LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mark Pope is 2-0 as the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats in Rupp Arena.

And his team hasn’t played a game yet.

Nearly six months to the day after Pope made a triumphant return to the building he once called his basketball home, the new UK coach presided over his first Big Blue Madness.

That introductory press conference back in April — two days after Pope was announced as John Calipari’s replacement — captured the spirit of Kentucky basketball and energized a fan base that had grown frustrated by the direction of their beloved program.

Rupp was filled to capacity that afternoon — and some fans were turned away at the doors — on just two days notice, 20,000 or so pouring into the home of the Wildcats to hear Pope’s vision for the future. The scene was surreal, punctuated by Pope emerging from a bus, the 1996 national championship trophy lifted high above his head as he stepped onto the Rupp Arena floor.

On Friday night, another 20,000 or so returned to the same spot.

They didn’t leave disappointed.

Toward the end of a Madness celebration that drove home the point that this was “Kentucky’s team” — the slogan Pope has adopted for his first squad — the chief villain of the previous era of UK basketball made a heroic return.

When this night ended, Rick Pitino was standing on the Rupp Arena court, wearing a blue and white UK pullover and a huge smile on his face, soaking in the cheers of an appreciative crowd.

Madness indeed.

This event is an annual celebration of the return of another season of Kentucky basketball, and this particular edition of it showcased a program undergoing massive change.

Before the spectacle of Pitino’s return, there was plenty else to see.

The arrival of head coach Kenny Brooks has UK basketball fans similarly excited about the future of the women’s program.

The four previous seasons under Kyra Elzy had some high points — a run to the SEC Tournament title in 2022 chief among them — but the Wildcats won only one NCAA Tournament game in that span, and the program lacked the consistent success that fans had come to expect. UK had losing seasons each of the past two years, with a combined SEC record of 6-26.

Brooks has a 71.7% winning percentage over 22 seasons at James Madison and Virginia Tech, and he took the Hokies — a program that had been past the second round of the NCAA Tournament just once in its history — to the Final Four last year.

The new UK coaching staff put together a 2024-25 roster that is projected to begin the season in the Top 25, and Brooks leaned into the high expectations Friday night, walking onto the court to raucous applause from the Rupp Arena fans.

“We’re going to go win championships,” he promised at the end of his remarks.

Madness has always been an opportunity to show off the rabidness of the UK fan base to star recruits, and Friday night was no different, with highly touted prospects Acaden Lewis and Anthony Thompson on Pope’s guest list to offer more hope for his program’s future.

Thompson — a 6-foot-7 forward from Hudson, Ohio — is the No. 9 overall player in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports, but Lewis is the more immediate target.

The 6-foot-2 point guard from Washington, D.C., has already narrowed his list to three elite finalists — UK, Duke and UConn — and the No. 32 recruit in the 247Sports rankings would be a major pickup for Pope, with the Wildcats increasingly viewed as possible favorites for his pledge.

Before Madness began, Pope’s five assistant coaches flanked Lewis, who stood off to the side of the “Blue Carpet” entrance to the arena. The current Wildcats greeted the visiting recruit as they entered the building, and Pope stopped to talk with Lewis for a few minutes before stepping onto the carpet.

While visiting recruits will always attract plenty of attention, however, this edition of Madness was focused squarely on the present of Kentucky basketball, with a nod to the greatness of its past.

The Pope era begins

In another sign of the change surrounding the men’s basketball program, UK football coach Mark Stoops — a man who had a public spat with Calipari two summers ago — made a Madness appearance, welcoming both Pope and Brooks with a pointed declaration.

“We’re all in this together,” Stoops said to cheers from the Kentucky fans.

Over the past 15 years, Big Blue Madness became Calipari’s show, the Hall of Fame coach often giving speeches on the state of his program and highlighting the latest wave of presumed one-and-done players on his roster, all while playing to the visiting five-star recruits. Calipari left in April to become the head coach at Arkansas.

That Pope’s first squad has been dubbed “Kentucky’s team” — that slogan has been visible on official signage at other preseason events — is surely no accident, and even the manner in which these Wildcats were introduced embodied the motto.

Starting with Kentucky native Trent Noah way up in section 238, the 12 scholarship players on the 2024-25 roster were introduced to the crowd from various parts of Rupp Arena, snapping selfies with fans and tossing out T-shirts as they made their way down to the court.

San Diego State transfer Lamont Butler — the presumed starting point guard for the Wildcats — came out last, accompanied by his original song highlighting the togetherness of his new team. When he finally hit the court, his teammates surrounded him in celebration.

And then it was time for Pope’s turn in the spotlight.

A highlight reel featuring the greatest moments in UK basketball history — interspersed with audio of Pope’s comments from that introductory press conference six months ago — played on the Rupp Arena video screen.

When it was finished, there was Pope, standing at the very top of section 224, underneath the banners celebrating UK’s greatest seasons. Pope made his way through the crowd to the bottom of the section and opened his jacket to reveal a No. 41 jersey from his playing days.

As he walked onto the court a few moments later, two songs that were mainstays of UK basketball home games for years — “What’s Your Favorite Color, Baby?” and “Mony Mony” — blared over the Rupp PA system.

A “Go Big Blue!” chant erupted before he uttered a word.

“There is no place like Kentucky, baby!” Pope said after that. “BBN — there’s nothing like it in the world. You guys are amazing. I’m excited to introduce you to this team that is going to come fight every single day and every single night for every single one of you. I’m gonna tell you this: on early returns, I have never coached a team that spent as much time diving on the floor to win loose balls as this group of young men right here.”

The Wildcats then warmed up and went through some drills. Freshman guard Collin Chandler won the dunk contest by jumping over the head coach and his wife, Lee Anne Pope, and throwing down a two-handed alley-oop finish. Travis Perry defeated Noah in the finals of the 3-point shooting contest, two Kentucky kids lighting up the Rupp nets as the crowd went wild.

And then Pope grabbed the mic for, seemingly, the final comments of the night. He directed them to the fans in the very top row of Rupp Arena.

“We need you guys. We love you guys. We cannot wait to compete for you guys. Because this is all about family,” Pope said.

Then another video played on the big screen. It started with Jack Givens and featured figures from all eras of Kentucky basketball — from Adolph Rupp to Reed Sheppard. The final frame of that video — flashing on the screen right after the image of a smiling Calipari — showed Pope getting off that bus back in April, the 1996 national title trophy lifted high in the air.

And then the real finale.

Greats from every era of UK basketball spilled onto the court as the special LED floor installed just for Madness showed images of the eight national championship banners. The NCAA title trophies from every one of those years were present in Rupp Arena, each of them placed on the image of the corresponding banner glowing on the floor.

Among those who came onto the court in this moment was Pitino, the coach of the Wildcats from 1989 to 1997 and then the coach of archrival Louisville from 2001 to 2017.

The crowd roared its approval and stood in appreciation.

The 72-year-old Pitino — now the head coach of St. John’s — placed the 1996 title trophy on the Rupp court, embraced Pope, one of his captains of that championship team, and appeared to fight off tears as he addressed the fans.

“I am so happy to be back,” he said.

Pitino, who has referred to UK as his basketball “Camelot” in the past, used the same phrase again Friday night. “This is one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time.”

The savior of Kentucky basketball in the 1990s and then Calipari’s rival — viewed as a bitter enemy to much of the UK fan base for taking the Louisville job four years after leaving Lexington — Pitino spoke of the future of the program under his former pupil.

“Now we get to root for a gentleman that — there have been a lot of great coaches here, a lot of great ones — but we get to root for someone that that name Kentucky is what he’s all about,” Pitino said. “It’s not about Pope. You’ll never hear him say (that). The most selfless, humble young man I’ve ever coached in my lifetime. One of the great, great examples of what Kentucky basketball is all about.

“Mark Pope is going to lead you to greatness, in every sense of the word.”

And then Pitino thanked the Rupp Arena fans, who showered him with more cheers. Pope bounded over to embrace his former coach one more time.

“Can we give it up for Coach P?!” Pope yelled to more cheers from the crowd. “You guys are amazing. I see this every single day. Only in Kentucky. Only in Kentucky. There is nowhere in the world like the University of Kentucky.”

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