Mark Pope refuses to lower expectations at Kentucky: "We failed at our job last year"

If you ask almost any Kentucky fan, they’d say that year one of the Mark Pope era was a success. Kentucky tied an NCAA record for most wins against AP Top 15 foes, beat several rivals, and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019; however, Mark Pope was not satisfied. During his interview with Matt Jones on today’s Kentucky Sports Radio, he made it a point to say that his first Kentucky team failed to meet the mark.

“It’s Kentucky. Like, you know what, guys? I’m not going to be the guy who comes to Kentucky as the head coach and somehow lowers the expectations of this place. Man, we’re trying to win this whole thing. Like, we failed at our job last year.”

When Matt asked if he really believed that, Pope doubled down, drawing on his own experiences as a Kentucky fan after leaving the school as the captain of the 1996 national championship team and returning as its coach.

“One hundred percent. Listen, I know myself; for the last 30 years, I’ve been a die-hard Kentucky fan. If we didn’t win, I’m like, ‘What is wrong with that coach? Man, he can’t win at Kentucky!’ That’s what all my guys are saying to me every single day. And so, like, I’m not unrealistic. I understand the reality.”

You might think that after transitioning from fan to coach and learning the weight of the fanbase’s expectations, Pope would give himself some grace for not winning it all in year one. Quite the opposite. Pope said his first year on the job added more fuel to the fire. Since the season ended, Pope has revamped Kentucky’s roster with one of the top NIL budgets in the country, bringing in one of the best transfer portal classes that will join a talented group of incoming freshman and core returners like Brandon Garrison and Otega Oweh (assuming Oweh withdraws his name from the NBA Draft).

“We are blessed,” Pope said. “I’ll tell you the one thing that nobody in the world will deny, okay, that you can’t actually argue: we have the greatest fanbase in all of college basketball. There’s no one, any other fanbase, that would argue that. Nobody can argue that. And so that fanbase deserves the best of everything. And so you go down the list, and we’re trying to be the best at everything. And that’s what Kentucky is supposed to be; that’s what Kentucky has traditionally been.”

Pope feels obligated to the fans but also to his fellow former Kentucky players. He made a quick trip to New York on Tuesday, during which he spent some time with Karl-Anthony Towns, who has the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000. The two talked about legacy, specifically theirs as Kentucky Wildcats.

“I was just with Karl-Anthony Towns yesterday in New York, and that’s what he expects out of this joint. That’s what all our former players and former coaches [expect].”

Including John Calipari, the coach whom he replaced.

“You know what?” Pope said. “That’s what Cal expects. I mean, Cal is like, ‘Don’t you ruin my program. Man, that’s the best program in all of basketball.'”

Pope said at his introductory press conference that he understands the assignment of being Kentucky’s coach; after year one, he’s more motivated than ever to deliver.

Mark Pope’s interview on KSR

We’ll be rolling out highlights from Pope’s interview all day (week?) long, but you can listen to or watch it in its entirety below.

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