John Pelphrey Respects Rupp Arena, Proud of Mark Pope

Mark Pope with John Pelphrey after Wednesday's win. (Vicky Graff Photo)

John Pelphrey was part of a lot of wins at Rupp Arena playing for Kentucky and is so beloved for his play with “The Unforgettables” that lost to Duke in the 1992 NCAA Tournament East Region final. The former Paintsville High School star has his jersey hanging in Rupp Arena and he received a warm welcome from Big Blue fans Wednesday night even though he was coaching Tennessee Tech.

His team played well early and even led Kentucky before the Wildcats took over and won 104-54 in Pelphrey’s homecoming.

Even after the loss, Pelphrey could not hide his love for Kentucky.

“I think we are super proud of Mark (Pope)  and I cannot tell you how it feels to have one of our own here. That is certainly – I love our past and am appreciative that it is respected and revered – but to have a national championship guy in that seat, somebody that understands the respect that this place deserves,” Pelphrey said.

“This is a place that respects its past so much that it hopefully inspires the future. I was one of those guys. I watched guys do it so well that I wanted to do it someday. I am so happy that he is here.”

What about the team Pope has?

“The team is deep. The team is skilled. I think they have a tremendous upside. They will not be the same team 30 days from now, 60 days from now. They are going to continue to get better and better and better,” Pelphrey said.

“I think they can play different ways. Clearly they are still trying to find themselves. Tonight they didn’t have one of their toughest guys (Mo Dioubate) out there. The Cats are going to have a good year.”

Pelphrey said he felt “humbled” to have experienced what he did as a player at Kentucky and that made Wednesday night difficult at times.

“It is emotional, it really is. I wanted to get these guys up here early so that we wouldn’t lose to the building – this cathedral, this shrine of college basketball. I thought it worked. I thought our guys came out very comfortable and confident. We played the best 15-16 minutes we have played all year on both ends of the floor,” Pelphrey said.

“It came a point in time where the ball just would not go in the basket. It was just flying around and we were getting some great looks and it just didn’t go in and we flinched just like we did the other night on the road. We were able to recover the other night, but we were dealing with a totally different opponent. I didn’t think the second half that we played very well, so give Kentucky credit for that.”