It's great to be excited about UK basketball again. I feel like a kid again!

Welcome home pope! Let’s get that old Kentucky home a shiny new trophy 🏆! Go big blue

Pope has the chance to bring back the 90s swag. Fill the bench with some of the champions as assistants, use Pitino on speed dial for advice. Pope can get it done in style if he uses it all and does it efficiently

very excited about Mark Pope. I've been watching some BYU games, and 100% changed my mind. as long as he can recruit and get players we need, we will be in good shape.

BYU and UK fan here. You don’t know how good of a coach you are getting. Your culture is going to get better and Pope will get more out of your players than Cal.

Thank you Shawn, give the man a chance. He's one of ours.

Choose to be supportive. Choose to be positive. Choose to be a true fan! Let's GO!!

How long did it take Scott Drew to really win at Baylor ? It took Jay Wright 11 years before he won a single NCAA tournament game . Who was Dan Hurley before he got to UONN ? What did Billy Donovan do at Marshall before he got how hired at Florida? Who was Nate Oates before Alabama ? Give Pope a chance .

Sure love seeing the negative comments about coach pope diminish. I’ve been pumped from the start!

Iam definitely in on Mark Pope he knows the stress of wining at ky because hes experienced it through Playing for BBN .I think he is a good fit for BBN.he runs a game thats what we are use to at Ky .I love to get back to our roots with Mark Pope.Go BBN 😊😊😊😊

I think that Mark will be great at UK.

Shawn you said it exactly right...I felt like a kid again today

The interview with Mitch this morning was great -- he explained why he is bringing Mark Pope. That was inspiring to me. Then I saw Rick's video endorsing Mark. We need to get behind Mark and the team.

My goodness if pope can get big Z and Reed Shepard to stay!! 👀 They would thrive in Mark popes style. That would be huge

I was not happy at all last night, however, today it makes sense. I believe!

As Rick Pitino said Jay Wright took 11 years to get his first NCAA tournament win

GO BIG BLUE BABY !!!!!

I was just happy to get rid of Cal. Now I'm estatic and can't wait for next season. Everybody who has seen BYU play under Pope should be excited .

Let’s have Rupp full Sunday!

I was shocked at first now im good 😂

40 year fan here, Big honer to land Mark Pope, I so hope we will support him and love him! The other hard core fans will come along especially if he recruits the right players and win win win. The more time passes the better I feel about hiring Pope maybe even over Scott Drew! Give me the underdog all day long, that's who we were back in the day with the unforgettables and the comeback cats. those years was special and I believe Pope brings some of that magic back to UK! I think we are lucky to land a future great coach like Mark Pope!

I went through all of the same emotions last night too. But I’m all aboard the Pope train!! It’s exciting to have him back at Rupp. And he bleeds blue, through and through. So a big congratulations to Coach Pope!! Can’t wait to see what you can do 💙

I honestly transitioned from the lowest end of the spectrum scale to soaring to the highest end of the spectrum scale in one day. Wow

All in

Go watch the Title run by the 96’ Cats. I’d put that on replay in the locker room all year 😂 #untouchables

I’m so pumped to have Mark Pope as our new head coach! Finally, I’ll know that our boys are going to be prepared to take the court each game!

I never wanted Hurley and Drew!! We should have spoken to Bruce Pearl, though. But I know Mark will bring the passion and I truly think he will be great!! Teams will not want to play us. I saw Shawn's tweet, and it did piss me off. He isn't a risk!! It will work!!

LOVING THIS💙LET’S RALLY BEHIND COACH POPE #FRESHRESTART#BBN💙

Kentucky is basketball capital of the world period!!!

Im glad coaches are finally being loyal to their programs regardless of much more money being thrown at them.

As a UK fan who became a fan in 1992, and was a fever pitch fan in 1996, it will be great to hear the Rupp announcement “…and the head coach, MARK POPE!!!”

Some of our players for next year have went pro, some are undecided and others have went in the portal. Listen because you put your name in the portal doesnt mean you cannot come back to where you had intended on going. Go Big Blue and Go Coach Pope

Will be honest I was upset too that the trigger was pulled quickly on Mark Pope out of no where seemingly. But after looking and listening to everything the whole picture it was the right move that needed to happen after Drew turned it down and I knew in my gut Hurley was not coming period he is set at UConn. Out of any possible candidate that was there he loves and cares more about Kentucky Basketball than any of them. He wants this job more than any of the rest as well. I haven't been this excited in a very long time that one of our own is our leader and can do wonderful things here just given a chance. Am totally on board for next season and can't wait.

ALL IN!!! MARK IS THE NEW RUPP

KENTUCKY!!!!!

Now Hire John pelphrey As Top Assistant ...

Have not been excited about the Kentucky Men and Women's basketball in a long time. The sun is shining bright on my Old Kentucky Home of 75 years.

The early top 25 had byu at 15th so imagine what he will do with the tools he has at Kentucky.. Like Patino said he will be great!!!

All in!! Love that we have a true Wildcat leading the way!!! Go Pope!!!

All in..go cats.

The BBN spin is wild lol

I don’t care if it takes 2 or 3 years to get decent I think a smart guy will also b a smart coach Cats 4 life

ALL IN

Unstoppables Jack

Definitely all in ❤🎉

Looking forward this season.

He will be great! I love the way he uses multiple defenses during games. They also are fun to watch on offense. Hope the players stay.

Great show today boys. You guys are legends and always honest and up front about news. Thanks for being the best UK podcast out there!

I’m watching who he gets for his assistant coaches and how they recruit

Give him time it could end up being a great hire

The man had BYU ranked....... BYU..... A team that has a comically constrained recruiting pool due to having to essentially be a monk while there and fairly strict academic standards. Their pool is even lower than legit ivy League schools when considering the monk factor. He beat Kansas last season..... How did Cal do?

Given Mark Popes style. What are the chances that big Z stays? He seems like he would be a perfect fit

The amount of people that was dumping on this hire is insane to me. There is no better candidate in the coaching ranks right now that would love Kentucky more than Coach Pope. This dude will win. He can coach. He will bring in kids that will want to play for the name across the chest. This is what we truly wanted. Some pride

All in!

All In

“It was super fresh when I decided to breathe it” captures my feeling perfectly

He can’t do it buy his self ! He needs some top notch assistant coaches !

💙🏀 Go Big Blue Forever and I am very excited about our Wildcats Basketball new head coach and a former wildcat Basketball who won a national championship 🏆 for Kentucky and Now he can come back to Kentucky basketball and coach Kentucky Basketball team back to NCAA National Championship s

We had 5 five star Players and still didn't win in the NCAA tournament I think if he can make the Portal work for him then I think we can have a good team that will compete for tournament championships

all in

18:24 What a great way to right your wrong. I have a lot of respect for you saying this Shawn. Because you guys do influence a big part of our fan base. Class act man. Good job sir!

Funny show. Last 3/4 days non stop entertaining.

Honest question, does Joey Hart fit in with Pope’s style of play? I haven’t seen him play much but to me he sounds like a Pope style player. Are my thoughts (albeit based on opinion and articles of others) of him being a good shooter that maybe needs some development off on that?

Good luck BBN

The upside potential is so great with Mark Pope. BYU did something this year that we didn’t accomplish, his team beat Kansas and Baylor.

He might not out recruit Cal. No doubt he will out coach Cal 😂

Possibilities are there. Mark Pope knows exactly where he's coming to, and exactly what the fans expect. He has his eyes wide-open, and he knows exactly what he's walking into. But wanting and doing are 2 different things. Pope as a player played on the best UK team of the last 50 years, with guys like Tony Delk, Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer, and Derek Anderson- along with a lot of guys like himself- really good college players who were fringe NBA talents. He knows what he needs to do. He needs guys like he was as a player mixed with the undeniable stars like Antoine Walker and Ron Mercer. Now he needs to make it happen.

This is what we been asking for for years now!! Go big blue

BRING BACK THE DENIM AND ICICLE JERSEYS BAABBBYYYYY!!

Sure glad Hurley didn’t come. I couldn’t have watched. Pope is gonna be perfect for us if the fans will stay behind him through thick and thin. 4-5 year a final 4 if the fans get behind him.

Great hire

Shawn Smith I absolutely agree with you about the 90's. Great Era.❤

He was going to be a doctor. So, he must be a smart guy. Smart enough to play his best players, hopefully.

Pope my classmate in undergrad...very smart eloquent dude....will definitely give him a chance

After watching this live, I went back and watched the BYU-Kansas game on KZfaq. The full game is available. If Mark Pope can win at Kansas with those mostly unimpressive players, he would have blown them out with the players he'll be able to get here!

Lets go...excited....Pope's cats

No joke, rumor has it that Jeff may be coming on as an assistant, I hope he does bcuz Reed should come back. We didn't want Bruce, I know I didn't, I liked the hire bcuz Hurley wasn't coming and Mark can get a team together with the same mentality of winning as UConn, it's not gonna be a one n done door now it's gonna be guys coming in and staying like the good old days, where we have guys that stay and win a Chip. UConn had/has great college players and we've got the best in the NBA so thank you Cal for all you did but instead of ripping Cal it was time and we should appreciate that regardless how long ago it was , Joe B, Rick, Tubby, Cal all got 1 Chip so I appreciate all our coaches and we got to see some great players through the past 15 years, several ex players have NBA Championships, as our new coach, glad to have ya home Champ, welcome home Coach. Go Big Blue ✌️💙#BBN

Rick Pitino giving Mark praise and congratulating him for the new job gives me a lot of confidence that Mark really is a good choice. There are a lot of pros when you really start to break down his future career at Kentucky. I mean, who better to give a recruiting pitch than a guy who played at Kentucky and won a national championship? I’m going to be carefully optimistic about this next season just because I won’t expect it to be some amazing undefeated run to the championship game. I get that this could take a bit of time, but I also think this is a great direction in the long run. Cal brought in great recruits but has lacked ambition in these last few years. Mark has all the ambition you could ask for and then some. Like you guys said, half of the battle is that you gotta want it. He wants it more than anyone else than could coach at Kentucky, and I’m very confident in that. His excitement makes me excited

Excited to see how he does! I know it’s early but if he can make a hard push After jasper johnson from woodford county I will be sold 🔥

Fun offense & Pope loves this place and wants to be here for the right reasons. I’m fired up. I hope Shep and Z stay. They could flourish in this offense.

I asked Jesus for a new UK coach, and he sent us The Pope! Thank you, God!

#41 needs to started recruiting the players on 2023 ( correcting ) team and show them he will make them better player at Kentucky . #44 , #33 , #2 , # 3 , #21 , # 23

All F'ing In.

I was behind Mark Pope from the beginning. He has started some good things at BYU. (Wish he didn't do the Cats video in front of the BYU emblem. But he got energy we need..)

Pope will be a great coach at Kentucky. He will take our program from Cal's "gold standard" (yeah right) to the vatican of college basketball.... we need players with the last name Priest and Bishop

Ok, I will give him a chance. BUT! I want John Pelphry on the coaching staff!! I really wanted Pitino as 4-5 year interim coach, giving! Billy Donavan enough notice to be ready for the job. I hope Pope brings back tradition, showcasing our history, and repairing all our records that was allowed to be broken the past 15 years. Bring back Senior Day coverage on TV ! No more multi colored shoes ! And the players should be required to stay on the court after the game, for the playing of, My Old Kentucky Home. Welcome back Mark, I would like to see some of that Pitino defense back. Need players like The Unforgettables, Jeff Brasso, Winston Bennett, Reggie Hanson, by the way , his name should be hanging in the rafters. It will be nice to have a coach that can design a play.

I am Ready to Write and Sing Some More Great UK basketball Songs!!! #KSR #BBN #kyjoe

Mark pope needs to make Jasper Johnson a wildcat no matter what. Lexington kid and wants to be here

Best long term choice

Louisville took achance on one of thier own in Kenny

The first 24 hour nil support was great to hear but it was probably more interesting that Kelly Craft tweeted that

If you were worried the new coach won't be as good a salesman as Calapari, just remember he got a bunch of Mormans to hire a Pope to be their leader.

I hate one and done. You gotta give. Players time to grow together and it can't be done over and over every year. Welcome home Coach Pope.

So they get rid of a coach because he got beat in the first round to hire a coach who got beat in the first round. Brilliant!

If Reed Stays..... And the little Sheppard shall lead the new Pope into the NCAA Promised land

Great Hire . He was the captain of the greatest team that ever played college basketball !!!

Love how the young guy (who wasn't even alive in the 90s) is explaining how it was in the 90s. The older guy at least admits he was super young and had just started following UK basketball in the 90s.

Yes

This is a solid hire, with the potential to be great. Its a good move. Not as expensive as the last guy, but the return can be much higher. Pope won a title at UK, under Pitino. If he gets players, he could win it all next year. No pressure...... But its possible(uh anything is right now). And players can still go to the NBA.

Shepherd and pelphry as assistants?!? I hope…