WATCH: Mark Pope introduces his Kentucky team to Tubby Smith

Since Mark Pope recreated walking off the team bus with the 1996 national championship trophy at his introductory press conference at Rupp Arena, there’s been a sense of nostalgia surrounding the Kentucky Basketball program. That was amplified tenfold this morning when Tubby Smith, who led the Cats to the 1998 national championship, came to see Pope’s team practice at Rupp Arena.

UK teased Tubby’s appearance with a short video this morning. This afternoon, we got another video of Pope introducing his team to the former Kentucky coach, who was in Lexington for ten seasons (1998-2007) and now has an honorary banner of his own hanging in the rafters near the 1998 title one. In addition to the 1998 championship, Kentucky won five SEC regular-season titles and five SEC Tournaments during Tubby’s tenure. He finished his time in Lexington with a 263-83 record and National Coach of the Year (2003) and SEC Coach of the Year (1998, 2003, 2005) honors.

Pope told his players to use the fact that Tubby won a banner in his first season at Kentucky as inspiration.

“We’ve got one of the greatest human beings in all of college basketball history standing right here, okay? You guys, we’re talking banner behaviors all the time, we talk about assignment number nine. Coach is one of these guys who gets to walk in this room and he gets to point up there at his banner that he came in here and won with his team. It matters. It matters.

“And, Coach did it his first year. He just rolled in here, he said, ‘You know what? I’m just gonna hang one in my first year, which is what we’re trying to do, right boys?”

“You can do it too,” Tubby chimed in. “You just have to trust, like you’re doing now. Trust each other, trust the system, the culture here at Kentucky is far bigger than anyone that has ever played here, coached here. Good luck. I’m looking forward to watching you guys play. You’ve got a great staff.”

"We talk about banner behaviors all the time. We talk about assignment No. 9. @CoachTubbySmith is one of these guys that gets to walk in this room and he gets to point up there at this banner."

🗣️ @CoachMarkPope pic.twitter.com/D86VUdw7g7

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) July 12, 2024

In case you missed it earlier, Tubby was also part of the post-practice huddle:

Thanks for stopping by @CoachTubbySmith! pic.twitter.com/ooYJF52dEd

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) July 12, 2024

Keep the nostalgia train rolling, please. And let’s get Tubby and Donna courtside tickets for every game.