Kentucky is ‘100% full speed ahead’ to open summer practice

Mark Pope speaks to his players during a practice - Photo by Tyler Ruth | UK Athletics

Mark Pope has coached his first practice at Kentucky, the Wildcats coming together on Monday for their collective on-court debuts in blue and white. Teams are allowed four hours of instruction per week across eight weeks throughout the summer, all 12 players suiting up inside the Joe Craft Center for day one, Pope wanting to make the most out of each opportunity.

His message? Learn quickly, play fast and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Practices may feel like a sprint, but the process overall is a marathon to prepare for the season.

“Be creative and figure it out. Today, we’re going to go super fast,” Pope told the team ahead of practice No. 1. “I’m going to throw a ton of terms at you guys. You guys know all the concepts, you just don’t know my words for them. We’re gonna go fast. I want you to take all of the information you can and I want you to go 100 percent, full speed ahead, OK?

“If we make mistakes, we’ll correct them. That’s what we do out here. We go out on the practice court and we make mistakes. OK? Ton of joy, ton of juice? Let’s go. Come on, boys.”

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"100% full speed ahead"

More from Practice No. 1 #ComingSoon 🎥 pic.twitter.com/OOKB1kJ4Re
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) June 17, 2024

Kentucky shared a massive photo gallery of the team’s first practice Monday afternoon, one loaded with action shots of everyone on the roster, all repping their new uniform numbers as Wildcats.

Take a look at the now-confirmed jersey numbers below:

Ansley Almonor – No. 15
Koby Brea – No. 4
Lamont Butler – No. 1
Andrew Carr – No. 7
Collin Chandler – No. 5
Grant Darbyshire – No. 13
Brandon Garrison – No. 10
Walker Horn – No. 21
Kerr Kriisa – No. 77
Trent Noah – No. 9
Otega Oweh – No. 00
Travis Perry – No. 11
Jaxson Robinson – No. 2
Amari Williams – No. 22

And just a few of the photos shared by UK Athletics to wrap up day one:

Team. Kentucky men’s basketball practice. Photo by Anastasia Panaretos | UK Athletics

My personal favorite: Pope’s custom denim Converse All Star BB Trilliant CX sneakers — maybe a sign of more retro throwback gear to come? We’re going to speak it into existence.