'It's a party': Mark Stoops' Waka Flocka Flame fandom grows after Kentucky victory

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops wouldn’t have necessarily labeled himself a huge Waka Flocka Flame fan prior to Saturday, even though the Billboard Hot 100 rapper wrote “Grove St. Party,” the unofficial anthem of the Kentucky Wildcats. And he’ll be the first to admit that.

But after meeting Waka Flocka Flame before the Wildcats took on a top-10 Florida Gators team, then pulling off a program-defining upset at home, the Wildcats coach — who saw Waka Flocka Flame storm the field with Kentucky students, then celebrate the victory in the locker room with players — has become a big fan. And Stoops was proud to admit that Thursday afternoon.

“Now ‘It’s a party’ is [playing] all the time,” Stoops said Thursday afternoon on SportsCenter with Matt Berrie, breaking down Kentucky’s win. “I tell you, I’m going to be putting [Waka Flocka] on there from now on though, after spending some time with him — and not just in the celebration afterwards. But meeting him pregame and just having him take in the whole atmosphere, he was an absolutely great dude. It was good spending time with him, really likable man and great music. So, I’m a big fan now.”

True to the lyrics of Waka Flocka’s “Grove St. Party,” it was a party in Lexington last Saturday. Stoops and the Wildcats advanced to 5-0 with a 20-13 victory over the then-No. 9 Florida Gators, moving Kentucky up to No. 16 on the latest AP poll. Perhaps more impressively, in beating Florida at home, Stoops picked up the program’s first such win since the Wildcats last beat the Gators at home in 1986.

Stoops is not one to live in the past, though; he’s remained humble in his celebration, merely stating that he “just hopes it propels” the Wildcats moving forward. On SportsCenter, it wasn’t much different — Stoops acknowledged that it was a benchmark victory for Kentucky, but he made it clear that the team has since shifted its focus to LSU.

“There’s no denying it was a very big win. I said that leading into the game, and of course afterwards. It’s an SEC East team, it’s a team we’ve had our troubles with, there’s no denying that,” Stoops said. “I’m really proud of the team’s effort this past week. As you know, it’s very shortlived in this conference. We have to turn around and welcome LSU this week, so that’s a pretty big deal.”

Stoops has shifted Kentucky’s focus to a home matchup with LSU this Saturday, a team that’s uncharacteristically struggling. Ed Orgeron has led the Tigers to a 3-2 record after losing to Auburn last week, and they’re 3.5-point underdogs heading into Lexington. But Stoops isn’t overlooking LSU, and his program takes after their head coach’s maturity.

“Come Monday, win, lose or draw, whether we’re happy with our performance or not real pleased with it, we’re coming in here and analyzing our mistakes, we’re cultivating the good things that we’re doing,” Stoops said of Kentucky’s mentality. “I feel we have a mature football team … we’re excited about the next opportunity. You have to turn around quick. So we better get it together, have a great week of preparation. I’m very confident in our team that we’re doing that.”