KSR made the trip to Birmingham, AL this week for the SEC’s annual Media Days. Up first on Tuesday were the men’s teams. It marked the debut at this preseason tipoff event for new head Mark Pope, who brought a pair of veteran guards down with him in Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler.
With 16 teams now in the conference, there was plenty to talk about. From the early hours of the morning to well after the sun went down, KSR was there to take it all in. What did we learn from a day of nonstop hoops talk? Check out our top takeaways below to find out.
Mark Pope stole the show
Zack Geoghegan:
Mark Pope might be new to Kentucky and the Southeastern Conference, but he walked around like an industry veteran during his first SEC Media Days. He was rocking the same blue jacket he had on during Big Blue Madness. The one that has a big UK logo on the front and the years of all eight national championships on the back. He actually found the jacket when a recruit was picking out some clothes to wear for his photoshoot. Pope decided to steal it and add it to his wardrobe. I don’t blame him.
But back to Media Days. As he usually does, Pope was saying all the right things. He hopes the Big Blue Nation will cheer for and support John Calipari (except for that one game on Feb. 1) the same way it did for Rick Pitino during BBM last week. Nearly all of the 16 coaches were asked about Pope at Kentucky and every single one had nothing but good things to say about the former BYU head coach. Even some of the 32 players who made the trip praised him. Some knew him through recruiting over the years while some just enjoyed watching his BYU teams play a fun brand of basketball.
In short, the rest of the SEC believes that Pope will succeed in Lexington. They love his energy and the fact that he’s a former Wildcat. That feels notable.
John Calipari says he will root for Kentucky
Jack Pilgrim:
ESPN’s Myron Medcalf — who made an appearance tonight on Sources Say, by the way — opened Coach Cal’s media session asking if there was a moment where it hit him he knew it was time to leave Kentucky. Calipari responded by making it clear he had no interest in talking about the past and his decision to take the Arkansas job because he’s talked about it plenty. He only wanted to talk about now and his future with the Razorbacks in a “ridiculously hard” league.
“This is an adventure. I want to have fun with this,” Calipari said. “I know the challenges, I’ve been in this league. I know how hard it is. But this is something that I’m really excited about.”
How about a loophole to his request? Insert a question about his relationship with Mark Pope and the future of Kentucky basketball. The angle worked, and it led to a pretty insightful answer from the guy who enjoyed 15 memorable years in Lexington.
“I’ll be rooting for ’em. I want Kentucky (to do well). Come on, man. 15 years. I gave them my heart and soul,” Calipari told KSR. “You think I want — I want them to do well. Except on what date? (February 1.) OK, that date.”
And he believes the program he’ll be rooting for moving forward is in good hands.
“He’s a good man and a terrific basketball coach,” he said. “They hired the right guy. They really did.”
Adou Thiero gets nostalgic about the Cats
Jack Pilgrim:
Sticking with our old friends from the past, Adou Thiero was one of two Arkansas representatives in Birmingham, allowing us to catch up after a hectic six months since his departure. The junior forward talked about entering the transfer portal before Coach Cal left Kentucky, juggling some outside noise pulling him in different directions prior to a move to Fayetteville. He said his trust in Calipari getting him to this point in his career made the difference in his recruitment.
Then he talked about his time in Lexington and what those two years meant to him. And that’s where things got — well, bittersweet. While he’s excited for his future as a Razorback, he is overwhelmingly appreciative of Kentucky and the support he received from Big Blue Nation.
“It was a great experience. It was something I always wanted to do as a kid. I wanted to play at the University of Kentucky,” he told KSR. “Being able to live out that dream was a real blessing. I’m grateful for it, grateful for all of BBN. Thank you for everything you guys did for me. All of your support was — dang. It’s real… I appreciate it. Thank you.”
The feeling is mutual.
Jaxson Robinson serving as translator
Zack Geoghegan:
Jaxson Robinson is the only scholarship player on Kentucky’s roster who has either played for the Wildcats before or was coached under Pope at BYU. As we know by now, Robinson was the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year last season before following Pope and joining the Wildcats. After turning down the NBA to do so, there are some large expectations on his shoulders going into 2024-25. But he’s ready to meet the challenge.
Before he can get that far though, he has to help connect his team. And yes, he has to be that guy. After all, who else can serve as the middleman between Pope and his players?
“We did a team retreat to eastern Kentucky. Still people reeling from the floods. I know there’s been such recent disasters, also, and the guys built a couple homes, relocation homes, and did some projects at individual people’s homes,” Pope said. “And then the last morning we all gathered together, and our little team devotional, each of the guys voiced one thing that they were going to really commit to this team, and I thought Jaxson Robinson was super insightful, which he is.
“He’s so intelligent. He said, Guys, what I want to offer this team this year, among other things, is I want to be a translator, not just translating the words and terminologies, helping do that with this coaching staff and with Coach, but also translating in terms of how this game is supposed to feel when it’s right, playing it the way that we do.”
Pope will rely on Robinson to get buckets when the team needs it the most this season. There’s a very good chance he ends up as the Wildcats’ leading scorer. Robinson has NBA goals, so a productive season will be necessary. But being a vocal leader for a brand new staff and roster is where he’ll help Kentucky the most.
“One of the ways that he’s going to make a huge contribution is being a translator,” Pope added. “And that’s a real gift for me.”
The SEC is loaded with talented teams
Zack Geoghegan:
A common talking point from all 16 head coaches today? How deep the SEC will be in 2024-25. There was no debate in the room when several coaches claimed that the league is the deepest in the country. That title belonged to the Big 12 a season ago, but with the SEC stealing two of those teams (Texas and Oklahoma, not to mention Pope from BYU) along with the uptick in talent from the rest of the conference, we’re looking at the possibility of the SEC receiving double-digit bids into the NCAA Tournament. Nine SEC teams were ranked among the preseason Top 25 in the AP Poll, including Kentucky at No. 23. Pope says it reminds him of the SEC 30 years ago when he was playing at UK.
This is nothing new to Pope though, who coached in that same Big 12 Conference a season ago at BYU. That was the Cougars’ first season in the Big 12 and it was met with impressive results and a spot in the Big Dance. Now he’s looking to do it all over again in the SEC, but maybe with a couple of wins come postseason play.
“We walked into the Big 12 last year for the first time and the toughest league in the country, and as things go, we get to walk into the toughest league in the country now in the SEC a year later,” Pope said. “It’s pretty remarkable.”
Lamont Butler is a rapper and a winner
Jack Pilgrim:
Fresh off his debut rap performance at Big Blue Madness, Butler was Kentucky’s second representative in Birmingham. There, he told KSR the idea for the player introduction actually came from Coach Pope.
“He actually convinced me,” he said. “I didn’t want to do it because I felt like it was doing too much. But he’s the one that actually convinced me to go out there and perform in Big Blue. And I’m glad it happened. It was fun.”
He wrote every line — no ghostwriters and actually may have more songs on the horizon. But that’s not the main task at hand. For now, his goal is to win a national championship at Kentucky, something he believes is attainable in his final season of eligibility.
“We have the pieces to go out there and be great and win a championship,” he told KSR.
A national title song would win him a ring and a Grammy.
