Mark Pope on How Rick Pitino Managed Expectations for 1996 Team: 'He Told Us That If We Didn't Win Every Game, He Was Going to Kill Us'

Mark Pope has never shied away from the expectations at Kentucky. He wants to win national titles.

Pope was asked during Monday’s press conference how Rick Pitino addressed the expectations heading into the 1996 season and if he embraced it the same way Pope has. Turns out, Pitino did things a little bit differently.

“No, he was different,” Pope said. “He just told us that if we didn’t win every game, he was going to kill us. I never knew exactly what that meant: if it was just going to be kill us figuratively in practice or actually kill us. It was probably some grouping of both. The expectation was the exact same.”

It turned out well for that year’s Kentucky team. Kentucky, with Pope and Pitino, finished with a 34-2 record and defeated Syracuse 76-67 in the 1996 national title game.

It’s Just What the Expectation is At Kentucky

Mark Pope said the expectation at Kentucky has “nothing to do with me setting it.” He said it’s what it is at Kentucky.

“It’s one of the things that sets us apart from every other program in the country,” Pope said. “I happen to love it. I love every bit of it. I’m grateful. I’m so grateful to be here, where the expectation is only one ending to the season. It actually makes it a satisfying season. I’m grateful to be in this environment.”

Pope acknowledged that everyone knows what expectations Kentucky basketball comes with. His players understand it as well.

“That’s where I want to be. I’m grateful for it,” Pope said. “That’s where our guys want to be. They feel it. It comes with all the complications you can imagine, but as an athlete, those are the complications you want to sign up for.”

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