Mark Pope explains first order of business at Kentucky

New Kentucky coach Mark Pope has gotten underway in his job of turning things around with the Wildcats, beginning to work the NCAA transfer portal and the recruiting ranks.

Pope also joined ESPN’s SportsCenter on Wednesday afternoon, giving the program a little extra free publicity.

He outlined what it will take to get Kentucky back to the previous heights it achieved. The first order of business is simply knowing what he’s gotten himself into.

“I think the first up is knowing what the assignment is, right?” Mark Pope said. “We talked about this in the press conference, it’s tradition and it’s universal that when you accept a new head coaching job you try and manage expectations and kind of set an achievable standard, and that just doesn’t exist at the University of Kentucky.

“There’s one standard and it never changes, and that’s if you hang banners you’re successful and if you don’t you’re not. That’s one of the things that makes this place special, and knowing that going in and embracing that going in is really a part of what we do.”

Pope’s biggest immediate challenge will be building a competent roster. A good number of players have decided to head elsewhere, hitting the NCAA transfer portal to seek a new opportunity. Some will likely follow former coach John Calipari to Arkansas, like Zvonimir Ivisic did.

But Kentucky itself is always a big draw for top players, in part because of what the program can offer.

And that was on full display on Sunday afternoon when the Wildcats fans packed Rupp Arena and a few thousand were left outside the arena as Pope hosted his introductory press conference.

Pope and other teammates from the 1996 national championship team at Kentucky rode into the arena in a bus, getting the rock star treatment.

“It’s amazing. I say this all the time, especially recruiting for the last few days, but I don’t know anywhere else that you can go and work hard with a team and hang a banner and then walk back into the gym 30 years later and that’s the reception you get,” Mark Pope said. “That is unique to BBN and the Kentucky faithful and it just is an amazing program to be a part of. There’s nothing like it.”

There’s nothing quite like the pressure, either. But Pope, of all people, should be well aware of that by this point.