Rick Pitino praises Mark Pope's first season coaching Wildcats: 'Kentucky hired the right man.'

Since the moment Mark Pope was hired at Kentucky, Rick Pitino has had his back. And now that his protege has wrapped up his debut season with the Wildcats, Pitino is more than ready to give Pope his flowers.

And that’s exactly what he did while accepting one of the most prestigious individual honors a coach can receive. Sharing the Associated Press Co-Coach of the Year award with Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, Pitino, who coached St. John’s to a two-seed in the NCAA Tournament, made time to praise Pope when asked about him by John Clay of the Herald-Leader.

“I always follow the guys I coached and I followed them religiously this year, rooting for them all the time,” Pitino said during Friday’s ceremony in San Antonio, TX. “Mark did a fabulous job this year playing a very difficult schedule. I loved the way his guys play. I loved the offenses he runs. I loved the way they moved the ball, they shared the basketball. I knew he’d be a great coach. There was no doubt in my mind.

“But I didn’t know it from BYU. I went to see him at the Utah Valley program and watched him build that, and that’s where I knew Mark — you never know when your players are going to be great coaches or not, but I went to see Mark and at that point I knew he’d be a great coach. Kentucky hired the right man. Mark will be brilliant for so many years, such a humble person, such a caring person, and such a great offensive mind. So yes. I followed them all the time, religiously.”

It was probably more difficult for Pitino not to follow Pope — who played under Pitino on the Wildcats’ 1996 national championship team — and Kentucky in 2024-25.

After taking over a job with zero assistants and zero returning players, Pope turned the Wildcats into a threat just a few games into the gig. A Nov. 12 comeback win over Duke set the stage for what would be nearly a dozen Quad 1 victories and more wins against ranked opponents than any UK team in program history. Kentucky made the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019.

Pitino, who recently mentioned the possibility of an exhibition game between UK and St. John’s, was following along the entire time.

We can only figure Pope was doing the same with Pitino throughout the season, too. In year two with the Red Storm, the 72-year-old Pitino led St. John’s to a 30-4 record (18-2 Big East) and its first NCAA Tournament win since 2000. Despite the early exit to John Calipari‘s Arkansas team in the Round of 32, Pitino helped return St. John’s to national prominence.

Now let’s go ahead and get that home-and-home regular season series locked in, shall we?