How good will Kentucky basketball be under Mark Pope in 2024-25? 5 measuring-stick games

LEXINGTON — It’s a new coach. But it’s the same narrative for Kentucky basketball.

The Wildcats are aiming for their first Final Four appearance since 2015. Once there, they hope to win their ninth national title — and their first since 2012.

To achieve one, or both, of those goals, UK will have to do that under the guidance of a first-year coach: Mark Pope, a member of the 1996 national championship team — a squad known as “The Untouchables” — now is at the helm of his alma mater. As difficult as winning a national title under a rookie coach may be, it’s not unprecedented.

Kentucky did just that during the 1997-98 campaign, when Tubby Smith led the program to national championship No. 7.

While Smith had multiple members of the 1997 national runner-up team on board for his first season, Pope has no such luck. He’s starting from scratch after every scholarship player from the 2023-24 team departed.

In their place, Pope brought in a highly regarded nine-man transfer class, two in-state superstars from the high school ranks (Trent Noah and Travis Perry) and a player who once had signed with him at BYU (Collin Chandler).

How quickly can the dozen newcomers jell together as they try to make a run in the NCAA Tournament?

These five games should help determine the worth of the Wildcats in Pope’s first season:

vs. Duke (9 p.m. Nov. 12 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JULY 08: Cooper Flagg #31 of the 2024 USA Basketball Men’s Select Team inbounds the ball during a practice session scrimmage against the 2024 USA Basketball Men’s National Team at the team’s training camp at the Mendenhall Center at UNLV on July 08, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

It’ll be “The Cooper Flagg Show” for Duke in this game — and every other time the Blue Devils lace up their sneakers this season. Considered one of the best prospects to enter high school basketball this millennium, the expectation is Flagg will be one and done in Durham, North…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/good-kentucky-basketball-under-mark-091532697.html

Author : The Courier Journal

Publish date : 2024-09-24 09:15:32

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