Not only did Mark Pope have John Wall back at Big Blue Madness but he also had former UK coach Tubby Smith. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Mark Pope is just full of surprises.
He’s done so many things to impress Kentucky fans, including Saturday’s free Fan Fest that was open to the public before Big Blue Madness. And don’t forget that for his first Big Blue Madness last year he brought former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino back.
Pitino coached UK’s 1996 national championship team that included Pope. He led UK to three Final Four appearances but after leaving Kentucky for the Boston Celtics ended up coaching at Louisville for 16 seasons, a move that alienated many UK fans.
Pitino was also a rival/nemesis for former UK coach John Calipari, who left the Cats for Arkansas to create the vacancy that brought fan favorite Pope to Lexington.
However, Pope paid tribute to the Calipari era at Saturday night’s Big Blue Madness when his surprise guest was John Wall, the former NBA Draft No. 1 overall pick in 2010 after playing for Calipari’s first team at UK. His arrival made Big Blue fans forget the painful years under coach Billy Gillispie and brought fun back to the Bluegrass.
John Wall made his triumphant return to Rupp Arena. Wall was a surprise addition to the Madness lineup Saturday night in Rupp Arena, rising above the stage alongside Pope and recreating his viral dance from 16 years ago to a raucous ovation from the Kentucky crowd. It also started an era when Calipari reached the Final Four four times and won the 2012 national championship.
Wall became a national icon as the Cats won their first 19 games, reached No. 1 in the national rankings and finished 35-3 after an upset loss to West Virginia in the Elite Eight.
“I think a lot of people didn’t think I would still come back once Cal left,” Wall said on the SEC Network+ broadcast during Madness. “This is the school I played for. Yes, Cal was my coach, and I love Cal to death, but this is the school that gave me an opportunity to get a D-I scholarship and reach my ultimate goal to play college basketball.
“This place, in my heart they’re always gonna have a place for me, and I’m always gonna be able to come back and support.”
Wall was an NBA All-Star five times in 11 seasons in the league before officially retiring over the summer. He was inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017, the first Calipari player to earn that honor.
Wall, 35, helped UK sophomore Collin Chandler defend his Big Blue Madness slam dunk title. Wall threw the lob pass to Chandler that the UK sophomore flushed into the basket to win the contest again.
A year earlier Chandler wore Pope’s No. 41 Kentucky jersey and jumped over both Mark and Lee Anne Pope to throw down the dunk to win the award.
Big Blue Madness
Photos by Vicky Graff
7 Responses
Pomeroy posted his preseason rankings this morning, and he has UK #4, 29-2. Projected losses at Florida and Tennessee. In addition, there are 9 close games on the schedule with projected UK margins of 5 points to 1 point, 3 non-conference and 6 SEC games. What UK does in those 9 games will determine how this season ends.
Lose them all, 20-11. Lose 5 of them, 24-7, Lose 2 of them, 27-4.
I believe 27-4 or better is the goal and should earn a #1 seed and put the Cats in a position to compete for the championship.
Go Big Blue.
Professor, I could be wearing rose colored glasses, but I don't see this team losing 4 games. I think they come through the non conference slate of games undefeated. Winning at Alabama, especially with it being the first SEC game, at Tennessee, and at Florida will be tough, but I can see them winning 2 of those 3. I think we win the SEC tourney and bring home No. 9. This "Noah's Ark" team will be hard to beat.
Collin Chandler is the best athlete in the team and when it's all said and done might be the highest draft pick on this Kentucky team maybe outside of JQ. Which I think ultimately Chandler becomes a lottery pick. I'm even going to go out on a limb and say Chandler has a better basketball career than Reed Sheppard. As far as Kentucky lore and his future NBA career. He plays great defense. He might be the best in game shooter on the team and he also plays above the rim and does all the little things that coaches love. He will be a 9-11 ppg type of guy this year. His junior year he will have a all American all sec season and will get drafted at least in the first round of the 2027 draft. I also get vibes that most of this team will be back next year as well. Everyone on this team will be even better next year. Johnson Williams Chandler Noah Garrison Potter Hawthorne Jelavic Moreno and possibly Lowe will all be here another 2 years. If we even just add Stokes in the recruiting class that's already more than 2 platoons. You can almost get the best transfer and the best kid in high school Stokes and you have a better team than this year. That's a even better edition than this years team. I would go after the best point guard in the portal. A point guard is usually much better with experience. This year we have a final 4 caliber team. They could also win the championship if JQ comes back better than last year I believe we can win the championship. If he doesn't we will have a hard time getting there., but its not impossible either. Chandler will be the guy you see the most Improvement out of with Noah not to far behind and Garrison also looks much more polished he will get better and better as the year goes on. He's ready to take the next step. If he improves on his passing, dribbling and rebounding we will be hard to handle even with JQ on the bench.
I wrote on here a week or so ago that I thought Chandler was going to show out this year.
Some people said he wasn't going to get enough playing time to help the team because we're so deep.
Wildwest, I was one of them, but Chandler looked good at Big Blue Madness. I think that will be the hardest call for Pope to make…Chandler over Aberdeen or vice versa.
There are 200 minutes in a regulation game. The starters…Lowe, Oweh, Dioubate, Jelavic, and Garrison…are going to grudgingly average 22 minutes a game…starters want at least 30 minutes of PT; but this year, for the benefit of the team, they will have to be happy with 22. The next 5 will average 15 minutes a game…they will want 20 or more but will have to be happy with 15. Who should they be? Chandler, Noah, Williams, Quaintance, and Moreno. I could see Quaintance starting to play limited minutes as early as the Purdue exhibition game…he will demand it and so will the pressure to win. He will just have to be happy coming off the bench. That leaves 15 minutes to be split among Aberdeen, Johnson, Hawthorne, and Potter. Aberdeen and Johnson are not going to be happy with 6 minutes of PT,,,they came to Kentucky expecting no less than 25, but unless someone gets hurt there just won't be enough minutes to go around thus leaving 3 minutes to be split between Hawthorne and Potter. This is based on Pope going with Chandler over Aberdeen and Noah over Johnson…it could end up being the other way around. Quaintance is the wild card. If he is able to play and produce in the exhibition games, he could very well take Jelavic's spot in the starting 5 as early as the Nichols game. I think Jelavic would be ok with that…but he is too good to be pushed out of the second 5.
Fast forward to next year. The starters will be Chandler, Noah, Williams, Jelavic, and Moreno. Lowe, Oweh, Dioubate, Garrison, and Quaintance will go to the NBA. Will Aberdeen and Johnson stick around to be in the second 5? I see them going to the portal. Potter and Hawthorne will be all too happy to be in the second 5. With that being said, will any of the top ranked high school kids this year be happy to be second stringers next year? I don't think so. Don't be surprised if Pope misses out on all of the high school hotshots and has to fill out the team through the portal again.
As long as the portal remains as is, Kentucky having a freshman starter might happen 1 year out of 3 or 4…and that means the high school hotshots will go play somewhere else. I think Johnson is already regretting coming to Kentucky. He would be a freshman starter almost anywhere else. At Kentucky, he won't be a starter until his junior year if he stays that long, but my guess is that he sees himself in the NBA by then. I hope I am wrong…he would be a force in the second 5 his sophomore year and a star as a starter his junior year. With that being said, it is kinda hard to go wrong with filling out your team with seasoned vets…especially if winning a national title is your goal.
Let's pretend JQ doesn't come back until Christmas. I just don't see Potter or Hawthorne receiving much playing time this year. I think Kam Williams will be put in every now and then to see if he has a hot hand.
That leaves 10 players splitting the time. Like last year, we only have 1 true point guard. I think Chandler is athletic enough to be Lowe's backup. I don't know much about Aberdeen's ball handling. Jasper might be able to handle it. IDK