Mark Pope focused on NCAA Tournament and SEC success

LEXINGTON — When Highlight Pope opens his eyes every morning, his first thought is not the position he now occupies. Even if it’s the one he always wanted. The one he always dreamed of: Kentucky’s head men’s basketball coach. So while it may not be considered Numero Uno, it’s not far from the top.

“You get so involved in just the work,” he told The Courier Journal last month. “This job takes a lot out of us, as it should be. But I know in my heart, in the back of my mind, I know that we are so blessed to have this opportunity.”

“This” is what he calls “the best court in all of basketball.” At every level. For now, Pope is in the honeymoon phase of his new gig. He hasn’t won any major competitions. He hasn’t lost any either. But he has won a fan base in the process was initially skeptical about his appointmentwhat about his lack of brand awareness national. And its lack of proven NCAA Tournament welfare. (He’s 0-2 in March Madness, for those counting.) His near-universal approval rating will remain until Britain suffers its first defeat against a team it is expected to beat. Or until it hits a rough patch in a schedule full of holes – in an SEC that is much more robust than all his predecessors had to pass through their first campaigns in Lexington at one time or another.

His job is clear – or as he often puts it since the takeover in April“the assignment.” To ensure continued success for college basketball’s winningest program in March. The Wild cats Haven’t won an SEC Tournament title since 2018. I haven’t made it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2019. I haven’t captured a conference crown since 2020. No more Final Fours since then 2015. No national championship banners since then 2012.

In some schools, none of these shortcomings would be a concern.

Those schools are not Kentucky.

“This is as meaningful as it gets in our sport: about being able to come here as a player or coach at the University of Kentucky,” Pope said. “And it just means more – and I like that it means more. I like the positive side of it. And I actually like the flip side of it too, because both are bigger.

“The top is higher and the bottom is bolder.”

Talking about goals is one thing. Actually achieving them is something else. Ask Pope exactly how the Wildcats will return to their place among the nation’s most elite programs, and he compares it to his own college career. He spent his first two seasons in Washingtonwhere he the Pac-10’s Freshman of the Year Award in 1991-92. A week after Pope’s second campaign ended, Washington coach Lynn Nance resigned. So Pope decided to transfer. He ended up at Kentucky and was then managed by a coach Rick Pitino.

“As I was evaluating where to go, I ultimately thought, ‘I want to get to the biggest stage possible, to the pinnacle of basketball, and see if we can do this,’” Pope said. “And so I think this is exactly where we live now. Every man who comes here says, ‘You know what? I want to go test myself at the highest altitude, where there’s (the) least oxygen, and see where I come from made and look what this is.

That’s why Pope has no time to talk about putting his own stamp on Britain.

“Every coach and every player has had the opportunity to make their mark on this program that is bigger than all of us,” he said. “And that to me is perfection. That opportunity is the greatest opportunity in the world.”

A school that is different from any school in the entire country. When Pope reflects on his stints as a head coach elsewhere (BYU and Utah Valley) and his time as an assistant (at Georgia, Wake Forest and BYU), he acknowledged that the sport itself doesn’t change. Basketball, he said, is “a people business.” Not the X’s and the O’s. Or schematic genius. His magnetic personality and ability to connect with others would work whether he is coaching UK or in the United Kingdom.

“There’s no one who walks into this job and says, ‘Yes, I’m ready,’ because this is the pinnacle,” he said. “There’s no program at this level. There’s no fan base and there’s no history and tradition – it’s just its own unique beast. And so you won’t know until you get there. And we’re definitely on a steep slope.” learning curve to learn to do this job great – and that learning process can continue every day I’m here for the remainder of my term.

Even if Pope admits nothing can prepare someone to be Kentucky’s coach, the fact he played for the Wildcats is a plus. He was team captain for one of the most endearing teams in program history: the selection of 1995-1996known as ‘The Untouchables’, who rolled to a national title with a 34-2 record.

“We’ve had a few coaches here who struggled because they didn’t really understand the magnitude of this job,” Britain said Rex Kapman told The Courier Journal after Pope’s introductory press conference in April. “All the guys who have done a great job here have understood the mission, and I don’t think we have anyone who understands that mission better than Mark.”

Ultimately, Pope’s success – or failure – in Kentucky will not be difficult to define. It comes down to wins and losses. And titles. If more banners are not stuck Rupp Arena‘s rafters, which would tell everyone what they need to know about his tenure.

But getting to that point is what Pope will enjoy most.

For Pope, it’s less about the destination and more about the journey.

If players do what they need to do, prosperity will inevitably follow.

“I know the guys I can coach, right? And the guys who can make the team we coach function at a high level,” he said. “There are some great people and some great athletes and some great players who just aren’t going to work out the way we do – and that’s fine. There’s no judgment there. But for us, I’m telling you: you can go through your career as a basketball player and you can actually do it on your own. And you can do it if you haven’t lifted up the people around you and you haven’t formed bonds that this game begs you to form , but you can also finish your career yourself.”

Pope has seen that happen all too often. A great player.

But nothing more. Someone who travels alone.

“And I feel a little bit sore about those guys because they may have had epic careers in college and in the NBA, made a lot of money and did a lot of things,” he said. “And then they ended their career and they end up sharing it with themselves. And the guys who do that, man, they missed the lifeblood – the joy, the juice, the magic, the karma and the charisma and the beautiful relationships of this game.

“Because this game, if you treat it right, it tears you wide open and it tears your teammate wide open. And then you get to share something that you really have no other option to share with virtually every other human being on the planet. ”

His players have picked up that ethos. Even though there are 12 newcomersnone of whom have ever played together before, they promise they have never been more connected.

“We’re all about winning,” the guard said Kerr Kriisawho is in his third college in five years as a collegian after stops in Arizona and West Virginia. “No one is here thinking about the NBA draft or next year or, ‘I have to do well individually to be somewhere next year.’ “I think everyone is here for what’s going to happen in practice tomorrow, who we’re going to play next week and how we can beat them.”

It doesn’t hurt that Pope is so easy to play for. Jaxson Robinson is the only player on this season’s team who can comment on that, as he was suiting up for Pope the past two seasons at BYU.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into coach Pope’s office, not to talk basketball, but he just comes to check on us,” Robinson said. “And also just that he always tells the truth. You can’t ask for more than a coach who tells you the truth and lets you know what you need to do to get better. And I think Coach Pope does that with every coach. ” its players and coaches.

“He is the best coach in that regard.”

Pope himself likes to downplay the attention drawn to him. It’s always about the collective, not the individual.

“Not only do you suffer and sacrifice for yourself, but you suffer and sacrifice and celebrate and care about a team and about a team? It’s like it’s the best thing in sports,” he said. “And you can actually play sports at a high level and miss it.”

Every season he wants to put together a British squad that the fanbase loves.

“If you go to a team that functions together, they just get enough care where they actually are, considering the well-being of their guys and they fight together? You know what happens?” Pope said. “Actually, believe it or not, I’m going to say something terrible: win or – on one occasion – lose, the 22,000 people in Rupp Arena will walk out of the gym and be inspired.

“They say, ‘I love these guys because I see something magical on the floor. I not only see competition on the floor and winning on the floor, but I see love, passion and caring’ and relationship. And even though they identify we might not like it when we see it, we love it, man. It’s what we love as fans.'”

Of course, Kentucky fans love to win, too.

It’s just that in Pope’s endlessly optimistic worldview, selflessness comes before it.

“That’s why it’s so important for us to diagnose that (about a player) very early,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Do you have it in your world right now to care about anything more than yourself?’ And if you do, you’re one of our guys, man, let’s make some magic happen.

Reach Kentucky basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.