The buzz and morale with the Kentucky basketball program is as high and authentic as it’s been in quite some time.
Sure, former head coach John Calipari brought in top-tier recruiting classes that garnered high preseason rankings. However, almost every Kentucky fan seemed to be on the same page knowing the postseason probably wouldn’t go well.
With former national title winner (as a player) and new head coach of Kentucky Mark Pope running the show, fans appear to have a lot more confidence that every game will be played to win instead of just caring about the games played in late March.
Pope also isn’t shying away from the early expectation to be successful in Lexington.
You could say that a winning record, a win or two in the SEC Tournament and an appearance in the SEC Tournament would be quite the year for Pope’s first season — especially considering how many transfer portal players he has and how building their chemistry on and off the basketball court won’t simply happen over night.
But instead, Pope has come out of the gate by verbally acknowledging Kentucky hangs national championship banners in the rafters of Rupp Arena and that will be his job while holding his position as head coach of the Wildcats (talk about enjoying the pressure).
Pope isn’t holding back or wasting any time on his mission to etch his name in the history books of his alma mater. His goal is to bring the Big Blue Nation back to a territory they haven’t seen in a decade — a Final Four and the opportunity to play for banner No. 9.
Tweet of the Day
Just one more day.
