kentuckybasketball
It’s the Kentucky basketball staff’s first Derby in the Commonwealth as coaches of the Wildcats, and they’ve come prepared. Like the rest of us, Mark Pope and his four assistants have their favorites for the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby scheduled to run this evening in Louisville. Who are they picking to win the Run for the Roses? They released their predictions on social media Saturday morning — with no overlaps. Mark Pope: Sierra Leone (5-1)Mark Fox: Forever Young (6-1)Alvin Brooks III: Fierceness (3-1)Jason Hart: Catching Freedom (8-1)Cody Fueger: Just A Touch (11-1)Brooks went with ...
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If you were surprised by Oklahoma State transfer Brandon Garrison‘s abrupt commitment to Kentucky, you’re not the only one. In fact, his high school coach, Lenny Hatchett of Del City (OK) had no idea things were trending in the Wildcats’ direction until the very end beyond surface-level phone calls and Zoom meetings. Up to that point, most of the conversations had been centered around the likes of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and even a potential return back to Stillwater under new head coach Steve Lutz — formerly of Western Kentucky. Hatchett tried finding the right balance of helping make conne...
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Rob Brown remembers the moment Otega Oweh achieved legendary status for Team Final, slicing down the lane at Peach Jam and lifting for a dunk that took the roof off the gym in North Augusta. The former four-star guard anchored that backcourt alongside Corey Floyd Jr. while Dereck Lively II and Jalen Duren were the stars down low. They were a force to be reckoned with, steamrolling their way to the title with minimal pushback. Oweh had the grit and tenacity to spearhead the defense out on the perimeter, but in a high-profile matchup against Bronny James and Jahzare Jackson, his dunk in traffic ...
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Make that two official hires for Mark Pope at Kentucky, this time in NBA veteran and longtime coach at the high school, collegiate and professional ranks, Jason Hart. Cody Fueger was the first assistant named to Pope’s staff on Monday, followed quickly by Hart. “Jason Hart is everything as a coach that he was as a player,” Pope said. “He has boundless energy. He’s fearless. He is stubborn. But he has endless joy and love for this game and our players. “He has all of the grit that you’d expect from a big-time Syracuse point guard, and he earned everything he got in his decade-long NBA career th...
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Once Scott Drew and Dan Hurley were scratched off the list for Kentucky following John Calipari’s move to Arkansas, Billy Donovan emerged as the immediate fan favorite to take over the Wildcats. The Chicago Bulls head coach danced around answers regarding potential interest while those closest to Donovan stressed those conversations would not come until after the season ended, at the earliest. He had a job to do with the Bulls locked into the play-in game with eyes on the playoffs, two wins to glory for a potential opening-round battle against the No. 1 overall seed Boston Celtics. Donovan was...
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Things were far too quiet on the staff front beyond what we already knew with Mark Pope bringing his right-hand man from BYU with him in Cody Fueger. Speculation ran rampant for a couple of days regarding potential package deals and friendly faces returning to Lexington, only to have two new names come to light in Jason Hart and Mark Fox, first reported by Kyle Tucker of The Athletic. The former would be joining as an on-court recruiting assistant — one of three, joining Fueger — while the latter would be one of two non-recruiting assistants, akin to Bruiser Flint or John Welch this past seaso...
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Mark Pope is finding his groove as the next head coach of Kentucky, crushing his opening introduction at Rupp Arena before doing the same in his debut call-in radio show with Tom Leach. He checked all of the boxes and then some. Next up? An appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter, a brief afternoon segment Wednesday where he talked about his first days in Lexington and coming down from the high of not only filling up Rupp, but being forced to turn away 5,000 people at his first press conference. To say it’s helped with early recruiting would be an understatement. “It’s amazing. I say this all the ti...
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Mitch Barnhart was criticized for moving so quickly to hire Mark Pope as the men’s basketball program’s next head coach. Just hours removed from being turned down by Baylor’s Scott Drew and UConn’s Dan Hurley, the BYU coach was one you always knew you had in your back pocket, a card you could play at any point. He’d crawl on glass to Lexington the day before Big Blue Madness for this opportunity. Why make this move now? Because Barnhart saw everything he needed to see when sitting down with Pope. He didn’t need to interview any other candidates or wait for others to become available, he had fo...
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When John Calipari called it a day at Kentucky, the only thing that was certain about what was to come was, well, uncertainty. A 15-year run that started in legendary fashion soured in the end. The off-the-court antics were as big of a turn-off to the Big Blue Nation as the early NCAA Tournament exits over the last five seasons. The infamous “Cal-isms” and “I haven’t seen him” bits were enough for some folks to want Calipari gone. Sure, losing to double-digit seeds in the first round sucks, but the non-basketball shenanigans were a killer in their own right in the eyes of many. Calipari did pl...
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It didn’t take new Kentucky Basketball head coach Mark Pope long to get acquainted with students at the University of Kentucky. Saturday night, a pre-recorded phone call was sent out to students from Pope. The phone call can be heard below: Here’s what he said, correctly transcribed. “UK students, this is your new head men’s basketball coach Mark Pope. I’m a proud alumnus. I love this school to the depths of my soul. I’m class of ’96, so I’m way older than your parents and your grandparents. This place changed my life and I’m honored to be here and lead this program. I can’t wait to get around...
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