Nick Mingione reveals how he wants this Kentucky team to be remembered

Kentucky finished 1-2 during its first-ever stay in Omaha over the past week. Defeating NC State in walk-off fashion to begin their College World Series journey, the Wildcats were eliminated and left disappointed after losing their next two matchups.

Despite the outcome, head coach Nick Mingione believes this Kentucky team will forever be remembered as winners.

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“I’ve been telling everybody all year, they’re just winners, literally in everything they do, they just — you can coach them in any way,” Mingione said. “You challenge them; they respond. You love on them; they love you back. You get on to them; they look you in the eye and say, yes, sir.

“They literally have done everything from the way we talk about the student/person/player, in our program, they’ve crushed it in the classroom. They’re unbelievable. Like our staff members that have children just telling me yesterday, Coach, watch these guys get on the floor and play with our kids and do all this. They’re just winners and it’s something we talk about in our program all the time. We talk about being a family. We were that.”

Mingione continued, explaining that Kentucky wasn’t just a winner in the sense that the Wildcats finished the season with a 46-16 record — the best for a Kentucky baseball team ever. As the Bat ‘Cats took the entire nation by storm with their unique offensive approach, the Wildcats were able to secure their first-ever share of an SEC regular season championship before making its debut in Omaha last week.

Not only did their hard work pay off on the field, but Mingione said his group are winners off the field regarding the way they carried themselves and how they remained disciplined in the weight room and with their diets.

“All of this has to do with winning,” he continued. “They’ve been unbelievable and their development is really important to us.

“I can look you all in the eye today and tell you, that we’ve done the best job we could to develop in every single area of their life, and therefore they’ve made history, and I just want everybody to know what kind of winners they are.”

No matter which way you look at it, the 2024 Bat ‘Cats will be remembered for breaking down the wall that once separated Kentucky baseball from Charles Schwab Field Omaha. Next season, they’ll look to start making the College World Series an annual trip.