Maggie Davis wanted to make sure she gave UK coach Mark Pope the right platform to talk about his first year at Kentucky on a special BBN Tonight show Monday. (BBN Tonight/WLEX-TV Photo)
Maggie Davis always looks like she’s at ease when she’s interviewing various Kentucky coaches and athletes for BBN Tonight, a 30-minute weeknight show that airs on WLEX-TV (online at bbntonight.com).
“I get nervous because I want to do a good job for my job and the people that watch. How do I get the best conversations and ask the best questions and still listen so if I need to veer off track, I know the right way to take it,” said Davis on WPBK-FM Thursday. “I always want to find the balance between sounding conversational but also professional enough for TV.
“It doesn’t matter to me who it is. I always want to do a great job. Even if it is just a four-minute interview, I want to feel like I did my best and I am very thankful to BBN Tonight for giving me the opportunities it has.”
Davis’ professionalism and personality were both showcased in her interview with Kentucky coach Mark Pope on Monday’s show, which happened to be the first anniversary of his hiring at Kentucky.
Davis got Pope to talk about a lot of things that happened during his first year but said it was not hard to do.
“He doesn’t just fill time to fill time. Some people talk a lot, and it is hard to find the end of a sentence, but that is not how he is. He is deliberate with his words and pretty intentional in his interview,” Davis said. “He is his most authentic one-on-one. I wanted fans to hear from him and put him in a position where he could reflect on the year.”
Davis watched the entire 90-minute introductory press conference Pope had in Rupp Arena in front of over 20,000 fans to prepare for her interview with him. She had reached out to UK a few months ago about doing something with Pope on the anniversary of his hiring, but never dreamed the interview would be on the exact day of the anniversary.
“I found out over the weekend I was doing it Monday. There was still always a chance something could come up, so we did not start promoting the interview until 5 p.m.(Monday) after I spoke to him at 4, and then it aired at 7:30,” she said.
The interview included a fun locker room segment where Davis brought several items to what she knew would be a fairly empty locker room and UK provided jerseys to hang in the lockers as well.
“I just didn’t want every single minute of the interview to look the same with us sitting and me asking formal questions,” she said. “I asked him if it would be okay to do it in the locker room and almost make it a living scrapbook of the season, and hopefully it came off that way.”
Davis is becoming a rising star in the TV business. She’s done play by play for gymnastics, volleyball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer and women’s basketball in the last year along with her regular work for BBN Tonight.
“I was trying to figure out ways to grow, and I asked a producer for SEC Network+ if there was any chance they might need someone to do sideline work,” Davis said. “He said they didn’t need sideline work but were looking for someone to fill in on soccer play-by-play.
“That’s not what I was qualified for but I said yes and then worked by butt off for two or three months before the first soccer game. I had plenty of time to study and ask questions. I had enough time to learn, and I feel like I am still learning every time I get to do something like that and making me better at my job.”
5 Responses
A report says that Pope has contacted Chad Baker Mazara of Auburn and he is interested in coming to Kentucky for the right price.
For the right price they are all interested Barry
College basketball will never be the same, sigh…
Pope is probably one of the most intelligent coaches in college basketball. Sometimes he says to much about his team which gives other teams a excellent scouting report. I can also see us winning close to 30 games this year. Whether that be 28,29,30,31 or 32 we should be a upgrade from last year and depending on a couple of decisions we are already a final 4 contender. The SEC had real star power last year on just about every team, this year the SEC will still be the best conference but it won’t be as top heavy as it was last year. Alabama had Mark Sears. Florida had Walter Clayton Jr. Auburn had Chad Baker Mazada and Johni Broome. All these elite guys will be gone. From the teams they played for last year in some cases. If Oweh comes back which I think there is about a 90% chance he comes back to Kentucky we will have star power this year. Something that we had some games last year and some games we didnt. I also think you can throw Lowe in this conversation because guys usually make there biggest jump from there sophomore year to there junior year. I also see Brandon Garrison making a giant leap forward. You could say the core 5 that should all come back will all be much better. Then with the transfers we have we have literally upgraded every position across the board. We struggled with toughness and being physical last year and with the roster we have we might be one of the most physical teams in college basketball next year. We were also terrible at rebounding the ball.. That is also much better this year. We are much more athletic as well. The one area we could say should be about even but I think we improve on is our 3 point shooting. Our core 5 guys will all be better 3 point shooters this year. Then we bring in KAM Williams who is a great shooter. We also brought in the Croatian big who will be a upgrade from Carr. Diobote is also a great 3 point shooter and can easily shoot near 40% with larger volume. I expect Noah Perry and Chandler to all be 40% or better 3 point shooters too. JQ will average a double double with around 3 blocks a game. What baffles me is alot of analyst are saying Jasper Johnson will start for us next year. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen because he’s a future NBA player but I think we might have to much experience for him to start. I could see him being the 6th man possibly.
I totally enjoyed the interview and thought that Maggie did a great job!!