Mark Pope Articles - Page 2

Mark Pope is now the head coach of the Kentucky basketball team, but he used to be a player for the Wildcats back in the day. When Pope played at Kentucky, he was coached by current St. John’s basketball coach Rick Pitino. Pitino and Pope won a national championship with the Wildcats in 1996, and […]

Jayden Quaintance has had a roller-coaster college basketball career. He initially signed a national letter of intent to play at Kentucky, but started his career at Arizona State after John Calipari left Kentucky basketball. An ACL tear cut Quaintance’s season short, and he transferred to Kentucky. Quaintance had knee surgery in March when Arizona State’s […]

The SEC dominated college basketball this season, culminating in an NCAA Tournament record of 14 out of 16 teams making the tournament. Florida won a thriller against the Houston Cougars in the National Championship and won their third championship ever as a program. Denzel Aberdeen was a key piece for the Gators off the bench, […]

Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope is a believer in his team. Pope says the Kentucky team should be even better this season, following the announcement that Otega Oweh is coming back. Oweh recently withdrew his name from the NBA Draft to come back to Lexington. “He’s going to grow. He’s going to grow exponentially again,” […]

Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball guard Otega Oweh could have stayed in the NBA Draft and played professionally next season. Instead, he’s headed back to Lexington with All-American expectations, and no one was more excited about it than his head coach. Oweh put Kentucky coach Mark Pope on the spot on Sunday, putting a mic and […]

Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope knows first-hand what it’s like to play for the Wildcats. Pope played at Kentucky from 1994-96 and was a team captain on the Wildcats’ 1996 national championship team. So when he talks about sacrifice, he knows what he’s talking about. “There’s nowhere like this, and if you come in […]

Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope is giving a helping hand to his local communities. Pope was seen helping victims of recent tornadoes that ripped through the state. Pope was photographed helping to remove a tree from the roof of a house in London, Kentucky. The photo was shared on X by the account Cats Coverage. […]

The Kentucky basketball team picked up an intriguing commitment from the college basketball transfer portal on Monday. Former Miami Ohio center Reece Potter announced that he will play for Mark Pope and the Wildcats next season. Potter has spent the last two seasons playing for the RedHawks, and at 7’1″, he is a force down […]

The Kentucky basketball team will be hosting an important college basketball transfer portal target as Rylan Griffen will be on campus soon. Griffen is in the transfer portal for the second time in his college career as he started his career at Alabama before leaving for Kansas. Griffen spent the first two years of his […]

Following a decent 2024-25 season for Kentucky in the first year with Mark Pope at the helm as head coach, the Wildcats lost a prized commit as four-star guard Acaden Lewis made the decision to re-open his recruitment and decommit from Kentucky. Amid his decision, Lewis released a message to Pope and to the program, […]

In just one year at the helm, Mark Pope has already made a lasting impact on the Kentucky basketball program. While the Wildcats’ season still ended in the third round of the NCAA Tournament, Pope’s impact was felt by every member of the team. He had a particularly resounding influence on one of his first […]

Kentucky basketball received a piece of good news as the hours dwindle down for its Sweet Sixteen matchup against Tennessee on Friday in the NCAA Tournament. One of the most physical forwards in the transfer portal has announced his commitment to join the program. Tulane freshman Kam Williams will join the Wildcats in 2025, per […]

In his first season as head coach, Mark Pope has led Kentucky basketball to the Sweet 16 after defeating Illinois. While Pope joked about being fired after winning, he made some unique history after Sunday’s game. Advancing to the Sweet 16 brought out a new first for the Wildcats. This was the first time that […]

Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope has his first March Madness win with the Wildcats. Kentucky advanced after defeating Troy on Friday, 76-57. Pope made a joke after picking up the victory. “It means that Mitch (Barnhart) isn’t going to fire me until Sunday or whenever play again,” Pope said postgame, per 247 Sports. Pope is […]

If daylight savings, or the copious amounts of green shamrocks, were any indication.. That’s right, the Madness has arrived. (“Alexa, queue Future.”) After spending the last week or so fully immersed in the scouting of potential vanquishers of March, Selection Sunday revealed which teams made the NCAA Tournament, and the entertaining matchups throughout the 68-team […]

Kentucky basketball has had a few extra days off to rest before the NCAA Tournament after getting smashed by Alabama in the SEC tournament quarterfinals on Friday night by a score of 99-70. During that game, Mark Pope and company severely missed point guard Lamont Butler, who was out with a shoulder injury. Butler re-aggravated […]

The first season under Mark Pope has been an odd one for Kentucky basketball. The Wildcats have dealt with injuries all while piecing a completely new roster together after the departure of John Calipari, but they are still headed for the NCAA Tournament. While Kentucky doesn’t have the same NBA talent on its roster that […]

The Kentucky basketball team played their final home game of the regular season on Tuesday night as they took down LSU in dominant fashion. The Tigers led 2-0 early in the game, and they would never see a lead again. The Wildcats went on a 15-2 run after that, and the game was pretty much […]

Kentucky basketball guard Jaxson Robinson just received a very discouraging injury update. While the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer was already not set to play against No. 1 Auburn today, the latest news is a significant blow to head coach Mark Pope and his team’s quest for a national championship. The Wildcats are now a few games […]

Kentucky basketball head coach Mark Pope already has the challenge of steering his squad through a prominent SEC field. But it appears that another topic has sparked discussion. In his media availability on Friday, Pope expressed his displeasure with the length of the regular season, and offered a thorough solution, via Tres Terrell of Cats […]

Kentucky basketball fell short against Alabama once again on Saturday in another high-scoring affair. Despite a strong start by Mark Pope and the Wildcats, the Crimson Tide rallied back late in the first half and ran away with the game in a 96-83 win in Tuscaloosa. Kentucky is still fighting an uphill battle while they […]

Kentucky basketball head coach Mark Pope praised senior forward Andrew Carr for his performance in the win over Vanderbilt. The No. 17 Wildcats dominated what was supposed to be a close affair at home against their SEC rival. Carr, who was one of the best players on the team earlier this season, looked like himself […]

Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope is opening up about some of the things that went wrong for his team Saturday against Texas. The Wildcats dropped a close game, 82-78, to the Longhorns. Pope says his team just didn’t get the job done when it really counted. Kentucky had a late lead, but lost it in […]

Coaches and now announcers are falling victim to a viral joke about the SEC being .500 in basketball conference play. It’s the best conference in basketball this year, and when some people heard that stat, they failed to realize that it is quite literally impossible for a conference to not be .500 in conference play. […]

Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope is undefeated against Tennessee, per Kentucky Insider. Pope is now 8-0 against the Volunteers, after his team defeated Tennessee Tuesday 75-64. Pope is now 2-0 against Tennessee as a coach, and 6-0 against them as a player. That’s a pretty remarkable run for the Wildcats coach, who is in his […]

After the Kentucky basketball lost their second straight against the Ole Miss Rebels, 98-84, head coach Mark Pope would speak about his team’s performance. Coming off the loss where Arkansas Razorbacks’ John Calipari returned to face Kentucky basketball, the game against Ole Miss is significant as it proves to be a reality check for the […]

Kentucky basketball head coach Mark Pope did not hold back after his team’s 98-84 loss at No. 25 Ole Miss. The Wildcats’ second straight defeat comes after an emotional home loss to unranked Arkansas. The No. 14 team in the country is now 15-7 overall and a disappointing 4-5 in SEC play. Losing four out […]

Kentucky basketball got a mixed bag of injury updates ahead of Saturday’s clash with Arkansas. Former Wildcats’ head coach John Calipari is returning to Rupp Arena in one of the season’s most anticipated games. The Razorbacks desperately need a signature win to get back in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament bid. On the other […]

The Kentucky basketball team got a massive win over No. 8 Tennessee, 78-73, on Tuesday in Knoxville. It was a tough road atmosphere, but the Wildcats managed to survive with another statement win and their 15th victory of the season.  First-year Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope has gotten off to a strong start in Lexington, […]

Kentucky basketball has looked like one of the best teams in college basketball at times this season, but just about nobody is immune to the absolute gauntlet that is SEC basketball this season. Mark Pope and company came into a huge matchup with No. 8 Tennessee on Tuesday night at just 3-3 in conference play […]

The honeymoon period is officially over for Mark Pope at his alma mater, the University of Kentucky. The 1996 NCAA champion got off to a hot start to begin his coaching tenure at Kentucky, storming out to a 12-2 start which included wins over Duke, Gonzaga, Louisville and Florida, but since, the Wildcats have dropped […]

One of the best games of the college basketball season took place on Saturday as Nate Oats and No. 4 Alabama went on the road to Rupp Arena to take on Mark Pope and No. 8 Kentucky in Lexington. The two teams battled back and forth in a high-scoring affair before Alabama eventually made a […]

The Kentucky basketball team put out another impressive performance on Tuesday night as they easily took care of business at home against Texas A&M. The Aggies played well in the first half and they had a seven-point lead at one point, but the Wildcats closed the half strong and controlled the second half to earn […]

One of the best rivalries in college basketball is between Kentucky and Louisville. It’s been a little lopsided in recent seasons though as Kentucky has taken 12 of the last 15 meetings between the two teams as Louisville has hit a recent down period. The latest installment of the rivalry occurred on Saturday with Lamont […]

The Kentucky basketball team hosted Colgate on Wednesday night and it was expected to be an easy win for the Wildcats. When Kentucky got out to a 17-0 lead in front of their home crowd, it really looked like it was going to be an easy win. However, Colgate fought back and made it close, […]

Kentucky basketball was hit with some tough injury news after its epic win over No. 7 Gonzaga. Head coach Mark Pope picked up another signature victory to start his first year in Lexington. The No. 4 Wildcats rallied from a 50-34 halftime deficit to win the “Battle in Seattle” in a 90-89 overtime classic. Pope’s […]

It’s been five years since the Kentucky Wildcats reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and while for many programs that may not seem like too long of a drought, in Lexington, this is an eternity. In fact, since the Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, this is the longest stretch Kentucky has […]

Kentucky basketball suffered its first loss of the season on Tuesday, a 70-66 upset at Clemson. Following the shocking defeat, Wildcats head coach Mark Pope gave his players a reality check about the hostile environments they’ll face the rest of this season. “Well, it’s Kentucky, you know? It’s everyone’s Super Bowl,” Pope told reporters. “So […]

The Champions Classic did not disappoint on Tuesday night as we got to take in two great matchups between four storied programs. First, #1 Kansas took down Michigan State in a close battle, and then we watched the Kentucky basketball team go to battle against Duke. This was the game that most people were excited […]