{"id":276327,"date":"2025-05-14T13:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T13:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/14\/kentucky-hc-mark-pope-praises-65-guards-work-ethic-ahead-of-sophomore-season\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:08:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:08:29","slug":"kentucky-hc-mark-pope-praises-65-guards-work-ethic-ahead-of-sophomore-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/14\/kentucky-hc-mark-pope-praises-65-guards-work-ethic-ahead-of-sophomore-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Kentucky HC Mark Pope praises 6&#8217;5 guard&#8217;s work ethic ahead of sophomore season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"4916733\" data-slug-id=\"2517720\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Head coach Mark Pope and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/kentucky-wildcats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Kentucky Wildcats<\/a> had a good first season with him leading the team. After over a decade with John Calipari leading the Wildcats, they underwent a coaching change, and Pope took over. In his first season as head coach, he led the team to its first appearance in the Sweet 16 since the 2018 season. <\/p>\n<p>The Wildcats will be hoping to improve on their Sweet 16 appearance next season. To do that, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/mark-pope-net-worth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Pope<\/a> will be looking for internal growth from some of his young players. Notably, former four-star recruit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/news-in-pics-kentucky-guard-collin-chandler-wife-share-dreamy-snaps-wedding-ig-409877a7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Collin Chandler<\/a> is someone Pope will be looking at to take a step forward.<\/p>\n<p>In his freshman season, Chandler appeared in 30 games, but only for an average of 10.4 minutes per game. As a result, his statline was limited to 2.7 points and 1.0 rebounds per game. Mark Pope had his first chance to speak to the media this offseason on Tuesday and heaped praise on the 6&#8242; 5&#8243; guard&#8217;s work ethic (starts at 6:58).<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Collin Chandler is going to be a great example. I mean, he&#8217;s, he&#8217;s so hungry right now. He&#8217;s been working really, really hard. I think he, you know, I don&#8217;t know how many workouts he did on his wedding day, but I&#8217;m guessing it was more than one, and he just is, he just is, he&#8217;s going to have a really special, special year next year.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/youtube\">\n<div class=\"yt-wrapper\">                    <noscript><iframe title=\"Mark Pope Offseason Interview: Discusses 2025-26 Roster, Schedule, and More\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zMrwYxri1Rc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/youtube\" data-embed=\"zMrwYxri1Rc\">\n<div class=\"play-button\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" height=\"370\" width=\"660\" data-img=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2025\/05\/5f2c1-17472265064124-1920.jpg\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2025\/05\/5f2c1-17472265064124-1920.jpg\" class=\"lazy-img\" alt=\"youtube-cover\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Mark Pope sees superstar potential in four-star recruit Jasper Johnson<\/h2>\n<p>Another young player who could play a critical role for Mark Pope and the Wildcats next season is Jasper Johnson. Johnson is the No. 18-ranked recruit in the 2025 class, according to ESPN, and narrowly misses out on being classified as a five-star recruit. However, missing that mark does nothing to take away from how his coach feels about him heading into his freshman season.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I think Jasper Johnson is a superstar. I expect him to come in here and be great,&#8221; Pope said at his press conference. &#8220;And for every freshman, there is a learning curve in terms of the physicality and intensity of the game, the relentless physicality and intensity of the game. But Jasper Johnson has got a really, really incredible skill set. He\u2019s one of those guys.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Johnson is a scoring guard who is capable of shooting from any distance. It will be interesting to see if Pope makes any adjustments to his coaching style with new players in his second season as head coach.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-author-info-parent\">\n<span class=\"about-the-author\">About the author<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-info-holder\">\n<div class=\"author-pic-holder\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"author-pic\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,&lt;svg width=\" height=\"100\"\/><rect width=\"100\" height=\"100\" style=\"fill:rgb(128, 128, 128);\"\/>&#8221; data-lazy=&#8221;https:\/\/keedag.sportskeeda.com\/user-pic\/3788579-1722524998-200.jpg?w=200&#8243;<br \/>\nalt=&#8221;Alexander O&#8217;Reilly&#8221; height=&#8221;72&#8243; width=&#8221;72&#8243;&gt;\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-bio-detail-holder\">\n<div class=\"author-bio\">\n<p class=\"author-bio\" id=\"author-bio-text\">\nAlexander O&#8217;Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC. <\/p>\n<p>His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex&#8217;s favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex&#8217;s favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match. <\/p>\n<p>Alex&#8217;s proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which\u00a0gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.\n<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"author-know-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/author\/alexander-o-reilly\" aria-label=\"Author know more\">Know More<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline bottom\" data-tab=\"bottom\">\n<p><em>Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, or Kim Mulkey &#8211; who is NCAAW&#8217;s highest-paid coach? Find out <\/em><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/5-highest-paid-women-s-college-basketball-coaches-2024-25-season-ft-kim-mulkey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\" class=\"bottom_tagline_link\" data-tab=\"bottom\">here<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Alexander O&#8217;Reilly<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/news-don-t-know-many-workouts-wedding-day-kentucky-hc-mark-pope-praises-6-5-guard-s-work-ethic-ahead-sophomore-season\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Head coach Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats had a good first season with him leading the team. After over a decade with John<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":276328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[180],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276327"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}