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Mark Pope shares his approach to continuing Kentucky's success in the NBA Draft

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Mark Pope shares his approach to continuing Kentucky's success in the NBA Draft


49 Kentucky players were drafted into the NBA during the John Calipari era. Despite having a couple of guards in Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham expected to hear their names called early later this summer — has the Wildcats’ NBA Draft tradition left with Calipari to Arkansas?

According to new head coach Mark Pope, he doesn’t think so.

“It’s been a mainstay of Kentucky basketball since the beginning of time,” Pope told local reporters. “I mean, my senior season (1996) we won a national championship and we had nine guys for that team going into play at least seven years in the NBA. Nine — that’s 75 percent if my math is right, so this brilliant relationship between Kentucky basketball and the NBA is something that’s been long-standing and I think it’s vital and important.”

Calipari had a first-round draft choice in every year that he was head coach in Lexington. Before that, Kentucky produced just six draft choices from 2000-2009. That group included legends of the program in Jodie Meeks, Rajon Rondo and Tayshaun Prince, but pales in comparison to what came after.

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However, the NBA was very kind to UK in the 80s and 90s, seeing 29 Wildcats — including Pope in 1996 — hear their name called in the draft over those two decades.

“For us, it’s a manifestation of the success that we have here,” Pope continued, alluding to the eight national titles UK has won under five different head coaches across all eras of college basketball. “When you see teams win, and win at the highest level — it’s because they have good players and those players become great. Players that become great have a chance to play.

“Our relationship with the NBA — if we do well and our guys do well — it will continue in massive earnest, clearly like it did with Cal. Like it did with Tubby [Smith], with coach [Rick Pitino, Joe B. [Hall]. Hopefully we will continue down that road because it’s a really important part of what we do.”

It will be tough to surpass the 50+ former Kentucky players that Calipari will ultimately have drafted by the beginning of next season.

Mark Pope will look to keep the tradition going as Kentucky moves forward with its new head coach. As for year one, he has put together a team full of college veterans. Whether their game will carry over to the NBA isn’t as easy to predict as one of Calipari’s five-star recruits, but Pope’s squad will likely still get looks from NBA scouts simply from the name on the front of the jersey alone.

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Kentucky

WATCH: Jasper Johnson talks Kentucky, Caleb Wilson and OTE with KSR

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WATCH: Jasper Johnson talks Kentucky, Caleb Wilson and OTE with KSR


How are things going for Lexington’s own Jasper Johnson in his third and final high school stop before taking his talents to the University of Kentucky? The five-star guard is enjoying his time at Overtime Elite and his development in Atlanta as he prepares for life in college as a Wildcat.

“I’m feeling good, really confident in myself,” Johnson said in a sit-down interview with the media at OTE this past week. “I know I’ve been putting in a lot of work on and off the court to better myself each and every day. Just trying to do what I can to prepare myself as much as I can for next year so whenever I step on the floor I’ll be able to make an impact from day one.”

He’s focusing on getting better, obviously, but he’s also keeping a close eye on Kentucky in Mark Pope’s first season with the Wildcats. In fact, he called the team’s upset win over Duke ahead of time — “I’m confident in Kentucky, for sure,” he said.

Big-picture, though, he’s thrilled with the vision he was sold before he committed coming to life now with the games rolling. It’s a player-friendly system that fires threes and scores at a ridiculous pace with efficiency, something he wants to be a part of next season back home in Lexington.

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“It’s been exciting watching all our games, shooting a lot of threes and having a lot of excitement with a lot of freedom,” Johnson said. “I feel like my game will really go well with his offense, the way he’s been pitching it to me.”

The future Wildcat also talked about four-star guard Acaden Lewis joining the fold, recruiting five-star forward Caleb Wilson, pushing Newport, KY native Tay Kinney to sign with Kentucky in ’26 and championship expectations in blue and white. And then to wrap up the media session, Johnson’s coach, Corey Frazier, talks about the Lexington native’s development and what Big Blue Nation can expect from the dynamic scoring guard once he arrives on campus next summer.

Watch the complete sit-down interview (plus KSR’s practice highlights) below:

More Kentucky News and Views on the KSR YouTube Channel

Kentucky Sports Radio has expanded its coverage of the Wildcats in the most ridiculous manner possible on our YouTube Channel. Here you will be able to find interviews with coaches and players, as well as commentary from the KSR crew. From Rapid Reactions following big events to our lengthy lineup of live shows, subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel to stay up to date on everything happening around the Big Blue Nation.

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Kentucky MBB players, Bryson Tiller made up sold out Memorial Coliseum crowd

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Kentucky MBB players, Bryson Tiller made up sold out Memorial Coliseum crowd


On Saturday, Kentucky Women’s Basketball beat Louisville for the first time in seven years. This win already solidified Kenny Brooks as one of Kentucky’s “greats,” and he did it in front of a sold-out Memorial Coliseum crowd.

The newly renovated Historic Memorial Coliseum holds 6,250 empty seats for fans from all walks to fill. Ticket prices range from $15 for general admission to more than $200 for lower-level reserved seating. Still, Big Blue Nation (and some Cardinal fans) managed to purchase every seat in the building. While there were some empty seats from folks who couldn’t make it, the crowd made up for it by being one of the best crowds Memorial has ever seen.

Before the game, lines outside the building wrapped around the block. Students stood outside hoping to claim some extra student section tickets, and fans with pre-purchased tickets waited eagerly to get inside. Fans showed up and showed out. In fact, this is what the stands looked like 20 minutes before tipoff…

Special guest appearances

Perhaps one of the least surprising and one of the most surprising things happened during last night’s game. As we know, Kentucky Men’s Basketball coach Mark Pope and women’s coach Kenny Brooks are pretty close. They were both hired this year to save two stagnant programs and have already written their names in the “Kentucky Wins to a Team They Haven’t Won Against Since 2015” book. Regardless of their status, members of the men’s team came to Memorial to support their Kentucky Basketball family.

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Brandon Garrison, Kerr Kriisa, Andrew Carr, Ansley Almonor, Collin Chandler, Jaxson Robinson, and Amari Williams all showed up to last night’s rivalry matchup. While fans were excited to get women’s and men’s basketball action, BBN was also shocked by the presence of Kentucky-born rapper Bryson Tiller.

The “Don’t” singer was born and raised in Louisville and has been vocal about his Cardinal support for years. While he got his start in the music industry in 2011, Tiller went back to high school in recent years, earning his diploma from Iroquois High School in Louisville. Now, Tiller remains active with music but still finds time to support his Cardinals. Even though BBN and Louisville barely agree, if there’s anything we love more than our teams, it’s a Kentucky-born musician (I’m looking at you, Tyler Childers).

The crowd made the difference

Despite being down at the half, Kentucky was still able to come out with the victory over its long-time rival. The energy in Memorial Coliseum made such a big difference in the outcome of the game. If that arena was empty, we would’ve seen a much different outcome.

“Honestly, that the people show out. You know, I think we’ve had early games, and the crowds are trickling in, but tonight it was, it was loud, and they bought great energy,” Virginia Tech transfer Georgia Amoore said following Saturday’s win.

“And, you know, it’s what was advertised to me, that Big Blue Nation was, and I think it was great that it came tonight, but we’re going to need that when we come conference time too.”

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BBN, you heard the All-American! The team needs you to show up and show out come SEC play. Memorial is fun, the team is fun, Kenny Brooks is fun, and who knows? You might see some special guests on the Jumbotron.

Kentucky Men’s Basketball players Brandon Garrison and Collin Chandler – Mont Dawson, Kentucky Sports Radio
Kentucky fans at Memorial Coliseum - Dylan Ballard, A Sea of Blue
Kentucky fans at Memorial Coliseum – Dylan Ballard, A Sea of Blue



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Kentucky at Texas odds: Early point spread released, How to Watch

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Kentucky at Texas odds: Early point spread released, How to Watch


The penultimate week of the regular season also marks Texas’ final home game. Kentucky will make its way to Austin as the Longhorns look to make a run at an SEC title, and the early point spread has been released.

Texas opened as a 20.5-point favorite over Kentucky, according to FanDuel. The over-under also opened at 46.5.

Fresh off a big win over Florida, Texas renewed an old Southwest Conference rivalry in Week 12. The Longhorns headed to Arkansas, and it looked like it was going to be close in the second half. However, Texas got a big score and a timely turnover to defeat the Razorbacks and stay atop the SEC standings heading into Week 13.

As for Kentucky, the Wildcats took a break from conference play and welcomed Murray State to Kroger Field. UK was firing on all cylinders en route to the resounding victory to improve to 4-6 entering the matchup against Texas.

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Kentucky and Texas will square off Nov. 23 at 3:30 p.m. ET. Here’s how to watch the Week 13 matchup as the regular season winds down.

CLICK HERE to get in your Last Minute Bets with FanDuel!

How to watch Kentucky at Texas

Time: Nov. 23, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC, FuboTV (streaming)
Location: DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas

Texas was in control through the first half against Arkansas, but the Razorbacks responded well. They got a touchdown from Ja’Quinden Jackson and a field goal to cut the Longhorns’ lead to 13-10 as they searched for an upset.

But Texas put together an efficient touchdown drive to regain control and eventually come away with the victory. It was the type of game Steve Sarkisian expected, and he praised his team’s performance to fight off the second-half charge.

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“It was just one of those days they were going to make us earn it,” Sarkisian told ABC’s Katie George after the 20-10 victory. “We weren’t going to get many chunk plays, so we had to be really efficient. I thought that was a really efficient drive on the ground, hitting a couple passes. Great catch by Golden for the touchdown.”



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