'100% full speed ahead': Kentucky opens first practice of Mark Pope era
By Alec Lasley
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While there are still five months until the Kentucky basketball roster takes the court for the first time in a game, the group took the court for their first official practice together earlier this week.
With the Mark Pope era now officially underway, it'll be the first time all 12 players on Kentucky's roster will be on the court together. Despite the lack of chemistry at this point, Pope is extremely excited about the group that he's put together.
While the chemistry on the court may not be there quite yet, off the court cohesiveness is -- with everyone on the same page with goals and expectations.
The goal -- to 'hang banner 9' -- started on Monday and Pope wasted no time getting the guys going.
“I want you to take all of the information you can, and I want you to go 100%, full speed ahead," Pope said at the start of practice. "If we make mistakes, we’ll correct them. That’s what we do out here. We go out on the practice court, and we make mistakes, ok? Ton of joy. Ton of juice. Let’s go."
Below are extended highlights of practice number one with Mark Pope mic'd up as well.
Mic'd Up: @CoachMarkPope at Practice No. 1 pic.twitter.com/wOJHpyBFud
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) June 19, 2024
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