‘He’s tremendous.’ ESPN analyst Dick Vitale praises Mark Pope during UK-Alabama broadcast
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Game day: No. 4 Alabama 96, No. 17 Kentucky 83
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
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After a two-year absence from his legendary line of work, beloved ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale is back behind the microphone.
The 85-year-old Vitale has returned following a four-year-battle with four types of cancer, including vocal cord cancer, and remains a featured part of ESPN’s college basketball coverage.
Vitale returned to the announcer’s booth earlier this month by calling a pair of Duke basketball games for ESPN. On Saturday night, Vitale’s third game back on the air gave him an up-close look at Kentucky.
Vitale was part of a three-man ESPN commentary crew for No. 17 Kentucky’s 96-83 road loss at No. 4 Alabama. Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes joined Vitale for the Wildcats’ matchup with the Crimson Tide.
During the early moments of Saturday’s game in Tuscaloosa, Vitale had plenty to say about first-year UK coach Mark Pope and his new-look Kentucky program.
Kentucky got off to a hot start and raced out to a 16-9 lead in the game at the first media timeout, which prompted Vitale to discuss Pope’s coaching job at UK so far.
“I also love the unbelievable enthusiasm of Pope. He’s tremendous,” Vitale said.
“… He was a good player off the bench for Rick Pitino on a national championship team,” Vitale added later about Pope, a 1996 national champion at UK.
Vitale also touched on the high-scoring Kentucky high school career of freshman guard Travis Perry, the return from injury for fifth-year forward Andrew Carr and the shooting ability and NBA draft potential of fifth-year wing Koby Brea during some of his initial comments about the Cats.
Later in the broadcast, Vitale circled back to heap more praise on Pope.
“They’ve beaten seven teams, seven, in the top 15 in the nation… He’s had seven games where he’s had a full roster,” Vitale said.
Vitale also spoke highly of the “exciting style of basketball” that Pope has brought to the bluegrass. Entering the game, Kentucky ranked fifth in the nation in offensive efficiency, per KenPom, and was third in the nation in points per game (85.8).
Prior to Saturday’s game, Vitale sat in on Pope’s pregame interview with the UK radio broadcast. Pope and Vitale posed for a photo together during the occasion. Before the game, Vitale was also honored in front of the crowd at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.
In a phone interview earlier this week with Herald-Leader sports columnist John Clay, Vitale was complimentary of the work Pope has done at his alma mater this season.
“His enthusiasm is so contagious. I loved talking to him. Just so enthusiastic,” Vitale said of Pope. “… He was a great choice. I’m a big fan of John Calipari, but anytime you stay someplace 15 years, it’s hard. It was time. I think they made the right choice.”
Despite Saturday’s loss in Tuscaloosa, the Wildcats have exceeded preseason expectations in Pope’s first season as head coach. UK is now 18-9 overall and 7-7 in SEC games.
But, Pope will have his work cut out to get Kentucky back above that .500 line in conference play as the regular season nears an end. The Wildcats are currently without a trio of fifth-year guards in Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa and Jaxson Robinson. This means Kentucky is down to its fourth option at point guard: Perry has now started the last three games for the Cats.
“Mark doesn’t want to make excuses about injuries, but to me they’re not excuses, they’re facts. Those are major losses,” Vitale said of the current injury situation for Pope’s team.
Kentucky has four regular-season games left, starting with Wednesday night’s road trip to Oklahoma (17-10, 4-10).
Most projections at Bracket Matrix currently have UK as a 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Last weekend, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee also listed Kentucky as a 3 seed in the 2025 bracket during a made-for-TV special that served as a test run for the real selection show, which will take place March 16.
This story was originally published February 22, 2025 at 6:26 PM.
