LOOK: Kentucky earns visit from National Guard (and Cameron Mills) at practice

It’s the first week of practice for Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats, one designed to lay the foundation of what’s to come in year one. The new head coach started the week saying he’d be throwing a lot at his roster knowing they’d make mistakes early, but learn from them and become a better all-around team in the long run as a result.

Some of the early priorities? Defense and transition offense, catch-and-shoot threes something Pope will take “every possession all game.”

“I love you attacking, I love you punching, and I love you skipping,” he told the squad. “I love all those things.”

As the first week of eight total this summer wraps up, Kentucky had some special guests in attendance for practice on Thursday. For starters, in-state standouts Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno watched on unofficial visits to Lexington — the second of the week for the former.

Elsewhere, the Kentucky National Guard stopped by, the Wildcats thanking them for their service, led by Lamont Butler.

“It’s going to be a fun year,” he told them.

Thank you, @kentuckyguard, for visiting practice. Was an honor to have you visit.

Also nice to meet Andreas Märtson, here participating in a Military Reserve Exchange Program, who played against Kerr Kriisa in Estonia. pic.twitter.com/56YKcx029i

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) June 20, 2024

How about another special guest — a familiar face for Big Blue Nation at that? Cameron Mills, who played at Kentucky from 1994-98 while racking up 365 total points and 81 made 3-pointers in four seasons.

“Loved having (Cameron Mills) at practice today,” the basketball program wrote on social media, adding a photo with Pope’s arm wrapped around his former teammate.

Loved having @CameronMillz at practice today. #GoBigBlue! pic.twitter.com/LOWIvYTx1O

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) June 20, 2024

Not a bad way to spend a Thursday, all of the big-time visitors coming out. Now we just need another behind-the-scenes clip showing what happened on the court.