Louisville vs Kentucky basketball game looms. Pat Kelsey, Mark Pope first impressions

Posted by Admin December 5, 2024 Basketball

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It’s almost time for the Louisville vs. Kentucky basketball game, and this one will be unlike any other since the Cardinals and Wildcats resumed the annual rivalry series in the early 1980s.

After a seismic offseason, featuring the firing of U of L coach Kenny Payne and the departure of UK’s John Calipari to Arkansas, two of the sports 15 all-time winningest programs weathered the uncertainty of a regime change together.

So far, so good for Pat Kelsey and Mark Pope; who share what the former likes to call “honor among thieves.”

“Neither one of us probably sleep much,” Kelsey said over the summer, “but we both know we’re very, very blessed to be in the positions that we’re in.”

To get you ready for the big game Saturday, The Courier Journal’s Louisville and Kentucky basketball reporters, Brooks Holton and Ryan Black, linked up for a chat about their first impressions of Kelsey, Pope and their inaugural teams; which feature zero scholarship returners from Payne and Calipari’s tenures.

The following discussion touches on everything from who Holton and Black think will lead the Cards and Cats in scoring to how things are going for the new staffs on the recruiting trail. Enjoy:

BH: All right, Ryan. Let’s start with an easy one: What have been your first impressions of the Pope era?

RB: Thanks for tossing me a softball to start, Brooks! Hopefully I take this the opposite way, 400 feet, with the wind blowing in.

The aspect of this team that has impressed me most early in the season is the cohesiveness with which it plays offensively. It’s incredible a squad that welcomed 12 new players — none of whom had ever played together prior to this season — have been so in sync, so soon.

BH: That’s no easy task, especially with only one player following Pope from his final team at BYU. Why do you think it’s been such a seamless transition; is it more so because his high-octane style of play can be easily picked up or because the guys he signed to his inaugural roster fit so well together?

RB: There are two aspects to this, I believe.

One is that Pope and his staff specifically sought out players who have shown a willingness to share the ball; there’s no one on this roster who gets the ball and then holds it. And holds it. And holds it. Those types of players wouldn’t last long in Pope’s program.

The second prong has less to do with Pope, and more to do with the state of college athletics. Teams now can practice eight weeks during the summer. That’s time these new-look Wildcats used to learn each other’s on-court strengths and weaknesses, as well as develop off-court bonds. It’s not a luxury Pope had during his time as a player in the 1990s.

Let me turn this back to you, Brooks. What have been your early takeaways of Year 1 of the Kelsey era?

BH: First and foremost: Louisville basketball is fun again. I can think of only a couple of times when I could say that during Payne’s tenure; and even then, it was apparent he was not going to be the man who was going to turn the program around.

Only time will tell if Kelsey can bring the Cards all the way back, but he’s got off to about as good of a start as one could ask for — signing a crop of talented veterans through the portal on short notice and, like Pope, getting them on the same page quickly. They play an exciting brand of basketball, and it’s been refreshing to hear more boisterous crowds at the KFC Yum! Center showing their appreciation.

RB: In your mind, what do the Cardinals have to do for Kelsey’s first season to be considered a success?

BH: That was a parlor game around these parts for a while this offseason.

The bar is as low as it can get. In some ways, Kelsey has already cleared it by injecting some much-needed energy into the program and matching Payne’s Year 1 win total before Thanksgiving. He’ll probably exceed Payne’s two-year win total, 12, by late January.

But that’s not enough — not when you bring in a portal haul some evaluators considered the best in the country.

Kelsey likes this quote from Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin: “The standard is the standard.” At Louisville, the standard has historically been making the NCAA Tournament. For this season to be considered a success, I think the Cards have got to at least be in the conversation when the calendar turns to March.

Same question to you. UK was in a very different place than U of L when these regime changes happened.

RB: I’ve been consistent on what constitutes a success in Pope’s maiden campaign. A 20-to-25-win regular season. Advancing to at least the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. And making it out of the first weekend of March Madness, which UK hasn’t done since 2019. No, the Wildcats don’t print banners for Sweet 16 appearances. But in the first season for a new coach, in a conference far tougher than what Tubby Smith or John Calipari faced in their respective rookie campaigns in Lexington? It’s not too shabby. Plus, it’s the start. Bigger things are in store in years to come.

BH: Since I brought up Kelsey’s penchant for one-liners earlier, I wanted to ask you: What has it been like covering Pope? I know you enjoyed going back and forth with Calipari after games. From afar, the contrasts between their news conferences are jarring.

RB: Being on a beat when Pope is the team’s coach is like taking a collegiate-level science class and a motivational speaking symposium rolled into one. Owing to his days as a medical student, he’ll drop specific scientific terms in the middle of answers. He’ll talk about gratitude. And religion. And humility. But it’s always struck with an optimistic tone. He’s just relentlessly upbeat. As you noted, I had some fun back-and-forth interactions with Calipari during postgame pressers. But one thing Calipari would do is go off on tangents even when he was asked direct questions. Pope sits back, listens to every query and tries to answer as candidly as possible. That’s rare for any coach nowadays. Much less the person guiding one of the most scrutinized teams in all of American sports.

And how about you? What have been the differences between your interactions with Payne and Kelsey?

BH: I’ll focus on one word you mentioned while talking about Pope: gratitude.

Kelsey’s mentor, the late Skip Prosser, taught him to “never delay gratitude,” and he hasn’t since taking over for Payne in late March. Instead of talking about how he was urged to not take the job and how broken U of L is and how hard winning can be like Payne did, Kelsey comes across as genuinely grateful to have the opportunity to lead a high-major program — even with the daunting challenges it can present — after starting out as the freshman coach at his alma mater, Elder High School in Cincinnati. I think that and his attention to detail when discussing the X’s and O’s have gone a long way with a fan base that knows its stuff; and it’s made my job of pulling back the curtain a lot easier.

Getting back to the X’s and O’s, who do you think will finish the season as UK’s leading scorer?

RB: This is a tough one. You often hear about a team where “anyone can lead in scoring any given night.” That’s usually trite. Not so with Pope. Last season at BYU, it had four players score 10 or more points per game — and three more who cleared 9.0. Then in UK’s first four games this season, four different players led the way in scoring. While junior guard Otega Oweh is in pole position right now, I’m sticking with my preseason pick: fifth-year senior Jaxson Robinson, who, for those unaware, is the lone player who previously played for Pope.

How about for the Cards, Brooks? Any gut feeling who might finish as the leader in points, rebounds or assists come the end of the season?

BH: I face a similar dilemma, because Kelsey and Pope’s styles are so similar. Balance is everything.

For now, I’ll go with senior point guard Chucky Hepburn, a Wisconsin transfer who dropped a career-high 32 points against West Virginia in the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals. He’s gone on the record in saying that Kelsey’s system has him more confident with the ball in his hands than at any other point of his collegiate career; and the numbers back that up so far.

Hepburn’s biggest challenger may be Reyne Smith, an Australian marksman who shot 39.4% (112 for 284) from beyond the arc during his final season with Kelsey at Charleston. He comes off the bench; but as long as his minutes stay consistent and the shots keep falling — and I have no reason to doubt they will — he has a chance.

Let’s end with a little recruiting talk. You’ve been busier than I have on that front. How was Pope able to hit the ground running in the Class of 2025? When he arrived, I know fans were a bit skeptical of his ability to attract the marquee prospects who made Calipari’s tenure so successful; but there hasn’t been a drop-off.

RB: There’s no question Pope had a lot of ground to make up in the recruitments of Kentucky natives Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno. But I think what has helped him so much with his current players, the fan base and seemingly everyone who comes in contact with him is what aided him in their recruitments: He’s genuine. Players want to excel for him. Did the in-state connect with Johnson and Moreno hurt? Of course not. But UK wasn’t the perceived leader for either prior to his arrival. And he beat Duke and UConn for the third member of the 2025 class (to this point) in four-star guard Acaden Lewis.

There’s a sense the Wildcats never will land as many one-and-done types with Pope as they did under his predecessor, who made that his calling card. Yet UK always will land its fair share of talent. It’s just likely they’ll stay longer than many of Calipari’s short-term projects.

Louisville hasn’t landed any high school commitments yet, but what’s your sense of Kelsey and his staff’s chops on the recruiting trail?

BH: I think they proved during the offseason, armed with upward of $2 million on the name, image and likeness front, that they can compete with anyone in the portal. And they’re going to have to knock it out of the park again; because they’re in line to return only five scholarship players from the 2024-25 roster.

The consensus is that they’re in a good spot with Mikel Brown Jr., a top-three point guard in the 2025 cycle. Suffice to say, landing him would be massive.

I’m interested to see if they’ll pursue other avenues for talent, too. Over the summer, a study from Evan Miyakawa of EvanMiya.com had them as one of the five best at getting production out of non-DI transfers over the past five years.

Last month, they offered a scholarship to sophomore JUCO guard Corey Caulker of Eastern Florida State College. And through Australian assistant coach Michael Cassidy, they have international ties. Their lone high school signee in the Class of 2024, Khani Rooths, has been a promising one so far. At the very least, fans can rest easy knowing they’ve got an eye for talent that can fit into their system.

Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton. Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.