Mark Pope brought a much-needed breath of fresh air to Kentucky basketball

When John Calipari called it a day at Kentucky, the only thing that was certain about what was to come was, well, uncertainty. A 15-year run that started in legendary fashion soured in the end. The off-the-court antics were as big of a turn-off to the Big Blue Nation as the early NCAA Tournament exits over the last five seasons.

The infamous “Cal-isms” and “I haven’t seen him” bits were enough for some folks to want Calipari gone. Sure, losing to double-digit seeds in the first round sucks, but the non-basketball shenanigans were a killer in their own right in the eyes of many. Calipari did plenty of good across the state of Kentucky, but his words in interviews (whenever he’d attend them) began to go stale.

That’s why it was so refreshing to listen to Mark Pope in his introductory press conference on Sunday. Finally, it felt like Kentucky and this program were in the hands of someone who wants to be here — someone who gets what this means to the fans. Mark Pope killed it during his near-30-minute press conference.

Pope had fans, former teammates, and even some media members getting choked up. There was an energy in Rupp Arena that hadn’t been around Kentucky basketball in a long, long time. It was more than special. Come to think of it, the BBN probably hasn’t felt this much positivity about the program since the ‘Cats took down No. 1 Michigan State in the 2019 Champions Classic. We’re a long way removed from that early-season matchup.

Now, once the season rolls around, who knows what we’ll get. Expectations are hard to set at this point in the offseason — he still has a team to build. However, before we dig into the X’s and O’s of it all, before we take a deep dive into the roster and staff construction, let’s just enjoy what we know we have now in Mark Pope.

A guy who lives and breathes Kentucky basketball, and a guy who will do everything in his power to represent this state and the BBN in the best way possible.

Now, make room for those banners.