Mark Pope: "A word can't be wasted" during Kentucky summer practices

Last year at SEC Media Days we hooked a big fish with a one-on-one interview with Mark Stoops. This year I spoke with Mark Pope. Weird, right?

The Kentucky basketball coach was kind enough to spend some time talking ball on Kentucky Roll Call, my radio show with TJ Walker. Naturally, I can’t resist the urge to ask a somewhat off-the-wall question, but there’s one serious matter Big Blue Nation must prepare for next season.

Under the old regime, Kentucky fans had to be patient in the months of November and December. It took time for John Calipari’s young teams to adjust to the level of play and learn to gel together.

Mark Pope will have a significantly more experienced roster, yet it’s filled with players who have never played together before. How long will we have to wait before things click? Pope is expediting the process in practice over the summer and embracing the challenge.

“There’s a sense of urgency of the challenge of dealing with one-year teams. I love it because it is challenging us as coaches to be more concise, efficient, and direct, and make much more progress every single day,” he said.

“A word can’t be wasted. A moment of practice can’t be wasted because every second is so valuable. It’s challenged us to be better coaches and I love that. It’s an incredible challenge. It’s challenged us to do things that we’ve never done before, be more efficient than we’ve ever been before and it’s really exciting. The challenge of sports is what drives you.”

Hear the entire conversation with Mark Pope in hour 2 of Kentucky Roll Call.

It Just Means More

The center of the college football universe is in Dallas for SEC Media Days, but the league has taken a significant step forward on the hardwood. Eight teams from the SEC made last year’s NCAA Tournament, tying the league’s high-water mark set back in 2018. Alabama made it to the program’s first Final Four and Nate Oats is returning most of his primary contributors for the 2025 season.

Mark Pope had the challenge of bringing BYU into the Big 12 last season and successfully navigated through the league, spending most of the season in the Top 25 and knocking off Kansas at Phog Allen Fieldhouse. With some firsthand experience in the leagues, which one is better?

“The SEC is No. 1,” he said. “I’m hearing word that people are projecting out 11 teams maybe in the NCAA Tournament. That’s insane. We’ll see how it plays out. The Big 12 has been the best conference in college basketball for the last decade. It feels like that tide is turning a little bit, certainly with prognostications for next year. It looks like the SEC is going to be the best and the deepest in the country and that’s the way it should be.”

To be the man you gotta beat the man. That’s Pope’s challenge in year one at his alma mater.

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