Mark Pope says his Wildcats are willing to listen and learn
“These guys have been incredibly willing to just grab onto any instruction and really run with it.”
With John Calipari leaving for Arkansas, the Kentucky Wildcats had to quickly find a new hire, and that is what they did. After Calipari left on April 9, Kentucky quickly hired Mark Pope on April 12, and soon after that Pope was able to quickly gather a staff and players.
Now, Kentucky has 12 scholarship players, but the crazy part is none of them have played for Kentucky, none were teammates, and one has only played for Pope. The roster contains nine transfer players and three who will just be freshmen this year.
The NCAA now allows practices in the summertime for coaches to get players adjusted to their system and their teammates. Sometimes, it can be hard for a coach to get players willing to listen and learn from you, but he hasn’t had any problems with players buying in.
“Sometimes you get veteran players, and they’re less malleable and less coachable — and they kind of have done what they’ve done, and they do what they do, and they are less responsive,” Mark Pope tells NABC. “The thing that’s been surprising — these guys have been incredibly willing to just grab onto any instruction and really run with it. It’s really wonderful to see these veteran guys and how excited they are to grow and learn. And how willing they are to try new things.”
As for the players, it has been a challenge since it is a brand new roster, and understanding how the teammates mesh on the court, but overall, they have enjoyed it.
“I mean, it’s challenging,” point guard Kerr Kriisa tells the Lexington Herald-Leader. “That’s why we have the summer. If we didn’t have the summer, it would be super hard.”
Players do believe that they have been able to play together well, and it is coming along during practice with how Pope runs his offense.
“I think we’re meshing really, really well,” Koby Brea tells the Lexington Herald-Leader. “I think the system that Coach has in place for us really helps us kind of create a bond faster than usual. Just because, you know, we gotta play off each other and really learn how to read each other’s minds and stuff like that.”
From the sounds of it, the team has been doing very well during the summer in terms of practicing and working out. Hopefully, this will translate into wins during the regular season and also in the SEC and NCAA Tournament.
