Inside Kentucky Basketball Media Day: A fast car, fresh faces, pancakes, and a buzzer beater

Kentucky Basketball Media Day set the stage for the 2025-26 season on Monday, right in time for Big Blue Madness this weekend. It couldn’t come at a better time, either. A welcome distraction from the football conversations on the other side of campus, where fans are still reeling from another SEC loss and questioning the future of Mark Stoops.

It wasn’t the real thing, but Media Day was a sign that basketball is near. Let’s run through the day.

Broadcasting KSR from Historic Memorial Coliseum

Matt Jones and I tipped off the day by broadcasting two hours of Kentucky Sports Radio live from Historic Memorial Coliseum’s court. Huge thanks to UK Athletics for being so accommodating and letting us set up inside the gym. The setup was perfect—well, at least until we realized our topics included questioning Stoops’ future and the decisions Mitch Barnhart may have to make, while sitting a few steps away from the athletic department’s offices.

During the show, five-star point guard Derron Rippey Jr., one of Kentucky’s top targets, casually strolled through the gym with his parents and UK staff as he began his campus visit. We probably weren’t supposed to see that, but hey, sometimes timing works out.

After the show wrapped, I stopped in the media room for a quick chicken salad croissant, which hit the spot before the main event. Shoutout to UK again for the great setup and lunch.

Mark Pope’s Press Conference

The main room was packed for Mark Pope, and I slipped in just in time to catch him entering, and even got a quick fist bump as he walked past. The energy in the room was pure Pope: fast-paced, confident, and relentlessly optimistic.

He covered everything from analytics (numbers are great teachers, but “not the rulebook”) to roster depth and competition in early practices (“I got to get these guys off the floor, because they’re going to kill each other right now”). My favorite line of the day came when Pope described this year’s team as “a beautiful Ferrari we can’t wait to take for a spin.”

We’re all still learning Pope-speak as his second season in Lexington approaches, but it’s pretty clear that he loves his roster before the season begins.

Watch Pope’s entire press conference here.

Talking with the players

Once Pope’s press conference ended, we moved to the practice court, which, by the way, has been completely remodeled since last season. The new design highlights Kentucky’s tradition and history, rather than just its connection to the NBA pipeline and Calipari’s favorites. It feels more like Kentucky basketball again, with a spot waiting for the next banner on the wall commemorating the Wildcats’ eight championships.

With KSR’s newly-married Steven Peake behind the camera, I caught up with a handful of players in the quick lap around the court for interviews:

• Jasper Johnson talked about adjusting to college basketball’s physicality and trying to bulk up. Luckily, being close to home helps. His mom and grandmother still feed him home-cooked meals, including his favorite: Grandma’s pancakes.
• Jayden Quaintance, still rehabbing his knee, discussed watching practice from the sidelines, learning the system while out, and his goal of becoming the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Jayden confirmed he loves to play chess, but says the stories of his expertise are greatly exaggerated.
• Malachi Moreno is settling into college life while staying close to home in Georgetown. We talked about how practices have been full of highlight plays, even with so many new faces adjusting. He noted that Trent Noah doesn’t miss.
• Otega Oweh reflected on what he learned from the NBA Draft process and said the difference between this year and last at this point in the preseason is the competitiveness. He confirmed that he is now fully recovered from turf toe as well. He’s practicing this week.
• Andrija Jelavic, the late addition from Croatia, is still adjusting to life in Lexington, from the pace of the game to the American diet. He revealed the restaurant that took Big Z down a couple of years ago, and shared his first impressions of Lexington.

“Horn at the Horn”

To wrap things up, I caught up with senior walk-on Walker Horn as the gym’s scoreboard, which doubled as our interview timer, ticked away. True to form, he got his comment in just before the buzzer. It wasn’t quite a game-winning shot, but we’re officially calling it “Horn at the Horn” moving forward. Against the clock, we spoke for approximately one second.

Watch KSR at Media Days

If you haven’t already, subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for full interviews, press conferences, and plenty more basketball (and possibly a few football therapy sessions).