'He’s a great interpreter': Jaxson Robinson making life easier for Kentucky newcomers

Mark Pope 'enjoyed' the craziness of the spring months after making the move from BYU to Kentucky. Being able to hand-pick his roster from scratch to match the style of play and system that he had at BYU, while making slight adjustments to the SEC was critical.

Through six summer practices, he's seeing his guys continuing to learn and teach each other.

Part of that is because of the veteran leadership -- with six players playing at least four years of college basketball already. They've been through the ups and the downs of a college season, and with most players now on their second of third team, they've also seen it all when it comes to coaching and teaching.

“I think one of the markers of great players and player with a high ceiling is that they’re coachable,” Pope said on Tuesday. “Here’s the reason why – you grow fast when you’re coachable. If we’re trying to teach a concept or an approach to the game and a player is pretty stubborn about it, you’re stunted and you can’t move on to teaching the thing, to growing the next skill.

"So, it’s been really fun to watch these guys. They’re going fast and we’re going fast.”

Growing up fast is key because Pope knows he doesn't have a lot of time to put in his system. Before you know it, the season will be here. So while he's working on the implementation of his system, he's also expediting the process. The experience from his players helps with that.

"At Kentucky, we're turning this into a one-year project for the most part," Pope said last week. "But Year 1 is going to be what we do for the next eight weeks during the summer here, and we're going hard. We're going all-in. There's no pacing ourselves during this time ... We're going to try to make these eight weeks our Year 1."

Turning up the spead is difficult, regardless of how experienced his team is. That's why having an x-factor like Jaxson Robinson is so 'vital'.

Robinson knows Pope after playing for him for two seasons at BYU. He knows his personality, wording and more importantly, the message he's trying to portray.

And thus far, he's playing the role of a second coach for the rest of the team.

“It’s a gift. I bumble around, saying what I’m saying and Jaxson says,' alright guys, this is what he means'. He’s a great interpreter," Pope said of Robinson. "He’s not just an interpreter of words and concepts on the court, but he will also double down and say, hey guys, this is really important. What we just heard, you’re going to hear this every day the rest of the season. He’s a really vital piece and it doesn’t hurt that he’s an NBA-caliber player.”

As Pope has mentioned numerous times since Robinson committed to Kentucky, his addition to this team won't be measured by just points and minutes played. It's all the little things -- like these first six practices -- that will go a long way in helping build the foundation for this program under Pope, and this specific 2024-25 roster.