In year one at Kentucky, Mark Pope succeeded on one of his biggest goals
Fast-break points from the SEC vindication party:
21. Mark Pope. My favorite thing the Kentucky men’s basketball coach said during his first season as top Cat was that he saw it as his responsibility for UK players to leave Lexington having loved being a Wildcat as much as Pope relished the experience when he played for Kentucky from 1994-96.
20. Mission accomplished. I thought about that sentiment in the UK locker room Friday night following the Wildcats’ season-ending 78-65 loss to Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament round of 16. There, I kept listening to various Cats give heartfelt accounts of how much playing for Kentucky had meant to them.
19. Lamont Butler. “To even play at Kentucky is a dream come true for myself.”
18. Ansley Almonor. “I was able to achieve one of my dreams, to put on (the Kentucky) jersey. ... It was a blessing I thank God every day for allowing me to be able to do that.”
17. Koby Brea. “I don’t know who is in charge of the jerseys and all that, but they’re going to go through some trouble to get mine (back). It’s still surreal every time I walk in the locker room, and I’m able to put this jersey on.“
16. Andrew Carr. “For me, it’s just been a surreal moment to actually be able to put on (the Kentucky) jersey. To be part of the Kentucky family is something I get to bring with me forever.”
15. Jaxson Robinson. “I think it will be real easy for future recruits to look at the body of work Coach Pope put in this year and want to come to this school, a prestige program, and be a part of history.”
14. Jaxson Robinson’s return to hoops. Recuperating from the wrist injury and subsequent surgery that ended his UK career, the 6-foot-6, 192-pound Robinson said Friday night he expects to get out of the splint he is wearing in three weeks in favor of a smaller cast. He then expects to be cleared to return to basketball activities within two months, “a little bit after the (NBA draft) combine,” said Robinson of the May 11-18 event.
13. Good rivalry report for UK. With Kentucky advancing to the round of 16 and Louisville going out in the round of 64 in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, it means you still have to go back to 2013 to find the last time U of L went deeper in March Madness than did UK (and the NCAA subsequently vacated that Louisville tourney run over rules violations).
12. Bad rivalry report for UK. Not only did Tennessee eliminate Kentucky from this year’s NCAA tourney, the Volunteers have now advanced deeper in March Madness than the Wildcats in each of the past five seasons.
11. Rick Barnes. The NCAA tourney win over UK improved the Tennessee head coach’s all-time mark vs. the Wildcats to 13-14 — 12-12 at UT, 1-1 at Clemson, 0-1 at Texas.
10. Barnes climbing an all-time list. The Tennessee coach is now tied with Dean Smith (13-3) for the sixth most coaching wins ever against Kentucky.
9. The top five vs. the Cats. The only coaches with more victories over UK than Rick Barnes are Dale Brown (18-33), Billy Donovan (17-29), Ray Mears (15-15), Bob Knight (15-18) and Roy Skinner (14-18).
8. SEC walks its talk. With Florida and Auburn slated to meet in the Final Four, it means the Southeastern Conference is guaranteed a team in the NCAA title game for the first time since Kentucky fell 60-54 to Connecticut in the 2014 national finals.
7. SEC walks its talk II. Whether or not Auburn or Florida gives the SEC its first men’s NCAA hoops title since Kentucky’s in 2012, the Southeastern Conference teams have justified the record 14 bids the league received to the 2025 tourney. Seven SEC teams in the round of 16, four in the round of eight and two in the Final Four speak for themselves.
6. No glass slipper. The 2025 NCAA tourney is the first one since 2017 in which the No. 13, No. 14, No. 15 and No. 16 seeds all went without even one win in the 64-team bracket.
5. Duke’s frosh-heavy Final Four run. Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils have advanced to the Final Four with three freshmen — forward Cooper Flagg, center Khaman Maluach and wing Kon Knueppel — in their starting lineup.
4. All expected to be one-and-dones. The NBA mock drafts consistently have Flagg, the consensus projected No. 1 overall pick, Knueppel and Maluach going in the first round of the 2025 draft.
3. Devils bucking the Final Four trend. Until this year, no team that starts more than one freshman had reached the Final Four since Duke, which started frosh Paolo Banchero and AJ Griffin, in 2022. No team that started more than one freshman has won the NCAA title since Duke, which started Tyus Jones, Justise Winslow and Jahlil Okafor, did it in 2015.
2. The BBN’s rooting interest. Not that Kentucky backers need a reason to root against Duke when the Blue Devils face Houston in Saturday’s Final Four, but if Duke claims the 2025 NCAA title it will be its sixth and would move it into a tie with Connecticut and North Carolina for third-most all-time.
1. Uncomfortably close. A sixth Duke NCAA championship would mean the Blue Devils are closer to second-place Kentucky (eight NCAA crowns) than UK is to first place UCLA (11).
