Mark Pope is changing the standard at Kentucky with an updated look in the practice facility

Kentucky basketball needs to get back to winning titles and Mark Pope will make it happen.

University of Kentucky’s new men’s basketball coach Mark Pope points to the championship banners as he speaks about the victories he will soon be adding to display. / Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Kentucky basketball, since Covid, hasn't done much of anything in the NCAA Tournament, and now a new coach will try to change that. John Calipari is gone, and Mark Pope is now the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats.

Coach Calipari has always recruited by saying look how many players I have put in the NBA. Coach Pope has made it very clear that he will recruit by showing players the history of Kentucky basketball.

During his introductory press conference, Coach Pope continued to reiterate the point of hanging banners. Historically, the Kentucky basketball program has hung a ton of banners, but over the last few seasons, that standard hasn't been met.

In the Kentucky practice facility for a while, there were a ton of pictures of former Kentucky players who are now in the NBA. According to Jimmy Dykes on KSR, those are gone, and all that hangs now is former championship banners.

Kentucky fans should love this because while it is excellent for players to achieve their goals of playing in the NBA, Kentucky fans want to win National Championships. This is the goal of Coach Pope, and he will do everything in his power to win this university its next basketball championship.

It has been years now since Kentucky has made a run in the NCAA Tournament and Big Blue Nation needs this streak to end. Coach Pope's 2024-25 roster is more than capable of making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament this season. It should be a special season in Lexington.