KSR Today: Mark Pope, Nate Bargatze, Mark Stoops, John Legend, and the Bat Cats

Happy Saturday morning to you, Big Blue Nation. Did anyone catch Nate Bargatze last night at Rupp Arena? One of the funniest dudes on the planet took center court in Lexington but first, he took a few minutes to meet Kentucky’s new basketball coach, Mark Pope.

Who needs Drake when you have the guy who waxes poetic about the struggles of fighting a chimpanzee at the county fair in the pre-Internet era? I guarantee Nate hasn’t lost a public shaming contest to another comedian.

Bargatze is a big basketball fan and, according to Pope’s Twitter account, he can also ball. I had the privilege of watching him on tour in Phoenix when he was filming his Netflix special just a few weeks ago at another basketball arena. The guy gets his shots up in his downtime.

It is unclear what these two discussed, but I can promise you it did not involve any curse words.

.@natebargatze not only funny…but got mad game! So cool to have him get loose at Joe Craft Center today…before he brings down the house @Rupp_Arena tonight!! pic.twitter.com/5dg3Fy6aCv

— Mark Pope (@CoachMarkPope) May 10, 2024

Meanwhile, John Legend played at a benefit on Friday for the 15 Club subscribers. Yes, the real John Legend. For those lucky enough to pull off the Bargatze-Legend double-header, it was quite the night in Lexington.

John Legend is Cat 😼@The15Club_nil pic.twitter.com/sFsRfhWYx4

— Dylan Ballard (@DylanBallard_UK) May 11, 2024

Now, to the news.

Bat Cats win WILD 12-11 extra-innings game against Florida

After a near two-and-a-half-hour rain delay, No. 4 Kentucky toppled Florida 12-11 in a wild series opener Friday night.

In a game full of frustrating Wildcat self-inflicted wounds, Kentucky crawled back from the dead in the ninth inning. Down to their final two outs, Ryan Nicholson‘s second home run of the game propelled the Cats to an improbable 9-8 lead. Shout out to the Florida announcer when Nicholson hit the go-ahead homer in the top of the 9th for the quote of the night. “Uh oh. It may be. It is. Gone.”

Florida however notched back-to-back-to-back singles in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game to extra innings.

Nick Lopez was the hero for the Cats in extras, ripping a two-out three-run double to put the Cats ahead 12-9. Jac Caglianone and Colby Shelton blasted solo home runs to pull the Gators within one in the bottom of the 10th, but Kentucky right-hander Ryan Hagenow forced a game-ending double play to secure the win.

The Cats improve to 36-10 (19-6) and will remain at least a game ahead of Arkansas and Tennessee atop the SEC standings.

Game 2 of the series will start at noon today on the SEC network.

Pope loves himself some roster depth

When Mark Pope won the National Title under Rick Pitino in 1996, 11 players averaged at least nine minutes per game and no one averaged over 27. That type of depth has been rare in the Calipari era, with the best teams not going more than seven or eight deep. Even in the platoon year, injuries and production shortened the rotation quite a bit by the end of the season.

With the roster Pope has constructed for 2024-25, we may see a call back to plenty of bodies on the basketball court.

Pope broke down his 10-man roster with Alan Cutler on the radio and the superlatives were flying with reckless abandon. Lamont Butler? Winner. Collin Chandler? Incredibly special. Otega Oweh? BBN will love him. The praise went on and on.

What is incredible is that Pope likely isn’t done quite yet. With Jaxson Robinson, Chaz Lanier, and Wooga Poplar weighing their NBA decisions while sitting in good standing with Kentucky, Pope is looking to stack one of the deepest rosters the Wildcats have seen since 2015.

Kerr Kriisa will wear No. 77, a number Luka Doncic stole from him

If you thought Mark Pope was going to bring in a roster full of guys ready to burst out into a Broadway-style song and dance at any given moment, Kerr Kriisa should throw an immediate wrench to that LDS stereotype. In fact, Kriisa is going to bring the type of attitude you love to have on your team, but hate going up against.

Don’t believe me? Look no further than his jersey number. The NCAA changed the rules last year to allow digits greater than five to be worn on college jerseys, but no Wildcat last season took them up on the newfound allowance. Kriisa, though, will don 77, but don’t think for a second it’s after the NBA All-Star, Luka Doncic. It’s the opposite.

Pope spoke of Kriisa’s jersey choosing:

“We did a photoshoot and we gave him a jersey, and in this conversation, he said he was gonna be No. 77. My GA actually made the comment, said, ‘Oh, you’re a huge Luka Doncic fan?’ And he was like, ‘No! I had this number way before Luka started wearing it! He took it from me!’” Pope said of Kriisa. “Honest to goodness, that just happened not too long ago, with no hesitation. ‘No, Luka took my number, man. What are you talking about?’”

We have no proof to argue against his claim, therefore we are going to run with it as fact and say Luka Doncic did steal the number from Kriisa. He’s taking it upon himself to take it right back and wear it with dignity with Kentucky across his chest.

Call me weird, but I love number selection season, and it is off to a great start.

Mark Pope is not the only new basketball coach garnering respect for Kentucky

Mark Pope has been getting all of the love lately, but Kentucky’s other new basketball headman, Kenny Brooks, has been quietly making a ton of noise himself over on the women’s side of the Craft Center. One of those new additions, Talia Goodman, sat down with KSR to give some insight into how much respect Kentucky has gained in a short amount of time.

“As a coach, he’s bringing more respect over to Kentucky than they’ve had,” Talia noted. “Obviously, [Kentucky] had that run a few years ago, but I think he’s definitely playing a part in the national attention that Kentucky is getting now.”

Hopefully, what has been the most exciting offseason in several years can also translate to being the best regular season and postseason in several years as well.

More Kentucky News and Views on the KSR YouTube Channel

Kentucky Sports Radio has expanded its coverage of the Wildcats in the most ridiculous manner possible on our YouTube Channel. Here you will be able to find interviews with coaches and players, as well as commentary from the KSR crew. From Rapid Reactions following big events to our lengthy lineup of live shows, subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel to stay up to date on everything happening around the Big Blue Nation.