience.
“But why grown adults feel it appropriate to bully kids and arguably the nicest coach and human being on the planet is beyond me. Keyboard warriors. After it’s all said and done, we are still humans and should treat each other with kindness.”
That seems like a good message for us all to remember on Christmas Day.
Wilson hopes to eventually be back in Kentucky so she can “watch a lot of basketball, football, volleyball and baseball in Lexington in the future.
6 Responses
She hit it right on the button. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!
I will be on Mark Pope’s bandwagon even if the wheels fall off. He has the right philosophy, he needs time to recruit players who will buy into it. This year’s team wanted to play on the Kentucky stage, but aren’t committed to winning a title, regardless of what they said back in September. They are looking to next year which will hopefully have some of them at least in the G league. The 2025 team will be a step closer to what BBN is longing for if Oweh, Garrison, and the 3 freshmen return; but don’t expect Pope’s teams to be title competitive until 2026 or 2027.
No sense in giving up.
Patients Grasshopper.
I’m with Barry—we all forget quickly that this is only the first season for Pope’s regime–its going to take 3-4 seasons for his true "brand" to be built, and where we, as fans, can see that brand show up on the court. It’s going to take the first 3-4 seasons before his brand can show up with his recruiting–where he can implement and build his team, build/construct his roster, and build the program up from within–this first season is actually going to be an outlier in the long run, when looking back at the entirety of Pope’s regime. It’s not going to be an annual mass exodus of an entire roster like it was this year where u are basically just plugging-in-and-playing it with grad transfers/super seniors/seniors, etc……the off-seasons are not going to be like they were under CAL where u are basically overhauling every year. Over time, there will be guys who will return and play another year, or multiple years…….just think about the possibility of next year’s team if Oweh were to return, along with Garrison, and then the group of Chandler, Perry, Noah–put them together with the class of Johnson, Moreno, and Lewis, and if we can get Caleb Wilson, which I feel is a "MUST-GET" for Pope at this point–how much would having Oweh and Garrison to add to that group HELP US as opposed to having to just restart again with basically a whole new group again? Over time, you will see some consistency and some stability built by Pope when it comes to the roster and the players we have on the team every year–it will take time, but it will slowly fill in. I think we, as fans, and Pope himself, are going to be able to better judge his own system and better implement his own system once he has had a few years to establish his recruiting and some consistent roster-building. Just about all those guys had to be brought in on the fly, last-minute–all of them had their bball lives kind of turned upside down with their late moves to KY last spring. Just one year ago, none of them ever expected to be playing here. And I think this experience may be a culture shock, in a way, for some of them. And so this team this year is basically another repeat of a "ONE-AND-DONE" team, except it’s of the super senior and grad transfer level, rather than the freshmen level…..but the concept still applies. Just about all these guys know already that they’re only going to be here for one year, so I think there could be something to what Barry says, unfortunately, about some of them thinking about their draft status and their future, because they know that THIS IS IT!!! This year is their last year and it’s their last opportunity to audition for the next level. So I definitely agree that could be a factor. Again, I think this type team this year is going to be an outlier in the entirety of the Pope era—and I think its going to be easier for him, beginning next year, and then even more so in the years after that, once he has had his first year at KY under his belt, and can then start recruiting from THAT perspective, it’s going to be easier for him to figure out what players best suit his system and will be easier for him to recruit having had actual game-coaching experience here to go on! We, as fans, want that instant success now–especially because we are STARVED for it–the long lull of lack of bball success does not lie at Pope’s feet, and that’s the lesson that’s out there to be learned by the A.D. that u don’t continue to keep a coach who is no longer consistently winning and succeeding. You don’t let that continue on and on for 5 years without demanding some kind of a change! But it’s so easy for people to forget: the self-proclaimed KING left KY bone-dry, and honestly we are lucky it’s not worse than what it is. As much as I felt at the time that the "big-name" coach was the right move, we are damn lucky to have Pope, because of being an alumnus and being a former bball player—the way the game is changing these days, having a former player leading your program is about as close as you are going to get to still preserving that tradition, that history, and that legacy that is KY BBALL. And one thing we can’t ever forget is that Mark Pope GETS ALL OF THAT!!! AND HE CARES ABOUT ALL OF THAT!!! That is extremely rare, now, in this day and age! So when we have a game or go through times like this last game against Ohio St, we all need to remember that one thing about Mark Pope, and we all can’t ever give up on him or stop believing in him. Because if there is one thing I DO KNOW FOR SURE: Mark Pope LOVES this place. And I know that that doesn’t guarantee winning—but that intangible is also something that is a priceless quality to have in your head coach! There is nobody else in the country who is coaching right now thats going to feel about KY the way Mark Pope feels about KY. So no matter what, even if we ended up 4-28, I will always love Mark Pope for that one thing, if nothing else. One thing about Pope, and the reason we can’t ever give up on him, is because he is a WINNER. He has been a winner on the basketball court, a winner on the sidelines, and a winner in life! And you aren’t going to match the class and the grace and the humility with which he carries himself and which defines him as a person, and of which he treats everyone else around him. He carries a heavy burden with taking this job as he did. He carries a heavy burden taking this job having been a player here and being a national championship winner on one of the greatest teams in the history of both UK bball and ALL of college bball, period. He chose to put his own legacy on the line to come back home and rescue his alma mater, and to build back, and restore, THE GREATEST TRADITION IN THE HISTORY OF COLLEGE BBALL—which is something I think alot of ppl forget. But he didn’t HAVE to come here and take that heavy burden–so we need to remember to love that and appreciate that about him. Having said all that, there is a serious amount of work to be done for this team to be able to consistently win and succeed in the SEC this year. And I personally feel that it’s not as much coaching or schematics from Pope’s end that is up for question, it’s the level of talent of this team as a whole. From what I have seen so far, I just don’t think this team as a whole is all that talented. I think if and when they are making shots and executing Pope’s system and style of ball they they CAN be successful and HAVE SHOWN AND PROVEN to be successful. But when the shots are not falling, there doesnt seem to be any answers from any other aspects, as far as how can this team play to win games, how good are they really, what is their ceiling, what is their potential, or are they teaching it? And I think therein lies a big part of the problem: most of these guys are 4th-5th-6th year players, and they have already/are already as good as they are ever going to be. There are a lot of elements that I see missing from this team: lack of physicality, lack of interior presence when it comes to rim protection, shot-blocking, and rebounding, as well as lack of interior defense, and lack of defense overall as a whole for the entire team. I think all the Final 4 talk is a bit overboard and unfair in terms of fan expectation and pressure put on this team for a first year coach who had to build an entire roster from scratch in 6 weeks. Keep in mind alot of these guys came from mid-major-level programs, who if u put them all together as a recruiting class nationally, how high would they rank? I doubt it would be top-5. I definitely think this team suffers a bit from a talent deficiency standpoint–Coach can only do so much with what he has–and I think that’s where I say we have to allow time for Mark Pope’s recruiting to build and set in. He will be able to better easily build his teams the way that he wants, and that HE needs, and the way that he sees best fit for KY to succeed!! And also keep in mind, it will be easier for Pope to teach his system and instill and teach it into his guys when they’re YOUNG, and when they first come in. With a team like this, you are having to teach guys who have already played 4,5,6 yrs, a brand new style and system that they have never played before, they’re having to learn it in a short time, and then knowing they are only going to be playing it for one year. So I think we all should ease back on the expectations for this year’s team, and keep those in perspective as this season rolls along. Other than Ohio St, we couldnt really ask or expect any better than what we have gotten, as far as the pre-conference record and season results. Two big wins over DUKE and Gonzaga, along with Pope’s first win over LOU, which was a "MUST"—and a record of 11-2 and a #4 ranking up until a week ago. So for this first stretch of his first season, I would give Pope an A-, the minus being for the Ohio St performance. I think next year’s team will look drastically different, and with each season thereafter, that pattern will continue, as Pope brings in his own recruits and builds his "own" KY from within. We haven’t had the chance yet to see any guys DEVELOPED over a period of years, whether they come straight from high school or whether they transfer in young. In alot of ways, because of the way this team had to be built because of the LATENESS of the hire, has almost made it to where we have to survive through yet one more CAL YEAR, before we can truly move on from that. Again, the only difference being that it’s a one-and-done group of super seniors and grad transfers rather than one-and-done freshmen. I think by next year the full fallout and effects from CAL will be completely gone.
My God we put up a dud, IT happens every year to every team almost without fail. Pope is a good coach. We have solid players not great ones. I don’t know how many kids will buy into the new brand Coach Pope is pitching? It’s all about the NIL now. HOW MUCH AM I GOING TO GET. This is going to make it extremely hard to recruit guys. It is going to make every team struggle to play as a unit when some guys are making 3 million a year and other guys are making nothing on the same team. It’s going to be paramount to put up big numbers for YOURSELF… Getting the buy in is going to be tough…