Kentucky coach Mark Pope understands why UK fans want the Cats to play in Maui. (Vicky Graff Photo)
John Calipari made it clear he had no interest in taking Kentucky to the Maui Invitational, an event that Kentucky fans always loved attending early in the season.
First-year Kentucky coach Mark Pope is open to playing in an event like the Maui Invitational but not during the 2025-26 season because of contractual obligations to play a specific number of games in Rupp Arena. Those obligations will also keep Kentucky from playing in the new NIL-driven tourney in Las Vegas that will include Houston, Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan, St. John’s and Tennessee.
Pope was asked on his final radio show of the season by a fan about playing in Maui.
“There is nobody that would rather be back there than me,” Pope said. “Unfortunately, that has slid down the list of priorities right now.”
Greg Williams’ son, Kam, has announced he’s transferring from Tulane to Kentucky.
“Kentucky will be in some great tournaments, possibly out of the country, possibly the Maui Invitational. Those are things I have heard about,” Greg Williams said Tuesday night.
Pope certainly did nothing to discourage UK fans from believing a trip like this was coming for the Cats.
“When we do, it’s going to be epic because BBN will travel. It’ll be beautiful,” Pope said.
He’s right, Kentucky fans will travel to Maui, the Bahamas or Las Vegas.
“It definitely won’t be next year. We have some obligations here at Rupp in terms of number of games, so until we work out a couple other things — our in-house MT is super important because it fulfills our obligation with a number of games, but it is an aspiration that we’re all chasing,” Pope said.
However, it seems all but a given that Pope will make a trip like Maui happen.
“When that happens, you and I will be the two happiest people. I can’t wait,” Pope told the caller.
13 Responses
Getting a little nervous on the Pop trans trolley. Seem to be getting more misses than hits. Hopefully, lots of time to reverse trend.
He needs to be onboard with these transfers. Keyshawn hall just picked Auburn and he was one of our main targets. I hope he can do better than experienced role players. He has had more time to hit a home run in the portal. So far we have another role player. 2 out of 3 high school prospects are Kentucky kids so you knew the dreamed of playing for Kentucky. This was the only issue I had with Pope when we hired him. 80% of college coaching is recruiting. We’ve had the best recruiter in the high school ranks and that didn’t work. Now Uconn is in the lead for another top transfer on our board. We need some grey hounds. Some kids that burn rubber up and down the court. Last year not having to many athletes is what set us aside from the top 4-5 teams in the confrence. Yes there is plenty of time to make a splash in the transfer market but we need at least 2-3 top 25 transfers. And we are swinging and missing from the top so far. The 2 guys I wanted to lock up the post are gone. Hall and the kid who transferred back to San Diego state. We need a great point guard and a great post player. And a great role playing point and a big wing or stretch 4. The guy we have is unproven. He played on a terrible team and averaged 9ppg. That’s not promising. I hope he doesn’t think we will win a championship with Garrison in the post. He would have to double his improvement and still make strides. To me it seemed he was lost at times in the game..
All this negativity is killing me, Amari and Owey weren’t even top 100 in the portal.
He knows what he’s doing
Glad I’m not the only one notice it. Pope will get done in time.
Jasper can burn rubber.
Here is what matters. Those players who are asking for the most NIL money and guaranteed playing time are most likely going to be going pro in a year. They also play hero ball as they are focused on showing out for the NBA. They like to win but won’t lose any sleep when they don’t. To build championship teams requires kids who want to play for Kentucky and want to win championships for Kentucky. Those kids may not be the best of the best, but they usually are competitive and will have 2 to 3 years of eligibility left and won’t be jumping ship after one year. Returning players make better teams and better teams win championships. The 2026/27 team will be the most likely to make a Final 4. The 2027/28 team will have the best chance to win it all.
It just may be time to not panic but get a little nervous about our success in the Portal. We apparently have lost 3 targets to Auburn, UCon, and UL. UL has secured 3 of the Top 15 in the Portal and there appears to be more energy and better salesmanship in both FB and BB. If Ament goes to UL, I do not see how we keep our Big Brother status instate.
I’m not panicked at all. I’m just saying if we are going to contact these guys first and other teams do as well you don’t find it funny that Louisville and St johns are cleaning up in the portal. If we get Oweh back we only need one more star player which we lacked this year. We also need guys who can play defense because we were terrible at defense but we need a guy who can get baskets every time and play team ball. When we stopped playing team ball we lost every time. I still think Garrison will be much better and Moreno will be the best freshman on campus.
Bol Bowen just committed to Bama after visiting UK beginning of the week. The PR hits are being high fived by out competitors.
Pope put a good/great team together in 1 month or so last year.
Everyone relax.
Bol Bolen from Florida state is off the board. He was my third choice. Strike 3.
I am sure Pope will put together an outstanding winning team. Have faith!
like that attitude Robert. Remember at this time one year ago UK had zero players on the roster