Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope makes strong first impression, rallies Wildcats fanbase

Kentucky basketball formally introduced its new head coach during a Sunday press conference at Rupp Arena, welcoming former Wildcats captain Mark Pope back to Lexington as the replacement to ex-coach John Calipari. In front of a capacity crowd, Pope laid the blueprint for his tenure, pointing to national championship expectations as he embarked on the third and biggest job of his coaching career.

While the hire initially drew mixed reactions from the Kentucky fanbase and national media, Pope’s inspired 45-minute speech and the unwavering support from the thousands of Wildcats fans in attendance turned UK’s momentum sharply in a positive direction.

The former BYU and Utah Valley coach returns to the program with which he won the 1996 national championship, and he takes over with a career record of 187-108 (.634), two NCAA Tournament appearances and four AP Top 25 Poll rankings in the last five years. Pope seeks to take Kentucky back to the promised land after its five-year absence from the second weekend of March Madness.

Here is the national reaction to Pope’s debut appearance as the Kentucky basketball coach:

There was not an empty seat inside Rupp Arena during Pope’s introductory press conference. Kentucky fans poured into the stands well ahead of the scheduled start time and delivered high energy throughout the event.

“We see these introductory press conferences all the time now,” Pope said as he stepped up to the microphone. “Nobody in the world has ever seen anything like this.”

Some of the biggest names in and around college basketball landed on Kentucky coaching search hot boards, including defending two-time national champion Dan Hurley, who among others shot down the idea of taking the Wildcats job. Instead, UK turned to a far less tested alumnus, but one who is a fast riser in the coaching industry.

Arkansas introduced earlier this week former Kentucky coach John Calipari as its next leader. Calipari departed from the Wildcats program after 15 years at the helm, in which he reached the Final Four in four separate years and won the 2012 national championship. None of his last five teams, however, advanced beyond the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and questions about his future grew louder last month when UK lost in the first round to No. 14-seed Oakland.

Pope began his college playing career at Washington and transferred to Kentucky ahead of the 1993-94 season. Following a year of ineligibility due to NCAA transfer regulations, he averaged 8.2 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Wildcats in 1994-95 and tallied 7.6 points and 5.2 rebounds during the national championship campaign. He spent six seasons in the NBA before embarking on a coaching career.

Few college basketball programs can claim as much success as Kentucky, which ranks No. 1 in all-time wins (2,398) and win percentage (.760). Eight NCAA Tournament championships, two pre-tournament era national titles and countless conference championships headline a laundry list of accomplishments for the proud Wildcats, who regularly churn through NBA talent as a recruiting powerhouse.

One of Kentucky’s top players from the 2023-24 season, Reed Sheppard, happens to have ties to Pope, as his father played alongside the new coach on the 1996 title team. The younger Sheppard has a decision to make about whether or not to return to Lexington for his sophomore year, and one of Pope’s first orders of business is to re-recruit the guard, who averaged 12.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals on 52.1% shooting from beyond the arc.

Kentucky lost a commitment from No. 20 overall recruit Karter Knox, and it saw No. 8 prospect Jayden Quaintance and No. 46 Somto Cyril request releases from their National Letters of Intent in the wake of Calipari’s exit. Four-star point guards Travis Perry and Boogie Fland remain signed, while four-star shooting guard Billy Richmond is still committed to the program.

Pope played under former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino during his national championship-winning career and hinted toward scheduling a game against Pitino’s St. John’s program.

“Mark Pope will go on to greatness,” Pitino said after his former player landed the job. “You can put it down. I guarantee you one thing: no one epitomizes the name ‘Kentucky’ on the front of the jersey than Mark Pope.”