A deep March Madness run comes with an unimaginable amount of pressure. Doing it at Kentucky? That brings about so much more.
Last year, the program finally broke through for its first Sweet 16 appearance since the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's team was supposed to seamlessly build on that momentum. But instead? The brutal ups and downs of this season have tested these guys in ways they probably couldn't have imagined.
But Mark Pope doesn't want his team running from that test. In fact, he thrives on it.
"We talked about the pressure. Like, grateful for the pressure. Grateful for it mattering. Grateful for it meaning something. Grateful for being tested," Pope told reporters this week ahead of playing Vanderbilt.
"I just think, you know, you see a mountain out there, and you're just like, can I climb it? Let's go. Or you could just sit in the valley, but what's the point? Beaches are great, but mountains are unbelievable, right? Because they test you."
A cycling obsession born out of necessity
To perfectly illustrate that beautiful metaphor, Pope shared an incredible story from his playing days.
Following his freshman season at the University of Washington, his head coach, Lynn Nance, told him he needed to get bigger and stronger to handle the physical beating of college basketball. Nance suggested he get on a bike to build up his legs.
"Of course, me, I took everything to the extreme," Pope laughed. "I was riding from Bellevue all the way to the University of Washington every day. And it was hard. The whole day, and coming back in the summer."
Just so you know, that's about a 7-mile ride if you were to go do that today.
A 100-mile ride and a terrifying accident
When Pope eventually transferred to Kentucky, he brought that intense cycling obsession with him. He even talked his new teammate, Jeff Sheppard, into joining him.
"We did my first ever 100-miler here on the outskirts of Lexington," Pope recalled.
But that extreme hobby came to a terrifying halt shortly after.
"I got in an accident. A car turned right in front of me as I was driving down the street in a little bit of traffic. And then coach [Rick Pitino] forbid me from ever getting on a bike again."
But the lesson Pope took from those grueling, exhausting rides on the pavement is the exact same mindset he is trying to instill in his players right now on the hardwood.
"There's something really beautiful about just seeing how far you can push yourself," Pope explained. "About pushing your limits. About, can you actually turn the pedals one more time? Can you just do it one more time, and can you do it a little bit faster? There's not a lot of skill involved, but there's a lot of will involved."
And right now? Kentucky is facing the ultimate test of wills.
"I think the test of wills is a great thing," Pope said. "I think living in a space where you're being tested all the time is a really happy place for me, and I think it's a happy place for our guys."
Can these Cats find it within themselves to look at the upcoming mountain of March Madness and "turn the pedals one more time?"