Kentucky Wildcats head to Corbin to play pickleball and ride jet skis

It’s team retreat weekend for Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats, starting their in-state journey at Natural Bridge and Red River Gorge on Friday. That’s where they went hiking, ziplining and rode the skylift to soak in all of the beautiful views — and conquer their fears, like Coach Pope speeding through the nature.

That included a meal at the legendary Miguel’s Pizza in Slade — a chance for Andrija Jelavic to test his stomach just a week removed from his arrival. Zvonimir Ivisic had to learn the hard way when he got to the United States that the transition with food can be tricky, so at least we’re taking care of it now.

Where did the Wildcats head next? Hazard, a chance to give back in Eastern Kentucky with fans both healthy and others in need of a pick-me-up. They stopped in at the ARH Cancer Center to hand out goods and interact with patients.

They also went to Perry County Park to shoot some hoops and sign autographs — the Mountain Mamba bringing some of his EKY fans to Hazard for the meet-and-greet while Coach Pope took “shaking hands and kissing babies” to another level.

All crucial in their continued pursuit of becoming Kentucky’s Team.

Where did Kentucky go from there? Laurel Lake in Corbin, where the team spent Saturday out on the water and even got in some pickleball time when they weren’t riding jet skis or tubing on the relaxing boat day.

The MVP of the water sports? None other than Collin Chandler, who clearly knows his way around a wakeboard with Papa Roach’s Last Resort blaring in the background. That clip was shared by Kentucky senior athletic trainer Brandon Wells on Instagram.

When they weren’t wakeboarding, the team gathered out on the tube — one somehow big enough to hold six massive DI men’s basketball players gliding on the surface of the water.

Otega Oweh was comfortable relaxing on the boat wearing a massive UK chain — as All-SEC stars should leading up to one final season of college basketball as a likely All-American.

The assistant coaches were right there with Oweh, comfortable chilling on the boat rather than getting into any shenanigans on the water:

Chandler, Noah, Jaland Lowe and Malachi Moreno had no problem getting out there:

They took turns on jet skis with Brandon Garrison, Mo Dioubate, Braydon Hawthorne, Walker Horn and Zach Tow among the others testing their driving skills on the water:

“We was surrounded by (sharks),” Alvin Brooks III wrote on Instagram.

Dioubate didn’t know where he was — “Somewhere in Kentucky” was his location tag on the IG story — but he was having a good time.

Take a look at the other views from the team’s lake day:

We’re just missing a Mark Pope belly flop video to complete the perfect lake experience.

It wasn’t all about playing on the water, either. The guys competed in a pickleball tournament, too, with Noah and Horn representing the winning team.

One heck of a team retreat, if you ask me. Get back to Lexington safely, Cats — the push for banner No. 9 continues when you return home.