One Year Later: Reflecting on Mark Pope's Introductory Press Conference

One year ago today, people were lining up outside Rupp Arena. After a tumultuous week (and a hard few years), it was time to welcome Mark Pope home and usher in a new era of Kentucky Basketball. Knowing what the first year brought makes that day even more fun to look back on.

Books could be written about how Kentucky fans digested the surprising hire. Even a year later, the swing of emotions is remarkable. Big Blue Nation went from terrified on Thursday night to euphoric on Sunday afternoon, a flip that only happened with the help of Mitch Barnhart and Rick Pitino. I’ll never forget the scene in Rupp Arena as fans waited for Pope to arrive and, when he finally did, the pop as he walked off the team bus holding the 1996 national championship trophy. If you could hear an image, this one would be the sweetest sound in the world:

We wrote plenty of words about the day on this website. Here are some of mine from a column on the experience, along with some updated reflections.

Opening the press conference to the public was one of the smartest decisions Kentucky has made in years. Just this morning, officials at UK and Rupp Arena estimated only 7,000 or so fans would attend. They set up the stage on one sideline and covered parts of the arena with banners so the bare sections wouldn’t look as bad on television.

Boy, were they wrong. Fans started lining up this morning at 8:30 a.m., the first coming from Knoxville, Tennessee. As the day went on, the line grew larger, snaking down High Street. 

Whenever I tell people about the press conference, I start with the crowd. It was so cool seeing fans stream into Rupp and fill up closed-off section after closed-off section. “Are they going to fill it up?” was a common question among the media as we marveled at fans pouring into the building. Five thousand had to be turned away at the door. Those who couldn’t get in the building or make the trip watched from home, with UK’s livestream reaching over 20,000 viewers at one point:

Over 20,000 people are livestreaming a Kentucky Basketball press conference. 🤯 Mark Pope is a big hit with BBN! pic.twitter.com/Or12f0Rdmg

— Rare Rookies #BBN (@rarerookies) April 14, 2024

Over the next 30 minutes, more and more fans streamed in, dancing to a 1990s playlist. Some wore pope hats, others robes, and one an entire pope costume, drawing giant cheers from the crowd when he was shown on the jumbotron. Parents lifted their children Simba style when the camera came their way and one fan hilariously took his shirt off and whipped it around his head (surprisingly, it was not Ryan Lemond). “Mony Mony” played at one point, and I almost expected Dancing Guy to shimmy down a guardrail.

As we sat on the court, I couldn’t stop looking around. The energy in the building was unlike anything I’ve seen in all my years of coming to games and covering them. When the first “Go Big Blue” chant broke out, it was better than any dunk or three-pointer. It was home. The Big Blue Nation was finally back together as one.

There was an undeniable sense of unity in Rupp that day, which continued throughout the season as we healed together under Pope. From big wins over rivals to massive crowds for his postgame chats with Tom Leach and every autograph signed in between, year one had an aura, as the kids would say.

When it comes to Pope’s speech, he has yet to follow through on his promise to hang more banners, which I’m sure grates at him (who knows, without injuries, they may have done it). What about the other promises he made? Let’s run through some.

Three-point records? ✅

“You know that my team last year made the second most threes in all of college basketball. But at Kentucky we don’t come in second.”

No, Kentucky did not make the most three-pointers in college basketball this past season. That honor goes to North Florida, which averaged 12.8 made threes per game, well ahead of Kentucky’s 9.5; however, Pope’s first team did make the most threes in Kentucky basketball history, 341, which tops the previous mark of 340, set by the 1992-93 squad. Although Pope harped all season about shot volume, they set a record for three-point attempts, too: 910.

Scheduling? TBD

Our own Matt Jones (who got a big pop from the crowd) asked Pope about his scheduling philosophy, specifically early season tournaments and home-and-homes.

“Anybody here down for the game versus St. John’s?”

“…My other question, since we have a small group gathered together, let’s say sometime in the future we can find our way into this Maui tournament. Would anybody come? Maybe. We will see.”

Kentucky’s previous scheduling commitments have made both a home-and-home series vs. St. John’s and the Maui Invitational unlikely for now; however, Pitino said the Red Storm may come to Rupp for an exhibition this upcoming season, which is also the 30th anniversary of the 1995-96 team’s national championship run. As for Maui, we’re still in the “Maybe. We will see” stage, but Pope has said on more than one occasion that he wants to take BBN back to Hawaii more than anyone.

In-state recruiting? ✅

“I don’t know if he is here right now, but Travis Perry next year. Are you here? Stand up. What are you doing? There is a good chance he will not jump into the portal, guys.

“But before Richie and after Travis and everybody in-between that is an instate Kentucky kid, these young men that grow up in Kentucky, they bring a spirit to the team that cannot be fabricated or replaced. And it helps us to win, and we will continue to recruit them.”

Pope may not have been able to lure Reed Sheppard away from the NBA Draft (where he was the No. 3 pick), but Travis Perry reaffirmed his commitment to Kentucky just days later. Fellow Bluegrass native Trent Noah joined him, and this year, two more Kentucky kids will join the roster: Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno. So far, Pope is delivering on his in-state recruiting promise.

Roster construction/fit? ✅

“Right now we are focused on the current players and recruits coming in and it is mostly just figuring out, meeting with them and figuring out if they are the right fit for us right now and how it fits. So it is clearly there and it is clearly the portal and trying to find the guys that fit here. And those guys that fit here sometimes will be one and done, burger boys for sure, and sometimes they will be guys that come here and play four years and grow in your hearts and minds and become Kentucky legends and everything in-between. That is what Kentucky deserves.”

In just a matter of weeks, Pope built a roster that tied an NCAA record for wins over AP Top 15 teams and took the program back to the Sweet 16 for the first time in six years. As Pope said, it was a unique mixture, one that even included a former McDonald’s All-American in Brandon Garrison, who just announced he will return for his junior season. Pope is off to a great start in building year two’s roster, putting together one of the most impressive frontcourts in the country and in the hunt for one of the nation’s top shooters, Lamar Wilkerson.

Love for the program? ✅

When asked by a student reporter how he would introduce himself to the younger generation of fans, Pope gave an answer that I don’t think anyone who has spent any time around him could argue with.

“I would say I’m someone that loves Kentucky from the depths of my soul, loves the game from the depths of my soul, loves my family and am a believer and loves God from the depths of my soul. That is who I am.”

Year one gave us endless examples of this, from Pope being distraught over losses to sticking around Rupp Arena or road venues after games to sign autographs and meet every fan he can. He even posed with two Kentucky fans at an airport while getting the bad news that a portal recruit (Taylor Bol Bowen) was going elsewhere. If there’s one certainty from year one, it’s that Pope’s love for this program is unmatched.

Appreciation for the jersey? ✅

“Our guys will know quickly, and it is hard not to know; it will be one of the great honors of their life to put that jersey on. There are only a select few players in the world who ever get to wear a Kentucky jersey. To wear a Kentucky jersey, it is one of the greatest honors guys can ever have as a basketball player.”

Pope’s love for the program was reflected in his players. Even though they came from all walks of life and most never believed they’d play for a program like Kentucky, their reverence for the jersey was evident from the start.

A year ago, most of us didn’t know who Andrew Carr, Lamont Butler, Koby Brea, Amari Williams, or Ansley Almonor were (Jaxson Robinson may be the exception since he played for Pope at BYU). Now, they have a unique place in Kentucky Basketball history, and they showed us time and time again that they don’t take it for granted. After Kentucky’s loss to Tennessee in the Sweet 16, Butler, Brea, and Carr talked about how proud the seniors were to set the culture for the Mark Pope era at Kentucky. They set the bar incredibly high.

Relive that special day some more with photos by Aaron Perkins and videos by Steven Peake.

Mark Pope’s Introductory Press Conference

KSR’s Rapid Reaction

Sights and Sounds from Rupp Arena

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