Kentucky basketball has had a family atmosphere throughout John Calipari's tenure. Despite the frequency of one-and-done players, every year numerous former Wildcats would be back on campus either in the summer or during the year.
After John Calipari left Kentucky this offseason, that family was questioned. What would former players do? Would they still support Kentucky or Calipari?
Well, it's been a bit of a mixed bag thus far. While most players still are goingto be supporting both, one of the most dynamic players to wear a Kentucky uniform spoke up about his love for Kentucky.
John Wall -- who played from 2009-10 and was the No. 1 overall selection in the 2010 NBA Draft -- met new Kentucky head coach Mark Pope for the first time last weekend during the Nike EYBL event in Indianapolis.
He spoke about his interaction on his podcast this week.
“It shocked me, because I was just going to watch games," Wall said. "He (Mark Pope) was right there when I dapped someone up. He stood up and said, ‘What’s up?’ I said, ‘All respect to you, wish you the best of luck there. I’m always going to support the school, no matter what'."
Wall picked Kentucky over North Carolina, Kansas, Duke and others.
He was the SEC Player of the Year in 2010 and First-Team All-American in his lone season with Kentucky.
Despite just one year in Lexington, his impact goes beyond just that. In 2017, he was inducted into the Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame.
“Like, I love Coach Cal ... It’s just love for the school I played for," Wall said. "They’ve got love for me. I’m in the Hall of Fame there.
“I still love Coach Cal, am still going to show respect to Coach Cal, I’m still going to go to games, but I also want to build a relationship with the new coach. That’s the school I went to and who I played for."
As Pope opens up his era at Kentucky this fall, it'll be interesting to see which former players show support and which end up at Arkansas more often than in Lexington.
Either way, it appears the support within the Kentucky family is still extremely strong and their love for the program they played for is still very much there.