Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope has made a strong first impression in his first year at the helm in Lexington. His efforts (along with Arkansas' struggles) have helped Big Blue Nation quickly forget about the program's former longtime leader,

One of the best games of the college basketball season took place on Saturday as Nate Oats and No. 4 Alabama went on the road to Rupp Arena to take on Mark Pope and No. 8 Kentucky in Lexington. The two teams battled back and forth in a high-scoring affair before Alabama eventually made a few more plays to come out on top 102-97.

Kentucky's Mark Pope started his coaching career at Rupp Arena with 11 straight wins. How does that start compare to other first-year UK coaches?

A Kentucky basketball jersey signed by both Popes?! It exists thanks to Father Jim Sichko of Lexington, who packed a jersey signed by Mark Pope on his latest trip to the Vatican to see Pope Francis. Father Jim has delivered several Kentucky-themed gifts to the Pope in the past–a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle and an unsigned Mark Pope jersey,

While still building UK basketball's 2025 recruiting class, Mark Pope and his staff have kept tabs on 2026. These 10 players have offers from Kentucky

Mark Pope is in his first year coaching the Kentucky basketball team, and he has a good squad on his hands. The Wildcats are 14-3 and 3-1 in the loaded SEC, and Buzz Williams believes that they have the tools to win it all.

LEXINGTON — No. 9 Kentucky basketball’s 81-69 win over No. 11 Texas A ... "I love winning a game where we never felt great," UK coach Mark Pope said. U of L's 'great basketball talk' under Kelsey helping fuel on-court success Christian Dawkins nearly ...

LEXINGTON — Jaxson Robinson had ... natives back making their mark on UK basketball program Mark Pope won his first 11 home games as Kentucky basketball coach. Where does that rank?

Mark Pope is in his first year coaching the Kentucky basketball team ... The two teams will tip at noon ET from Rupp Arena in Lexington, and the game will be airing on ESPN.

LEXINGTON — Jaxson Robinson had ... Kentucky basketball's Lamont Butler embodies toughness Mark Pope wants to play with 'Kentucky presence': Bluegrass natives back making their mark on UK ...

LEXINGTON — Jaxson Robinson had ... natives back making their mark on UK basketball program Kentucky basketball's Mark Pope on path for National Coach of the Year honors | C.L. Brown Kentucky ...

Mark Pope will be the first to tell you he would not be coaching at all had he not transferred from Washington to become a Wildcat in 1994. He nearly didn’t anyway, enrolling in medical school at Columbia University as a Rhodes Scholar candidate before he quit to ‘fold laundry and hand out water’ as ‘the assistant to the operations guy’ under Mark