Vicky Graff Photo
It’s something unpredictable
But in the end, it’s right
I hope you had the time of your life—Green Day
Mark Pope stood in front of 20,000 fans in Rupp Arena last year and accepted the challenge of becoming the coach of the University of Kentucky. He had no assistant coaches, he had no players returning but he gave hope for a new beginning.
He revived the Kentucky fan base from the moment he stepped off the bus, hoisting the 1996 trophy.
Expectations were low but excitement was high with the signing of each player and coach. They were for the most part unknowns who arrived in Lexington to the open arms of Big Blue Nation. Fans searched the internet to find out just who the players were. Fairleigh Dickinson, Dayton, Oklahoma had never been on BBN’s radar. In all honesty high schools were the most watched.
The wins over Duke, Gonzaga, Louisville and Tennessee will not define this team. The love they had not only for the University of Kentucky but the fan base and Coach Pope will be what is remembered the most.
It was the players’ and coaches’ dream to be at the University of Kentucky, and it was the dream of the fans to feel the happiness of KENTUCKY BASKETBALL again.
This season has made an imprint on the hearts of the Big Blue Nation and will not be forgotten. The players will go down in history as Mark Pope’s first team. A team that far exceeded what was expected and made the fans smile again.
The loss in the Sweet Sixteen hurt… I emphasize hurt. There was no fan anger or yelling but the realization that we would not see this team together again. A totally different feeling than previous years.
Coach Pope and his staff will put together another roster. A roster that will include four Kentucky boys. Pope understands what it means to have homegrown boys on the team. If they leave it will be their decision, not his.
Spring and summer will pass, and with fall, fans will endure (or embrace) another football season, and then the ball will tip again.
Fans should not worry. Coach Pope knows the assignment. He’s got this. Always remember, all the boxes are checked.
11 Responses
Great perspective on the season.
This team beat Duke, beat Gonzaga, beat Louisville and beat Florida. Then injuries unraveled everything. We did manage to beat Tennessee twice, but lost to Arkansas in Rupp, got spanked by Alabama twice and lost to teams like Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Texas. Bama beat us again in the SEC tourney and Tennessee abused us in the Big Dance. This season showed us what we could be and then with the injuries showed us what we were. It’s time to move on to the 2025/26 season. We lost Ament to Arkansas, so we really need to hit a homerun in the portal. We need to follow Golden’s model at Florida. Get as many 7 footers as possible, get serious about defense and rebounding, and shoot and make the 3. Go coach Pope and go CATS!!!
Has it been confirmed that Ament is going to Arkansas? I haven’t read that yet. If that is so it is a hit against our program status and coach’s ability to bring in a 5. I thought we were a heavy lean at the beginning.
Ament has Not committed to any school. It was supposed to be today, but he canceled it. Now there is no timetable for when he will commit.
If Krissa enjoyed playing at UK and being coached by Pope, why in the world would he want to leave for another school?
That’s what I thought to Mike. Maybe he knows his playing time will be limit or some school is flashing more dollar sign.
He knows he has been recruited over with hopefully more coming in the portal. Hey, maybe Pope actually told him it would be in his best interest to transfer if he wanted meaningful playing time. Happens all the time. Stoops does it every year with multiple players and no one thinks a thing about it.
Jimmy…you might be right there. Pope may have had a say in that. I don’t think his track record was that strong to attract lot of NIL money, but a lot of teams will be desperate to sign guys with all the need and availability that will be out there. I just hope we chase and obtain high caliber guys that will truly accept his mentorship.
Maybe Ament will go to ky, has decide to hold off his school announcements
Williams destroyed this team by trying to do to much. He made me so angry by not just grabbing rebounds with 2 hands and not just dunking the damn ball. We need Oweh and Garrison to come back. Yes Garrison wasn’t the greatest power forward but he will get better and better and if he can improve his 3 pointer a little and get better at rebounding he will be much better which I think it starts to click for him next year he was only a sophomore and has 2 more years to grow. Some guys it takes until there junior season and they blossom and I think that happens with Garrison. I think Moreno and Garrison together down low would make a great duo. With Johnson Oweh and Kam Williams. Johnson can play the point. KAM Williams will be your starting 3. At 6-8 and can rebound shoot the 3 and defend very well. We will get better every year over a 3-4 year stretch I think Pope wins a championship in the next 3 years. Maybe a elite 8 or final 4 next year and the so on. Question is Moreno or Johnson a one and done? I don’t believe so but who knows. I think Noah and Perry look totally different in year 2. They will be ready to contribute on a every game basis and I think they both average around 5-8 ppg. They will be good role players who can give the starters nice rest and we won’t fall off a cliff to much. Perry needs to shoot better than 42% to make a difference and Noah needs to hit around the same if not they will continue to be liabilities on defense. Noah not so much he can hold his own but Perry is much smaller and he needs to be automatic at the foul line and much better on his 3 point shooting. I’m proud to see 4 Kentucky boys on the team. There passion for Kentucky will rub off on the rest of the players. The difference in us being a final 4 team and a who knows team is on Owehs shoulders!
Ament is waiting to see what happens in the portal. He wants to play the 3 spot where he will dominate. If Pope gets 3 more bigs to join Moreno, that can happen. The new kid, Williams would be his back up, Noah and Johnson would play the 2, and Chandler, Perry, and Lewis would play the point. I think next season will be a breakout year for Chandler and Noah. I would like to see Z come back and play the 4. With some help underneath, he can rebound and block shots too. Unless Moreno bulks up, he will have to play the 4 as a backup until he gets his 3 point shot down. We look good for the big kid from UAB and Bigunda from Kansas and that would be a solid team.