Three takeaways from UK basketball coach Mark Pope’s introductory press conference
Three takeaways from Mark Pope’s introductory press conference as new Kentucky men’s basketball coach.
1. The amazing Rupp Arena crowd
When UK announced that Mark Pope’s introductory press conference would be held at Rupp Arena on Sunday afternoon, you knew — this being Kentucky basketball — there would be a sizable crowd attending.
When the Central Bank Center announced it would be opening up sections 11 through 17 of Rupp Arena for fans, you knew that was probably a conservative estimation concerning the interest in the new hire. You just didn’t realize how conservative.
“Nobody in the world has seen anything like this,” Pope said when he took the stage.
Rupp Arena was packed. Not just packed — there were fans turned away who couldn’t get in. Not just packed, but packed with Kentucky basketball fans who had come to cheer and chant and celebrate the return of one of their own.
You had to be inside the place to hear the roar when that “Kentucky Wildcats” bus pulled onto the floor of Rupp Arena, just like what happened in 1996 when that Kentucky team — with Mark Pope as a member — returned from New Jersey to celebrate a national championship and hang another banner.
“You’re a part of this,” Pope told the crowd, “because this video is going to every single recruit.”
2. Mark Pope gets it
At Kentucky, John Calipari won a national championship and took teams to four Final Fours, but there were things under Coach Cal’s direction that the fan base never embraced. One-and-done. The idea of the “players first program.” The constant talk of the NBA and what Kentucky players did in the NBA.
Pope didn’t do any of that Sunday.
“Cal designed the program his way,” UK AD Mitch Banhart said afterward. “Mark’s the coach now. He’s going to design it his way.”
Pope talked about the history of the program, evident by including former Kentucky players with him on the bus that entered Rupp. He talked about avoiding entitlement — “Entitlement leads to sorrow and depression and gratitude leads to joy,” he said — and how much his Kentucky jersey meant to him. He talked about going to the Maui Invitational, something that happened only once under Calipari. He talked about in-state recruiting and recruiting players that fit his system and who were honored to play for Kentucky.
Most of all, he didn’t shy away from expectations.
“I understand the assignment,” Pope said. “We are here to win championships.”
3. Mitch Barnhart set the tone
Initially, UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart took a lot of heat for hiring Pope. A large section of the Big Blue Nation wanted a big name, a brand name, a coach who had already won a national championship. Afterward, Barnhart admitted he had offered the job to Scott Drew first but said that Pope knew that.
But in Barnhart’s remarks on the podium, it wasn’t hard to see his intent, that he found merit in those who believed that the program had veered away from what it meant to the state and the fan base and what it should be about.
While introducing Pope, Mitch said this, “It’s time for us to find our way back.”
He also said this of Pope, “He will guide us back to our heart.”
Sunday was about the heart of Kentucky basketball, now led by a former player on a national championship team who understands what the program should be all about and what it needs to do.
Said Pope, “I may be somewhere between bold and dumb, but I think we can do it.”
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