Mark Pope and Cameron Mills talk Kentucky's 5-on-5 battle with La Familia

Summer practice for the 2025-26 Kentucky men’s basketball team is already halfway over, but with La Familia in town, head coach Mark Pope has the rare opportunity to simulate some live-action hoops.

And that’s exactly what happened this week on UK’s campus. La Familia, which is made up of former Kentucky players ranging from the late Billy Gillispie days (DeAndre Liggins) all the way up to Pope’s first season in Lexington (Ansley Almonor), is preparing for its second-ever run in The Basketball Tournament, which begins on Friday night at Memorial Coliseum.

The current Kentucky team practiced alongside La Familia on Tuesday, but the real fun happened Wednesday afternoon during a 5-on-5 portion. Pope sat down with Cameron Mills of the UK Sports Network to talk about the importance of playing with/against current pros.

“One, we get some live action against really, really talented, veteran, smart, high IQ, physical bodies,” Pope told Mills about the benefits of this bridging of eras. “We get to go actually against someone that’s not ourselves. It’s a gift that we’ve been able to do this the last two years. I would have these guys be at practice for three weeks if we could do it, because it’s so helpful.

“It’s so important for our guys to connect to the players that built this incredible place that they get to be a part of now. It’s important for them to get reps against someone else and see different defense, and different concepts, and guard different skill sets. So it’s a real gift. And then actually to have a little bit of a live game simulation is important.”

What did Pope like about the actual 5-on-5 action he saw from his guys? He didn’t spill any major beans about what happened behind the scenes, but he did bring up a couple of positives.

“Positive for us was we battled through some discomfort and some frustration, and some leadership emerged,” Pope said. “You got to feel a little bit of resilience, you got to feel where some thoughts of energy are in that situation. A positive, some guys that walked into a little bit of new circumstances got to shake off some of the dust and nerves. So I like both of those.”

Listen to the full four-minute interview below. There are also a few clips from the 5-on-5 mixed into the interview you’ll want to see: a Trent Noah drive into the lane for a floater, a pretty Jaland Lowe three-pointer from the top of the key, and Otega Oweh barrelling to the rim for an easy layup.

Cameron Mills spoke with Coach Pope immediately following the @KentuckyMBB scrimmage against @LaFamiliaTBT tonight.

Watch the 1st @UK_HealthCare Practice Report of the season 👇 pic.twitter.com/cYZjVA2qUz

— UK Sports Network (@UKSportsNetwork) July 17, 2025

If you want even more 5-on-5/practice intel, Jack Pilgrim has you covered over on KSBoard. He also has a positive update on the arrival status of international big man Andrija Jelavić that the Big Blue Nation will be excited to read. The season can’t come soon enough.

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