Mark Pope on initial impressions of Kentucky players: 'There have been very few surprises'

Now that the Kentucky basketball roster has taken shape off the court, the pieces are really starting to fit together on the court, according to head coach Mark Pope.

He was asked at a recent press conference whether there had been any surprises thus far since his team began some actual practicing. He answered that the only real surprise is how little issue he’s had with this thrown-together group.

“Actually, there have been very few surprises in terms of what we thought we got, which is exciting,” answered Pope. “The pieces fit.”

He even pointed to some specific transfers who have really translated well to what Pope and the UK coaching staff are trying to do in year one.

“We started recruiting Amari (Williams) even before we got here to Kentucky, and you know, the thing that drew him to us was his ability to pass,” Pope commented of the former Drexel big man.

“The very first time we step on the court, we were running some corner split actions, he started diming guys up,” Pope continued. “Like, there was a reaction from everybody in the gym, and all of a sudden, everybody starts cutting harder.”

Take note, ‘Cats fans: it sounds like Williams passing ability could really help open up the offense. Meanwhile, Pope made comments on a few other players as well.

“I mean, there’s a bunch of guys that stick out, but what Lamont Butler has done in terms of just taking a little piece of advice and implementing it immediately has been so exciting,” shared Pope. “Andrew Carr, in the same way in a different area of the game, has been incredible,” he added.

Even with a younger guy compared to some of the players, Pope is seeing growth. “Otega Oweh, we had some conversations over the last couple days and he came out and had an unbelievable practice this morning.”

The Kentucky head coach is just impressed such a veteran group of guys has come in and really been willing to go with the coaching.

“Sometimes, you get veteran players and they’re less malleable and less coachable and they kind of have done what they’ve done and they’re less responsive. The thing that’s been surprising, these guys have been incredibly willing to just grab onto any instruction and really run with it.”

Plus, when you’re grabbing guys out of the portal who have played college ball for 2-4 years already, there’s a proof of capability that’s nice to rely on.

“So, it’s one of the things about working the portal is that you have such a resume, you can see over and over again what they do in college — and our guys have certainly lived up to that billing. So there haven’t been a ton of surprises,” said Pope.

“But it’s really wonderful to see these veteran guys and how excited they are to grow and learn, and how willing they are to try new things.”