All season long, Kentucky coach Mark Pope has praised his team’s ability to stay in the moment.
Moments after he notched his 200th career victory in a 95-90 win over Mississippi State on Saturday night in Starkville, Pope turned the spotlight off of himself and shined it back on his players.
“That’s a great win, and it’s like the 100th thing down the list,” Pope said.
Atop the list that night in Starkville was patting his players on the back, soaking in the Wildcats’ first true road win of the year, and defeating a ranked Mississippi State team on their own home floor, the Bulldogs’ first home loss of the season.
Much like he has preached to his squad all year, Pope was in the moment and celebrated his team’s achievement. They celebrated the win and the milestone, in the locker room and as he was leaving Humphrey Coliseum. Pope made time for a fan who was in a wheelchair and chatted with a man he had never met before. Still, he was part of Big Blue Nation and he was family.
The gesture by the Kentucky coach drew praise from all circles, including Louisville men’s basketball coach Pat Kelsey, who typed the words, “Love your neighbor” on a retweet of the video of Pope talking with the fan in the wheelchair.
“Great stuff,” Kelsey said.
During his first visit to Mississippi State as coach of the Wildcats, he also talked to the grandmother of a young fan and addressed members of her Sunday School class on FaceTime. Not in a rush to leave Starkville, Pope told those in attendance to “have no worries.”
“We have all the time in the world for you guys,” Pope said to a small contingent of Kentucky fans assembled near him.
Pope’s kindness and appreciation for the fan base have rubbed off on his team during the past 10 months, and it shows by their determination on the floor.
“They care, our guys care,” Pope said. “I wish everybody could get to know these kids. Amari Williams is an incredibly special young man. He’s got a heart that is probably three times the size of a normal human’s heart. He loves our guys, and he loves this team. You feel it, he’s got this protective thing where he wants to take care of our guys. He wants to fight for our guys.”
Williams provided the pregame speech before the impressive performance at Mississippi State and it echoed the way Pope feels about his team.
“It was only two sentences,” Pope recalled. “The first was ‘I just hope you guys know how much I love you.’ You could feel it in the locker room, man. I got emotional because I know how much he loves us, and I know how much we love him.”
In just a short time, this Kentucky team has taken Pope’s mantra to heart. They know what it means to play for each other and the program they represent on and off the court.
“When you have a team that’s put together that way – that wears Kentucky across their chest — these guys are going to come fight for you,” he said. “We’re not going to be perfect. We’re going to have hard times, for sure. But these guys want to represent Kentucky. They want it so bad. They want to take care of each other so badly. It makes it fun to coach, man”
It also makes it fun for BBN and beyond to be associated with Pope, including his former coach, Rick Pitino, who posted on X:
“We are all so proud of our Captain.”
Photo courtesy of Kentucky Today