Rick Pitino congratulates Mark Pope on win vs. Duke

Mark Pope and Kentucky reintroduced themselves to the college basketball world in a major way on Tuesday night, topping No. 6 Duke in a thrilling contest that could mean quite a bit come March.

And there was a special someone waiting to congratulate the ‘Cats on their victory following the game.

Former coach Rick Pitino, still very much a friend of the program, weighed in on the win on Twitter after the fact. It was a simple yet effective congratulations.

Congrats Cap. No surprise to me 💪🏼

— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) November 13, 2024

New Kentucky head coach Mark Pope, of course, was a captain on Pitino’s 1996 national championship team with the Wildcats. It’s one of the reasons he’s already been so thoroughly embraced by the Big Blue Nation.

Of course, winning games like Tuesday night’s will also help.

To that end, what Pope is building certainly seems sustainable at Kentucky. Already the Wildcats are playing lights out, with an effort that hasn’t always been seen from the team in recent years.

“Yeah, just I’m really proud of our guys. Our first half was pretty shaky,” Mark Pope said. “We had a lot of things that felt a little weird tonight, but their just fighting spirit just continued to come through. And I know that sounds so cliche, but in these games when you have two great teams going against each other it comes down to the connective tissue of the team and it comes down to like all the little, extra stuff.

“Our guys just kept battling. I was most proud of their resilience with their emotion. Their emotion was incredibly resilient. Everybody on the roster contributed.”

Kentucky will be riding high for a little while after the win, but Mark Pope has already promised to refocus his guys in a hurry. Moreover, he doesn’t want too much of the credit for the turnaround in such short order to go to himself.

The coach himself is reflecting the kind of selfless attitude he wants to see. It’s hardly a wonder Pitino made him a captain all those years back.

“Here’s the thing, is that I’ve learned in the last few years this is actually not about me at all,” Mark Pope said. “If it’s about me it’s too much and it’s too big. It’s about these boys. It’s about BBN. It’s about these guys coming and competing, these guys dreaming of wearing a Kentucky jersey one day and never thinking they would and actually being here now and doing it and being in this game, that’s what makes it special. I just get to observe and watch, and that’s pretty great.”