FULL Mark Pope Introductory Press Conference

What's happening? I'm so happy to see you. I'm so happy to be here. Lee and I are very excited to land in our old home in Kentucky. The

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of the Pope's era has arrived in Lexington, home of the greatest tradition in the university's history. basketball this is a special Sunday edition of BBN tonight this is Keith Farmer I'm Maggie Davis we're live on the court at Ru Arena getting everyone ready for the official introduction of Mark Pope, the new head coach of the UK basketball program , so you saw him land, you saw the excitement of him and his family, but there is nothing like the excitement that is right now here at Ruff Arena.

I mean, I feel like we're in a game, we're getting ready for the wild cats to run. Come out and speak up, you did well. There are so many fans here to welcome Mark Pope as the new head coach of the UK basketball team, so we are just 15 minutes away from Mark Pope's official introduction. We know his family. is in town, we know that several of his former teammates are also here at Arena and I'm sure we'll have a chance to talk to many of them over the course of the next few hours, but for now I'm just here for everyone. at home are as excited as the people are in this building right now, obviously, you saw the video of the plane, you saw how excited Mark Pope's family was, but the fans that were following the plane coming in and wanted to be there when his new coach arrived. we arrived safely, we also got to talk to some of those people at the airport who were just waiting to see their new basketball coach, some of them drove from hours away just to be there at this moment.

I think he totally embodies what the UK is about. The fans want to be and they want to watch and we just want to come together and be supportive. We are very excited about Mark Pope. I think he'll bring in a lot of non-offensive exes. High-motion offense, lots of three-point shooting at UK. we've been missing out for the last decade, he knows it, he's been there, he's got it in his blood and roots and I think so, I think we'll get back to where we belong, we won't have the one and we'll do it like we've done it.

For years I've thought we'll have kids come and stay a little longer, whether that's better or not, who knows, but I'm looking forward to it. Mark Pop has spent a lot of time on this court as a player. former player but Keith, I think when he first comes out as head coach and this place goes crazy, can you imagine the goosebumps he'll have at that moment? I'm not sure he can do anything wrong today, but if not he won't rip off her suit and have his shirt on. I'm going to be so disappointed. I want to see that and a cat singing exactly right.

Fans who are here now, we are lining up early today. I'm talking about noon. Fortunately, it's a beautiful day to stand out in line outside, we talked to a few of them who are excited to show Coach Pope that he has the

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support of the big blue nation. Oh I'm so excited, this is not something I would miss out on if possible. here, so we traveled here from Mayville. I saw a long time ago that I traveled the whole '96 season with him, I went to the national championship and I know Coach Pope Heart is here and I'm excited about that.

I think he will do a very good job. I think the Pope is going to do the job, he is going to do the Justice program and I have hopes for the Pope, so you saw that line, you saw all the fans, but the exciting thing was that we started to see images that came out in X. o Twitter and you saw Pope get out of the vehicle and hug some of the fans and take pictures. He's already embracing this fan base and loves what he's seeing here. I love seeing that because getting out of a car like that in front of all those people and just wanting to hug him is something that I think this fan base will definitely love, we know Mar, but he'll certainly bring the energy today, you can probably feel it in this building now. same.

He's going to come into this crazy environment, but we actually already had a chance to meet Coach Po. He's in the building and will be out in about 10 minutes, but we already had an exclusive interview with him. Keith, you had a chance to sit down with them. that

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interview is coming Monday night on our regular edition of BBN tonight, but for now here's a quick preview, it feels like a dream, this is, it feels like a dream because this is, this is a place that i love it, this is a place that changed my life forever, it's a place where i got to fight with some of my best friends in the whole world and be welcomed, loved and become family with this amazing fan base and it has always been the best. work in the world for me and everyone else in the basketball world and and uh, everyone always knew the opportunity came.

I would walk across the country to get here and and uh, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm super. humble about this and very excited about this and can't wait to get started right. I'm glad Mitch brought a plane to look for you. It would have taken more time. This interview could have taken place within a week. You just had a group of fans lined up around this building and you jumped out, yeah, to be among them, yeah, what was that like? um, so this is what I learned early on when I was here at Kentucky um, this is Ky's team, uh, this is not my team, it's not even our players' team, this is Ky's team, so, it's us, it's not me or us, it's us, so you know we're driving and there's people standing in line standing in the sun and and so it's our people and so it's um, I love it, I love that this community cares so much because I care so much and our players care so much and the fact that we can share that together is unlike any other university. show in the country is definitely going to win over this crowd today has their full support it's amazing now you can watch BBN tonight weeknights at 7:30 right here on your official Big Blue Nation station lex18, the lex18 app or on BBN tonight.com and check your local listings on UK Sports Network four times over and over again, incredible crowd here today.

I mean, he'll be Flor when he comes out to this, we can't stress enough how loud it is in here and if you feel like we're yelling at you, we're sorry, but we're just trying to talk over the noise and the fans you see, I want say, they're holding a baby right now on the Jumbotron Allah, the Lion King, there's a grown man dressed like the Pope at a dance there's amazing signs face paint Wildcat costumes you have the mascots here the cheerleaders the band that everyone They rode to welcome back Mark Hope as former head coach.

I'm just trying to take a shoulder because I know there are some current players that are around, mostly the Walk-Ons. I don't think I'll see any of the scholarship players, but they're still here just to be supportive. Some of them are already leaving for Brenan. Canada, his time is up here, but he is here to support the next coach. Yeah, we also saw Travis Perry enter the building, so he's obviously a future wildcat. All Things Considered is here to see Mark, I hope they introduce him. We had the opportunity to walk. talk to some fans hand out some of our real fan buttons so it was fun if you got one of these that's been a lot of fun too yeah okay so let's go over and catch you up with Coach Poe . and where he was before arriving at Kentucky, the former Wildcat is the 23rd coach in school history, the eighth in the modern era and spent the last five seasons at BYU, where he scored 110 and 52 with the Cougs, that is , a winning percentage of 68%. to the NCAA tournament twice long before he was at Utah Valley during the Four Seasons, so with nine total years of head coaching experience, he has been coaching the university in some capacity since joining the staff at Mark Fox in Georgia in 2009, but of course we all know he's familiar with Lexington. and this program that played in Kentucky for two seasons 95 96 helped defeat the Nets that second season in 1996 and then spent several seasons in the NBA and will be greeted with a warm welcome by Big Blue Nation, of course, to receive It had as many twists and turns here as many people have with their careers, but not quite like that.

I mean, Mark Pope enrolled in medical school at Columbia in 2006 and then 3 years later he decided, you know, I like this and everything but. I think I want to coach basketball, so he talked to Rick Patino, the former Wildcat coach, and said, I'm thinking about doing this and he said you should do it, so he joined Mark Fox's staff at the University of Georgia and Pope then found his first head coaching job at Utah Valley, where he led the Wolverines to the breakout in 2017 and led the No. 4 Wildcats in the second half before falling 73 63 four years later, Pope moved on to BYU, where he implemented a quick three-point shooting offense and now he's back. to the place where he captained the 1996 national championship team that produced nine NBA players, including him, we spoke with athletic director Mitch Barnhard about having a list of names available for future signings and always keeping an eye on Mark Pope, You know you always have. since you have your master list you know and you know you have names and then the list morphs a little bit through the process and it's quick and fluid and you adjust and you have who you're dealing with Big personalities that you know and they're both in the picture coaches and in agent landscapes, but Mark was on our list for a long time just because he's one of ours and he's at a Power Power Five school and he's, so.

If you watched her team this year, the first year in the Big 12, the things they accomplished and the things they did, where they played, how they played, it's extraordinary, Maggie plays a fun style of basketball, it will remind you a little bit of how she plays. days when he was here with the wild cats with Coach Patiño and you are going to throw up a lot of Threes, they make a lot of Threes and like he said, they want to watch the whole floor, they want to make you watch the whole floor. They will extend it and from one to five they will have the green light to shoot those three.

I love hearing that I know the great Bo Nation does it too and talk about it being reminiscent of his playing days here, we all know that. that those playing days went pretty well, he has the trophies here at R Arena right now to prove it, they have a full display of trophies at the Final Four National Championship, all kinds of accolades that will be next to the podium by the time he is around. presented here in about 4 minutes, so be sure to stay with us. We will cover the entire

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. We'll be able to show you all of that here only on your official UK station lx18.

Now, of course, Park Pope is returning to Lexington as a second former player to take on this role as head coach of the Wildcats, Jooby Hall, was the other one and well, I think it worked out pretty well for him, right? I think it worked very well, yes, absolutely and one of the five recent coaches to win a National Championship yes yes I'm not talking about president to set not president Des set okay we have a fantastic decade ahead of us if he does anything like that what Joy Hall did when he was here as a head coach, of course Coach Hall was able to do a lot for this program and really unite this fan base after one of the sports giants in adol rups tenure ended up here in the United Kingdom.

Well, Hall did a lot to advance Kentucky basketball into the modern era. He was from basketball and unites Kentucky fans and Mitch Barnhart believes Mark Pope can do the same. You know, this is a gentleman who loves Kentucky basketball as much as you do. Yes, he wants him to be as good as you want him to be. he wants to win championships like you want to win championships nobody is going to work harder than him because he has an absolute built-in DNA that says this is part of the Commonwealth and I'm part of that and you know when you sit down and talk to him and he says: "You know, I have the jersey that I wore in the national championship game and it has a big C in the corner that says I was captain of the team and To me, that means a lot because it means that he understands what happened and I would ask people Let him know that we have been fractured, not fractured, but arguing about how the coach should stay or he goes around or and what we are not good defensively we are good offensively we are not going to do this it is time to unite it is time to be the Big Blue Nation and we rally behind one of our own and then and then let's go have some fun again and uh and chase it so uh that's my hope you know you've got you've got to go work on the charts and you've got We have to go work on other things and we have six months of preparation to learn new offenses and things like that, um, there's a lot of work ahead of us, okay, Maggie, um, it's hard to say exactly because they don't have the end zones set back here to the bottom, they don't have these bottom seats removed. but I want to say that we are getting closer toa full house, I mean they are still a little bit on this side, but they will be behind everything, well, keep in mind the people who are watching behind us, this side was supposed to close, the whole side we went to we face is already full and has been for over an hour, the doors open here at 3:30 and it's been a steady flow ever since, well, Kyle Tucker from the Athletic just tweeted that they're waiting. right now because there are still 5,000 more fans out there to get in and get seats, where are they going to put 5,000 more and on top of that now they are going to delay us a little?

So this is supposed to start at 4:30 and there may be or not a little more wiggle room, that's the joy of live television, although we can stay with you until then and then as soon as possible. As soon as we see him come out, don't worry, we'll get out of the way, so we had a chance to talk to Coach Pope and one of the things I said to him was, are you going to use all that crap? what do you have about Jeff Shephard being his roommate and all to try to lock up Reed, you know, bring him back for another year, that's a question a lot of us have, oh yeah, well we had a chance to talk with Jeff earlier this week and I asked him about it and it was funny, he said you know Mark Pope when he was in Georgia.

Reed was like six or seven years old and he came to visit them and said you know he was the first guy in I got that visit home with Reed and he's going to hold on to that so now he has a big visit to try to get him to stay here. Listen to this. You know Reed is working on some things and we're working together with him. to try to help him discover and gather the best information he can gather. Mark Pope has known Reed Shephard since Reed was a little kid when Mark was an assistant coach at Georgia, a long time ago and Reed was 6 and 7 years old. years, you know, Pope brags about being the first trainer to make an internal visit to Reed at age seven and keeps it on his resume so Shephard can't tell us anything about Reed's future with the wildcats for sure. but he did tell us that he believes Pope will be an excellent fit at UK as he brings a style of play that I think Kentucky fans will love.

He likes to play fast. He likes to move the ball. He likes to shoot. a lot of threes he likes a lot of energy and I think that's how he played that's how he trains that's how he lives he lives a life of positivity he lives a life of passion he lives a family life and that resonates with the people of Kentucky because that's the life that we live well, we just heard BBN blow up and we all look around like it's happening, what's happening, it's Mark Po's family, they just came out to court, wife, four daughters and guess who they are? everyone wearing amazing number 41 Kentucky jerseys, it was a great moment, I mean, they came out clapping and everything, and it was really fun to see, we have Mitch Barnhard coming out now, so we gotta get a little closer again, they were trying to get closer. 5,000 more fans here maybe at this point you can't wait you gotta get this going you can see there are still fans climbing the rafters on the top floor of R Arena and I don't think anyone knew Big Blue Nation would show up , but I don't think anyone would have anticipated this.

I mean, you know there were some people curious about this hire right when it first came out. Don't wonder anymore because I'm serious. It's an endorsement of Big Blue Nation, they fully support Mark Pope and they are starting this building process now every game, they start the game by welcoming the fans. We did the same thing on our show saying it's the greatest tradition in the history of college basketball. no more, that's why I mean, did you expect so many? No, no, I knew they would need to open up more seats than were originally available when we got here.

They had the entire back section behind us turned off. I thought, I think we're going to have more fans, but I mean the Raptors are packed. There's no Tom Leech here and I know he's going to run this event for us, so I see him stepping a little closer to his place. Rock Oliver coming out, I'm sure that was part of the recruiting process, as well as Mark Hill, Mitch Barnhard, of course, some of those guys are starting to break through, it's been a very quick process, it definitely hasn't been necessary. At this point, plenty of time for Big Blue Nation to get on board and be ready to support their head coach.

Music is a clue. I know I'm still waiting exactly. I feel like we're getting closer. I can also tell you this. I'm not going to say what it is, but we know there will be a fun entry for Mark Pope because it's just his personality and whether he came up with the idea or not, I'm not sure, but I know you'll enjoy The Way He Comes Today, When You Have a full Arena, you have to do something exactly and you remember in 1996 he got on the bus, he got off the bus and he was celebrating with the fans a 1996 national championship, so I think he's done it before. go see him also have some fun today this is amazing we've heard the big blue chance now we're listening to the blue and white song I mean it really feels like a game day there's no other way to describe it but As the biggest game of the season, it gets you excited because I feel like we're getting closer, but I'm just going to say this gets you excited for the season and they don't even start until at some point what you have to get. a team first, we don't even know who the team will be, but he has to go work through the transfer portal trying to convince some guys to stay, convince recruits to stay, but I feel like everyone wants Let the basketball season start tomorrow, oh. this crowd would stay and watch a game if they could right now, this is what we're looking forward to for the next hour or so once it comes out, that's technically the pep rally, right.

I feel like BBN is going to have a lot of fun with it. We'll hear from the head coach, maybe Director of Athletics Barnhard, or who knows who might come out and I think there are a lot of surprises in store for the fans and then it'll move on to the

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where reporters will have a chance to ask him. questions and I know the big thing for the nation will be on the edge of their seats for that too um and as soon as everything here concludes, we will be back with you here on the floor on this set to analyze everything and and I would talk about everything with you if this If it was 1997, Mark Pope would be the guy who would be here with you because at one point he was working for lex18 and he was helping cover the NCAA tournament.

He went west, he went to San José. I heard, I heard, I can't remember for sure, that he took his shirt off on the ski slopes. I mean, he had a great time sitting next to Allan Cutler and Sean Woods, as well as a lot of others from lex18, and they were helping do the coverage, you know, and that's how much he talks about how much this show means to him at that point he had been drafted into the NBA, he didn't necessarily make the team, so they cut him, so he had a little bit of time, what did he do?

He came and covered his favorite team, the University of Kentucky, and now he has his dream job of leading this program. I will say that if he was at this desk with us, we would both be doing a little bit of this, we would have to discuss it. camera a little bit up for everyone we would have a couple of boxes for you to stand on yes yes that's true too so let's see 437 now turn on the lights here we go for everyone I want all of these my face there is no word that can describe unmatched and undefeated killer and now it's official

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pop is the new men's basketball coach at kentucky just for me here with the kentucky people he's so good to me and a kentucky kid i didn't mean to tell me what i want i got here and now that i'm leaving it means everything to For me, it was just a fantastic experience, super basketball that is Kentucky.

I really don't think anyone can question the great appearance of playing against the great guy who doesn't. I don't know what I've lost in this building at the helm, our 1996 national champion. I w w Big Blue Nation please welcome home you're the new Kentucky head coach Mark po Road as I had to . Good afternoon, everyone has, no, that's it. the ban this is the logo and this was the welcome home is a central introduction the captain is now the coach please welcome the new head coach of your Kentucky Wildcats Mark Pope and UK athletics director Mitch Bart really amazing amazing and thank you for all of you coming out on a wonderful Sunday afternoon thank you very much there are programs that don't get this type of crowd for five games you came here for a press conference that's amazing that's amazing some thanks and some comments, so let's get the main guy here first, first of all, thank you to our president, Dr.

Caputo, our board of directors, our Letterman who is here who got off the bus with us and specifically the teammates of Mark PO in the 96. congratulations one of your guys is back we have several members of our St head coaches here and we would like to thank them for coming out to support Mark and that's awesome we have members of the rup family here somewhere place, I'm not sure where you are but we want to be there you're back here congratulations thank you for being here today and I'd like to thank Mark Hill and Ray Oliver for all your help during this process it's really good real quick I'm going to give Mark a t-shirt, we take these pictures all the time, so we're going to do this little Jersey thing.

I'll finish my comments and then we'll bring it up here, so let's do this real quick. There's an old song from the '70s it's by Jefferson Starship I'm Out With Myself It's called Find Your Way Back It's Time We Find Our Way Back To Do That You need a guide, you reached out to someone who's been on the journey before and know the way the challenges work and eventually the beauty of the destination it is right to understand the heart of this special place and we have such a person today we have a letterman check the box we have a captain check the box we have a champion check the box we have a guy which is a professional game check the box we have a scholar I have never hired a road scholar candidate in my life check the box above all we have an amazing husband, father and coach check three boxes he will guide us back to our hearts through of all the changes in college sports he understands the DNA that leads us to our destiny he said this place changed the trajectory of his life we ​​are ready and excited he is ready to do the same for the very young men in our program and we are excited for those couple more sentences and I'm leaving because you didn't come here to listen to me.

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the Pope's family today Leanne Ella Avery Leila and Shay, thank you and Spencer, welcome, we are honored to have you here. here and while I'm making introductions, I might as well go ahead and introduce you to the boss, the new head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, Mark po, hello, Mitch Mitch Mitch Mitch, wait guys, uh, we see these press conferences

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. Now no one in the world has seen anything like it, but I'm about to break tradition. I'm about to break tradition. At each of these press conferences the coach appears and stands there with the announcement and they take his picture. with a t-shirt that they just made and that ends up in a closet somewhere, we don't do that here, hey, this t-shirt is in a sacred place in my house because it is a t-shirt that I was able to wear with my teammates and with the whole nation of Kentucky in a national event. championship game in the lands of metal in New York and that's not just a jersey that's going to go away in a closet, it's a jersey that has blood, sweat, tears and love and it's all of us together.

I'm going to keep this as short as I can talk a lot, but there's another way I want to ruin this press conference and I'm going to get crushed for doing this. Every coach in America, every other job in America, stands up at their professional press conference and Try to temper expectations, we don't do that here in Kentucky when Mitch called me and talked to me about being the coach in boss here in Kentucky. I understand the task, we are here to win banners, that's why and as we move forward on this journey, We are here to win banners in Nashville because you come to Nashville like no one else and that matters and we are here, our job here, our task is to win banners among the final four, winning national championships, that's our job with those high expectations, inevitably.

Criticism will come, but I don't want them to worry because I'm in a group chat with every one of my 96 championship teammates and they will destroy me every time something goes wrong. I want to say a couple of thanks. Please, I would like to thank President Capalo very much for his leadership. I am grateful for Mitch Barnhard as I have watched over the past 22 years how he has led this program andwhat he is like as a man. We are very grateful to have it. He here is incredible. I am grateful to Mark Hill and Ray Oliver for all the work they have done on this process over the last 72 hours.

I am grateful to these players. I am grateful to the players of '96 and through generations in Kentucky, you have truly made this place what it is. I'm grateful to each of you, that's a big reason why I'm back here and more than anything else, what separates us from everyone else is that we have great coaches, players, administrators, but. What makes us different from others is all of you. I am very grateful for you. I can't wait any longer to do this. Could you join me in a kitten? One cat, two, three cats. Please get up and let's go.

Need. your help here can we do this please 1 2 3 c a t s cat catch cats I love it let's go again thank you guys thank you let go like Mitch said I love this place from the depths of my soul it changed my entire life and I want to Um, if you'll allow me a moment Very brief. I would like to introduce my family to yours and I would like to show you how much we love this place, my daughter Lila, would you please stand up? Please wait. This is 100% a true story. When Mitch offered us a job, he gave us a couple of hours to consult with his family.

We didn't need it. He knew I would walk everything. the way here to take this job, but as we gather the girls from all over, ilila Pope walks through the door and I kid you not, her first words were because she knows the deal, tell me who's in the house tonight, UK , okay, he did exactly that. that's exactly those two that night Avery gets up and the shadow gets up please just say hello. I don't know how they did it or where it came from, but they went down to the basement somewhere in storage and they both came up with 96 Untouchable vintage. t-shirts I have no idea what they are like She is my oldest daughter and she knows me best in my history, the best and only question she asked was Dad, when are we going?

Of course, you'll get up and then and um. you get up and say hello, so if you stay with me for a second, if you are a mother, you can imagine all the pressure and stress that comes with life as a mother and all the things that she has to consider every day. and we sat around the table and got the whole body reaction and with all the charge, with all the grace and courage and elegance that you can imagine, Lean just looked around the table and said, come on, You don't need to know this. but I'm going to say it anyway because I can.

I am madly in love with this woman. She gives meaning to my entire life. I am very grateful for her and you will quickly find that she will get to know everyone. just one of you and I love you like crazy, it's going to be very special, okay, so Papa family, let's stand up, this is super important, I want you to turn around and Poe, I want you to introduce yourself to our family, Should we talk a little? a little about coaching. I'm going to tell you some things that are deep in our DNA as a coach and the interesting thing is where we learned them, so you will hear from me every day.

Relentless work 247 and those are not false words Relentless work 247 and I learned that here I will never forget it. I was here maybe two weeks and I transferred and I couldn't believe I was at the University of Kentucky and I was like, man, they're all Americans. I have to catch up, so it's 11:30 at night. I'm at the Wildcat Lodge and I have to go to work some more while everyone else is resting sleeping at 11:30 at night, so I walk down the street to the Memorial Coliseum, open the door and hear balls bouncing. I think who's there and I walk in there and it was like Five Guys, it was like JP, Shef, Dad and TD there in a Already sweating a lot, those guys taught me how to work.

I learned about resilience here and here in Kentucky. Resilience is a requirement, it is not an exception, it is a requirement and I learned that here I learned here about passion wins championships. Passion wins championships and sometimes my 96 boys will remember this story, but we are not going to tell it, sometimes, when you are on the court playing with all the passion competing with all the passing, your guts can end up all over the court and that I learned it from my boys. I learned about gratitude here in Kentucky. I learned a lot about gratitude. The right to gratitude leads to pain and depression and gratitude leads to joy.

I'm going to tell you this: you know what all these players know and what all our future players will really learn. quick, okay, you're not doing those jerseys a favor by letting the jerseys wear you, our guys will know quickly and it's hard not to know that it will be one of the great honors of your lives to put on that jersey, there's just a select few. players in the world to ever wear a Kentucky jersey to wear a Kentucky jersey is one of the greatest honors players can have as basketball players let me tell you a story I played for almost a decade in the NBA and it has been I confirmed that I was the worst player to ever dress Jerry West, okay, unanimous poll, but you know what we did in the locker room, guys, and I played with all the stars and some of the best plays ever, ya They know what we did.

We don't talk about the NBA teams we play for, we don't talk about NBA championships or MVPs, you know what we did, we sat in the locker room and talked about our college basketball teams, that's a true story, It's a fact, that's what nobody does. coming home with their NBA team they come home to hear this it's a gift to be here. I think these players are men. Our job as coaches is to become Shepherds St St. some sometimes no words are the most powerful words of all, but shef shef and I have been roommates for a long time, so we can do that to each other a little bit, but being a pastor with these guys and it's like when you come to Kentucky, you just open your mouth.

The guts get exposed, all your guts are out there and then you can rebuild yourself with your teammates and your staff, it becomes something new and better that changes your life forever and we get to the Shepherd guys through these players They are my job to train and Shepherd. and our job is to love and for every player, for every player, I wish they could come experience something like this. There is nothing better and you can't get it anywhere else besides Kentucky. There is nowhere else you can get this. There is no other place. Alright. I'm going to give you some specific details about basketball real quick.

You know my team last year made the second-most three-pointers in all of college basketball, but at Kentucky we didn't get to second place. My team last year had the fourth most assists. the country and Kentucky share everything, we're going to be absurdly aggressive on offense, we're going to change it up and keep people on the defense's heels and that's wow, I hear a defense wins games here and that's our plan. what we go to work for every day and we have no other option to be successful guys it is the greatest honor I will have in my professional or family career to be able to come back here and do this with you is the difference between Kentucky and any other program in the country, since this is not my team, it is not even our team, it is our team.

I'm looking at these signs up here. I have the championship team 1948 1949 1951 1958 1978 If you remember, I can't tell you how many times I heard Kyle Macy tell the story of halftime when the coach came in and said just five words: Take the ball to Jack to Goose, where is it? Where is the? we got the 0 team from 1996. what and we have these Legends I think I have a couple here a couple of legends from 2012 how much we love that team what and I'll tell you the last thing I have for you when I look at those signs when I look up in the rafters, it seems very full, but if I know anything in the world about Mitch Barnhard, he's going to make more space, let's fill it up, cats love their cats, yeah, next agenda in front of the members of the media who are here with us ladies and gentlemen we will ask you to give us your name and your affiliation when the microphone comes to you welcome back Mark Bird I am the editor of The Cats Paw a serious question as a father of two girls who grew up with five women in the house, how did that make you a better basketball coach?

Good question, well the only thing my daughters have done for me is they never really listen to anything I say, the most important thing is that I know this is as hard as team 96 is with me in the group chat when I arrive Coming home after the games I heard a complaint from the Pope. The girls are ruthless, so they are amazing. Thank you for being here, honey, thank you, thank you, thank you. Kent Spencer wh1 Mark at Utah Valley BYU I. I'm sure you had a recruiting philosophy, how does that change here? Have you spoken to any members of the current team?

Yeah, we're talking to all the guys on the current team, all the guys that have been drafted and pretty much everyone. only one player in the portal right now um and we're going to find, we're going to find the guys that fit here in the way that we play and the guys that are going to come here and understand what a gift it is to play here at the University of Kentucky Mark KY Tucker with the athletic um what is your approach to building a staff and not just the assistants next to you? You like the general approach to building a college basketball staff nowadays, yeah, so it's one of the The fun things about college basketball are so dynamic right now, nil portal uh, conference realignment has changed everything so quickly, so by building a staff now you're not just looking at the skill set for Encore development and even just recruiting, uh, you're looking at being a GM. positions that can navigate a list that you are considering you are considering null positions let me say something about null is more than just money null is building a future and contributing to a community and doing it well takes a lot of effort and could go into hours and hours of conversation with you on Matt Jones Kentucky Sports Radio, is it nice to see you score, stand up, take a b?

Awesome, I'm fine, is that you when it comes to scheduling home preseason tournaments and houses that kind of? Things, what's your take on how you make your schedule every year? Okay, so anyone here with a game versus St John's, you know, I neglected it and I'm actually so embarrassed in some ways that I missed my notes. I forgot to, um, uh, pay tribute to him. Coach Rick Patino, all the coaches that are coached here have done incredible things, they have all contributed to Big Blue Nation, but coach patino changed me and I tell you he changed my soul, he changed my DNA as a human being and he allowed me now. to be someone who feels like I can walk into any room and take on any task that you know is impossible and I will love it forever, so I say St John's just because I have so much admiration for it, it's probably the best I've ever done. that and I love him so much uh my other question is and I don't know, Mitch might actually get really mad at me, but since we have this little group together, let's just say at some point in the future we might find our way into this uh Maui Tournament, if someone came, maybe we'll see Mark Ben Roberts, uh, Alexi Herald Leader, can you walk us through the process of how Mitch approaches you, your emotions and then, it was really a split second, you had to think about it ?

Yeah, it was good, so here's the deal: I've been blessed with some of the most amazing training opportunities in the world. So amazing. I have deeply loved the rhythms that I have been able to train and since I started training every person I know, including my ads, the Associate ads and the players, they know that like my heart is bleeding, Kentucky blue, they just know and Mitch knew it, so I think maybe he was a little CAU and he's calling me because he knew I was going to say yes. Before I even finish this, the question says: Hi Mark, would you be?

Mark, come back here Michael EPS with Fox 56 here in Lexington. I know you know as well as anyone that winning in March is what matters, even though this is great today, what's your plan? make sure this March you win as a program and go further in the tournament listen, that's the job guys, that's the job like we're not dodging it, that's the job, we know the job, that's what's right and, frankly, if you're too cautious or too concerned to take on that challenge, don't come to Kentucky because there's nothing else that's acceptable, so somewhere in me I'm borderline between old and dumb, but I think we can do it, guys. let's do it right Mark dick Gabriel big blue Insider A few years ago, when we were talking to you for the documentary we did about your team, you were talking about the free throws you made in the final seconds against Syracuse and you told me you knew it.

If I hadn't made those free throws I would never be able to go back to Kentucky again here you are, but how much will being a part of that championship team help you recruit and build a program? Yes, so do we have time?Tell this story, guys, we're going to play Syracuse for the national championship, and there's a minute or so left and really the only meaningful play I've made in my entire career I was a bad player, the only meaningful play I've made in my entire career. Syracuse pushes the ball on the floor and I kind of trip and fall on a pass and deflect it and get fouled and that's how good it was, so it happened right down there on the metal, but in that spot on the court and I started to walk from there to the free throw line I don't know it's 50 seconds someone look it up 50 seconds left I think maybe we were up three maybe even five and there was only one thought: honestly, this is the truth I wasn't thinking about the form neither in the team nor in the celebration nor in the score I was literally walking and I promise this is true the only thought that came to my mind was that if I don't do this they are going to kill me and who would want to That's why we are here guys, that's what we do, that's important, back here, back here, Mr.

Tony KY Sports TV with all the great players that have attended the show from the state of Kentucky and judging by the reaction of the crew. Reed Shephard's name has been mentioned, but what can you say? What can you say about your approach to in-state recruiting and getting more guys like him? Yeah, um, yeah, um, from Richie Farmer and all the Grace of the state that came before him. the way to Reed Shepard most recently last year and I don't know if he's here right now, but to Travis Perry next year, Travis, are you here? Come on man, get up, what are we doing?

There's a good chance Travis won't jump. in the portal guys, but before Richie and after Travis and everyone inbetween this kid from the state of Kentucky like these these young people who grow up in Kentucky bring a spirit to this team that can't be manufactured, can't be replaced and helps us win and we keep recruiting them, Mark Dylan Balor, to be blue. I know you've been heralded nationally by people talking about your exes and strategic O's, but college basketball is constantly changing right now. We have talked about zero on the portal. Do you admit that we talked about the possibility of some roles being added to the staff or staff?

The management forum with nli and the portal just innovates like we've seen some of these other programs do, yeah, and it's very much at the forefront of all of our conversations and it may not be titled that way, it could be a liability. under the headings of Shape, but approaching it that way, but clearly that's tremendously important. I'm not smart enough to figure all that out, so let's get help here to do it. Hey, Kentucky Insider's Mark Tristan Ferris, uh, just you. Think, I'm sorry, I missed my question, that's my, you know what you're looking at, I'm an extremely handsome guy, man, that's hard, it's distracting, it's distracting, I got it, but you talked about not wanting to temper expectations, obviously.

Kentucky hasn't made it to the second weekend since 2019 and this is its first year. What are your expectations for your first season? Well, the only thing I know about the Kentucky guys is that I would try to temper expectations, but that's not the case. It's not happening like you guys don't allow it, so why? Try it well. We are trying to win. Our goal is to win every game we play. That's what we're looking for. We're trying to win and listen and and. when we lose a game, if that happens, we're going to get up and rally and be resilient and relentless and try to win the next one, that's what we do here at Kentucky.

DNA like, you know what would happen if kuckian knew one thing? A day of hard work and getting up the next morning and having another day of hard work, that's what we know here. Hey Mark, Mr. Pope, 1996, Oh my gosh, what do you hear, let's cut it out. I'm so interview from 1997 and you said quotes, there's no way I'm going to do it now that you're on the program with the greatest tradition in the history of basketball if you're in my house and my son was talented, well, he. He could and had talent and some fragments because we did a lot of television.

Would you tell my son and family why they should play for you at the University of Kentucky? I would say this, I would say there is no doubt that there are great programs all over this country there are great programs there is no doubt and that is true and it is also true that there is no place like the University of Kentucky there is no place there is no place listen listen you are living proof of that listen we did we have a little call to arms, a little call to help and you can't even fit all the Kentucky faithful in this building tonight?

There's no place like this, guys, and listen, don't you think you're not? making a difference because this video is aimed at all recruits in America right now Mark uh Kent Taylor from WLKY in Louisville when you decide that medical school is not for you how far is this day from your mind am I you who could I know the coach at the University of Kentucky and I don't know if you have it in your repertoire, but are you going to waste your shot? Hey, you guys don't want that now, we do it, we do it, we do it.

Look, maybe we'll save that for some Midnight Madness action, we'll see. This is what I'm going to tell you about the guys in medical school, so, first of all, you're welcome, because when I left medical school, the survival rate of patients. it went up a lot and I don't know in terms of being the head coach at Kentucky because I love this place so much that it's actually almost incomprehensible to me even today, so I'm very grateful, I'm very grateful for that, Mark. Aaron Gerson with the cat's paw with the offensive run you touched it a little bit out in the open, but how similar we've heard, there's something similar in a second, so we just said the cats paused.

I don't know where Oscar Colmes is. He here somewhere is Oscar here he is not okay just please extend my love to him. I love him. I think he is a great man Kian. He's a great man, but we've heard some of the similarities with him when you played here. That? wrinkles you've had over the years the offensive scheme oh yeah uh well I'll never be as smart as coach p uh I don't know if I'll ever be as lucky to have those guys on the court those guys are amazing uh but certainly we're taking a lot of Coach P's DNA and we're actually growing towards him um uh, you know, Coach P, I think sometimes he looks at us and says, copycat, stop taking my stuff, uh, but hopefully.

You know, if I could take anything from Coach P, it would be the desperate, relentless fight every second on the court that he inspired in us. I'll tell you a quick story. I hope this is okay. Can I tell a dead story sometimes like? man you gotta stop okay so we'll play here on our bench yeah unless it's backwards I can't remember which side our bench was on and we're playing Athletes in Action someone will check the numbers on this because you guys checking everything now, um, but I think I don't know if our guys remember this, but the score was like 28-4 at the beginning of the game, we're just crushing the athletes in action and the coach calls a timeout, uh, because they're going on a 4 to Zero Race, so now 28 to 8 or so and the coach is losing his mind like he's killing us, so we're sitting on the bench.

I'm sitting next to Walter McCardy as a coach. Your coach is attacking us during this race of 40. you know it's 28 to 8 and I will never forget you, you know and love Walt Walt gets up and we leave the last thing the coach says is that you are going to pay for this tomorrow that was the last thing Walt said, he stands up white as a ghost, his eyes fill with tears and he looks at me and his voice is horrible, he says: we have to fix this, we have to fix this, so we're going to find our own way. to put in that kind of work and energy because that's what Kentucky deserves and if we don't do it then we don't belong here and that's the job guys, that's the job Tyler Russell with coach Kentucky Colonel once the dust settles. dust and it's time to go to work and build your team, what's the real first step you're going to take to get it right, first of all, I hope the dust never settles in Kentucky, it won't, but right now we're really focused on our current players and the recruits that are coming in and it's mostly just figuring out meeting with those guys and figuring out if they're a good fit for us right now and how that fits in so it's clearly there and it's clearly the portal and it's trying to find the guys who fit in here and those. the guys that fit in here will sometimes be one and done, um, Burger Boys, sure, and sometimes those guys will be guys that come here and play four years and grow in their hearts and minds and like it and become Kentucky Legends and everything else. what Kentucky deserves Hi, I'm Kennedy Whitby from UK Student News in Kent.

The fans know who you are or at least know that you were the captain of the 1996 national championship team, a really very old former, yes, possibly one of the best teams in college basketball and there are many younger generations here, if you could reintroduce yourself, What would you say? Who could you say is Mark Pope? I would just say that I am someone who loves Kentucky from the depths of my soul. I am someone who loves this game from the depths of my soul I am someone who loves my family from the depths of my soul and I am someone who is a believer and loves God from the depths of my soul, that's what I'm Chris formerly with ABC 36 news how are you going to continue with the best basketball let's work let's work that's what we do that's our answer let's work let's work hard and smart and together and let's go find out thanks for the question Mark CL Brown from the Louisville Courier Journal that you mentioned, making sure your kids here know what it means to put on that jersey, how do you address that with a generation that it seems like they don't?

Remember a lot about the past and necessarily the admission history, you know what is a real challenge for every young person at the moment. Today's young people face incredible challenges. Guys, social media has changed. Our life has changed. Our value system. It has changed the way we operate. and I think it's one of the many things that have changed us, so there's no easy answer why there isn't, but I tell you we got distracted when I talked about being a Pastor, but it's one of the most important things we can teach this generation. while chasing greatness is gratitude, gratitude is everything to me and also if you want to become a great player you will learn that gratitude will speed up your process to become great so no we don't have. a magic pill on that, but we're going to work on that and preach that and teach that and exemplify that just like all of you great people in the state of Kentucky do every day, hey, Mark, right back, right here , Tyler G of WDRB in Louisville.

I talked about Coach Patiño, how much you have taken from him. Have you been able to talk to him since you started to feel like you were going to take this job? What did he tell you? Well, I still have some PTSD. I really get nervous when I talk to Coach, but Coach has been such a kind, incredible mentor, and I love him to death, and he's someone that, on the right occasions and at the right time, I will lean on to ask him for some advice because is it just um? It just worked wonders on my life coach when you're on the bus and you get to the AUP Arena and you see it's like a game day crowd here in the middle of April, what are some of the thoughts that are going on? through your mind I don't know how to say that I just don't know I can say BBN get together man BBN get together big time and you know it's super special to me I'm not gonna lie so we crawl like a lot former players got on the bus as we arrived and it was as special to me as all of us that came in here and enjoyed this night with you, it was walking on the bus and doing DAP with all these guys that we have fought and celebrated with the guys that built this place.

These legendary cats were super special to me. Hi Coach, I'm Mario from Kentucky Sports Radio. I want to ask you what you are most excited about for next season. winning, we're going to win, we're going to win, we have to go win, we're going to win Trace Terell with cast coverage, what is your proposal for the players who have been here the last 14 or 15 years to come back and continue supporting this program? Well, I don't. I think it's hard because we all have to experience this, right. I don't know how to say this, but part of what's different about Kentucky is that there's a really fantastic, strong, young man, an older man, somewhere up here in the stands, and his heart is in Kentucky and the Mine is in Kentucky exactly the same way and these guys' hearts are in Kentucky exactly the same way and that makes us different.

This is just different. I feel like I've been everywhere and there's nowhere that shares this. all together like we do here in Kentucky, so I didn't have to do anything. These boys, these boysbacked by Big Blue Nation, has backed by Big Blue Nation and the fact that all those guys that I saw get off that bus, the former players there may have been before '78, I'm not exactly sure, but until recently and They are behind them. absolutely all the energy here was electric, we will have much more shortly on lex8 News at 6, see you then