The Big Blue Nation understood the assignment

DrewFranklinKSR

Mark Pope understood the assignment. At the Sunday press conference introducing him as Kentuck y‘s next head basketball coach, Pope said everything the Big Blue Nation wanted to hear, telling Kentucky fans his job is to “win banners” in Lexington.

Mark Pope says he understands the assignment: win championships pic.twitter.com/g0LU9pU1ka
— Drew Franklin (@DrewFranklinKSR) April 14, 2024

The Big Blue Nation understood its assignment, too. Tasked with showing public fan support for the new head coach, the BBN did its job and more, packing Rupp Arena for the open-invite event. On Masters Sunday, fans flooded downtown Lexington, blowing away UK Athletics’s expectations of filling a handful of sections on one side of the arena.

With a bigger turnout than anyone could imagine, the 4:30 p.m. start time was delayed to allow even more fans from the sea of blue pouring in from High and Vine. Before Pope took the stage, Rupp Arena was filled to the very top, all the way around, with overflow along the aisles and the upper-level walkways. It was a standing-room-only event, with several thousand more fans turned away at the door.

You people are still crazy.

Chants of “Go-Big-Blue” rang out in anticipation of Pope’s arrival. At the same time, DJ Warren Peace played some of Rupp Arena’s favorite hits for the rowdy crowd, including a callback to the past with “Mony, Mony” (although Dancing Guy did not appear).

Even Travis Perry, maybe the only Kentucky signee Pope will keep, made the trip to Lexington to support the Wildcats’ new head coach. Pope asked Perry to stand up for an ovation from the crowd while saying, “Before Richie (Farmer) and after Travis and everybody in-between that is an instate Kentucky kid, these young men that grow up in Kentucky, they bring a spirit to the team that cannot be fabricated or replaced, and it helps us to win, and we will continue to recruit them.”

The crowd loved that one.

Really, the crowd loved everything Pope had to say on Sunday as the program began a new chapter with new messaging and a closer connection to the history and tradition of Kentucky Basketball. Pope’s comments, plus the nostalgia he brings with him, were exactly what the fan base needed to move forward into this new era. And the fan base did exactly what it needed to do when outsiders wondered if The Greatest Tradition In College Basketball was slipping. The Big Blue Nation–fans, boosters, administration, former players of every generation, coaches from other sports, more fans, and even more fans on top of those fans–came together in Rupp Arena, sending a loud and clear message that Mark Pope, the captain of the Untouchables, has more support than any coach in college basketball. Only the BBN could create a spectacle like Pope’s Sunday press conference, bringing everyone together for the next leader of the Wildcats. The fans understood the assignment. Now, Pope begins his.