CINCINNATI — Moments after Kentucky’s 94-78 win over Oklahoma last Wednesday night, head coach Mark Pope took the microphone and announced to the 19,394 fans in attendance at Rupp Arena that he was on his way to the airport. Mark’s daughter, Avery, was landing at Bluegrass Airport in 25 minutes. Avery was coming home from a mission trip in El Salvador, and Mark and the Pope family hadn’t seen her in over a year. He left his normal postgame radio show appearance, that he does on the court after every home game, to assistant coach Mikhail McLean and his postgame press conference for fellow assistant coach Jason Hart to handle, although he did give an opening statement, albeit, a brief one.
“It’s 22 minutes ’til Avery lands,” he said. “I’m out, guys.”
It was the first time, for me at least this season, that I had heard about Mark’s daughter being on a mission trip. Think about what this season has been like so far. Remember when Kentucky was getting, as Pope words it, “bludgeoned” against major opponents in non-conference play? That shot of Pope looking exhausted as he walked up the entrance ramp into Madison Square Garden before the Champions Classic? Pope was literally asked on the UK Sports Network Pregame Show three days after that, “are you okay?”
Pope’s seemingly somber demeanor reached a peak in early January with Kentucky sitting at 0-2 in SEC play, with questions of if the Wildcats would even make the NCAA Tournament. For a head coach who cares so much about winning at his alma mater, there was growing concerns that Pope was not the right head coach for Kentucky. But as Otega Oweh said that Friday in early January, with a picture of Mark Pope standing on the 2012 Final Four logo in Kentucky’s locker room, “NTW!” Not to worry.
All of this is worth mentioning because it’s important to remember that in addition to taking every loss and piece of adversity as hard as Mark Pope does, his daughter was also thousands of miles away on a mission trip and didn’t have daily contact with her. Think about that what must feel for any Father, let alone one who’s also the head coach of his alma mater at the University of Kentucky, a school he was a captain of their 1996 National Championship team.
Since that early Friday in January, and with Avery’s return home, Kentucky is 8-1 in its last nine games. Kentucky is also 12-3 in its last 15 games overall. There was, indeed, no need to worry. All Big Blue Nation needed to do was, as Jon Rothstein says about Mark Pope, “Keep the Faith.”
For those who didn’t and gave up, or started to give up, they owe Mark Pope an apology. Then, one that’s owed, he deserves even more credit for getting this Kentucky team back to into the thick of the SEC regular-season title race and a team that has a shot at a deep run in March. This is what Big Blue Nation wanted when Pope was hired… right? Competing for championships.
Saturday night, Kentucky roared back from down 14 at halftime to beat previously No. 25 Tennessee 74-71. It was their second comeback win against the Volunteers this season, for the Wildcats also came back from down 17 in the first half against the Vols three weeks ago in Knoxville. On a night where the 1996 National Championship team, which Pope captained, was honored, known in Lexington as “The Untouchables,” this Kentucky team showed an unbridled spirit that resembles that legndary team 30 years ago.
“I talked to them right before and said, ‘Guys, I know all of this is going on, but this is not about 30 years ago. This is not about denim, this is just about anything except for the story that you guys are writing right now,'” Pope said, as his 1996 National Championship teammates joined him at his postgame press conference. “Because the story that these guys are writing right now is awesome. It’s their story. And if you are not enjoying it, if you are not on this ride with us, I feel bad for you because it just is what it is, man. It might not be the normal way we do things here in Kentucky, but it’s pretty great.”
Despite a younger roster, a tougher non-conference schedule, which may have contributed to a 5-4 start overall and 0-2 start in SEC play, and injuries to key players, Kentucky now has the same record through 24 games this season, 17-7, as they did last year. Even better, they have two more wins in SEC play through 11 conference games this year than they did last year, currently 8-3 in SEC play and in the No. 2 seed position if the SEC Tournament started today.
This may not have been the journey Big Blue Nation envisioned. But this team continues to raise its ceiling higher and higher with each gutsy win.
Sure, the losses to Michigan State in the Champions Classic and to Gonzaga, by 35 points in Nashville, were embarrassing. Effort was being called into major questioning, including by former Kentucky greats. Alabama head coach Nate Oats and Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington both took shots at Kentucky after blowout losses to both of those teams. They weren’t good looks for a Kentucky team that came in with a roster seemingly deep and talented enough to compete for a national championship.
But this Kentucky team has rallied. When they could have folded early in SEC play, they didn’t. They got tougher, more resilient, and better. It’s a testament to Mark Pope. Amid everything Kentucky has dealt with, and with Pope and his familly have gone through, the Wildcats are now completely relevant in the SEC. Pope was the right head coach for Kentucky overall. This is his alma mater. “The Untouchables?” Those are his guys. They belong to the ages of Big Blue Nation. In Pope, Big Blue Nation has their guy. If you started to waver when Kentucky was 0-2 in SEC play, Mark Pope is owed an apology. If you kept the faith, Mark Pope deserves even more credit than he is owed an apology. Mark Pope has Kentucky competing for an SEC Championship this season, and that’s what you come home to your old Kentucky home for.
