Pope knows the expectations that comes at Kentucky.
The Kentucky Wildcats are coming off of their first exhibition game, and it was a convincing 71-point victory over KWC. Mark Pope, as a former player at Kentucky in 1996 under Rick Pitino, knows exactly what comes with playing at Kentucky. Now, he's living those expectations as a coach.
A big emphasis so far before the season even officially begins is making sure his players know the expectations at Kentucky and just how important winning is to the Big Blue Nation. Pope says that the team and staff are "deadly serious" about winning, and that it really matters, especially here. "We are deadly serious about winning. Winning matters. ...We are here to win. This is Kentucky. The first time we don't win a game, you guys are going to burn my house down. We don't spend a lot of time thinking about what this sheet is going to look like after the game. We spend all of our time thinking about what we are trying to do in the moment. So, I think of course there is all the nerves. It's the first time in this building.
The entire team understands what they signed up for, and they're all up for the challenges at Kentucky playing under a coach that has been in their shoes before.
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