Men's Basketball

Last Season’s Players Say They Will Continue to Support Kentucky Following Calipari’s Departure, “I’ll Come Back, For Sure”

Published

1 year ago

May 20, 2024

Former Calipari era players say they will continue to support Kentucky following Calipari's departure.

Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports

Towards the end of his fifteen season tenure at Kentucky, many fans had mixed feelings about John Calipari. However, his players never wavered in voicing their appreciation and love for him as their coach, and still do.

“To me, he’s the best coach in the world,” Reed Sheppard said at the NBA Draft Combine last week. Sheppard, an in-state product and the son of two former UK stars, has his own pre-existing ties to Kentucky basketball. What about the other players, the ones who came to Lexington from across the country to play for Calipari?

Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald-Leader asked three players from last year’s roster, Rob Dilligham, Antonio Reeves, and Justin Edwards. It should come as no suprise that they would support Calipari as heads to Arkansas, but they affirm they will continue to support Kentucky. In the end, that is the university that they represented and the fanbase they were supported by.

“I’ll go to the game where they play each other. That would be even, right?” Dillingham said with a laugh, when asked if he would attend any Kentucky or Arkansas games in the near future. “I love Coach Cal. I appreciate him for the opportunity. And you see him — he’s put so many players in the NBA. He’s done a great thing at Kentucky.”

As for where Dillingham will return, it will be Lexington not Fayetteville.

“I’ll come back, for sure, to Kentucky. Obviously, they protected me,” Dillingham said. “It wasn’t just (Calipari). It was the fans. It was the teachers. Everybody there. I love Mitch Barnhart, the Athletic Director. I love all of them. So I really liked the UK experience, because they helped me as a whole, and they treated me like family.”

Reeves, who will go down as John Calipari’s last All-American at Kentucky, makes the point that he played for Calipari and Kentucky, and will support both.

“I’d say both. I played for him. So, of course, I’m gonna cheer for him at Arkansas. Why not?” Reeves said. “The fans at Kentucky — I definitely can’t leave them behind. So I definitely gotta go back and just show them love whenever I get a chance. And I came from Kentucky. So I can’t just leave that behind.”

Edwards is one of the few that has had the opportunity to talk to Coach Pope since he took over at Kentucky.

“I’ve talked to Mark Pope. He was here (Draft Combine) today,” Edwards said, “I dapped him up. He told me if I was ever in town and needed a gym that I was always welcome to use the Craft Center. And Coach Cal told us the same: any alum or players that he had (at Kentucky), if they want to come work out, they can always use the gym.”

“Those guys are two genuine guys. You can tell that they’re caring people.”

Edwards’ quote summarizes it greatly. Both are good people and coaches that care about the program.

At the end of the day, Calipari did a lot of good for Kentucky Basketball and will be honored for it in the future. However it was time for a change, or as Calipari said in his departure video, “a new voice”. That new voice is Mark Pope, who is making an effort to bridge all the generations of Kentucky Basketball.

John Wall, arguably the face of the Calipari era, was seen meeting Pope for the the first time this past weekend at a Nike EYBL event in Indianapolis.

John Wall meets new Kentucky Basketball coach Mark Pope for the first time!

Wall had previously said, "Whoever the new coach is, I want to build a relationship with him… That place (Kentucky) is like home to me."

New Era 🤝Old Era https://t.co/9eg5nI8k2B pic.twitter.com/KWxvnVDQMF— Tristan Pharis (@TristanUda) May 18, 2024

Men's Basketball

Jasper Johnson Makes Final U19 USA Roster Under Coach Mark Pope

Jasper Johnson has advanced in the U19 USA camp for the second time alongside the nation’s best recruits, and under Mark Pope’s wing.

Published

13 hours ago

June 20, 2025

Lane Mills

Instagram: @bruhjasperj (UK Athletics)

In a surprisingly relevant development smack dab in the middle of the offseason, Jasper Johnson has yet again advanced in the pool of players participating in the USA U19 camp.

The program, which could be a described as a sort of extension of the Team USA that just took home the gold in 2024, is comprised of some of the nation’s most anticipated talents set to take collegiate courts in the next couple of seasons.

Blue Gets In

Among them is Kentucky native and commit Johnson, and was also incoming Cat Malachi Moreno, before the latter was cut as a result of a mild injury he obtained throughout the camp’s course. Despite Moreno’s exit, his future teammate continues to impress.

Under the wing of Coach Mark Pope, who’s helmed the team in the camp up to this point, Johnson has now made the final cut after multiple roster slashes – he and only 11 other players remain in the minority that will go forward to actually compete for the team in the 2025 FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup, which will take place June 28 through July 6 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The pre-competition camp serves not only as a trial of play before these athletes disperse to their own respective rosters this fall and next, but for Johnson, as a preview of what it’s like to play under Coach Pope. If his current success is any indicator, Kentucky fans may be in for something special when the pair tackle opposing teams together for the blue and white.

In similar noteworthy news, also attending the event are Taylen Kinney and Tyran Stokes, two Kentucky-born athletes with ties to Kentucky that the program is heavily recruiting. Jasper’s strong performance, combined with Coach Pope’s presence, can only help the Wildcats’ chances on that front, too.

To say the least, Mark Pope has found a way to facilitate Kentucky’s influence far beyond the boundaries of Lexington. He and Johnson, for the time being, will continue to press turn heads on the national stage, and it’s very likely that fans aren’t the only ones paying attention.

Men's Basketball

Archie Goodwin and Kahlil Whitney Set to Join La Familia This Summer

La Familia continues to add more firepower to the 2025 roster.

Published

2 days ago

June 19, 2025

Kai McClelland

James Crisp (Left), Adam Hunger (Right) | Associated Press

As the start of the 2025 TBT Tournament inches closer, La Familia has been slowly but surely adding star Wildcats to the roster.

Usually, we see announcements for new additions to the squad roll out on social media in some form, whether it be a post from La Familia’s official accounts or in form of Ansley Almonor’s announcement, which took place on BBN Tonight.

However, this time, Archie Goodwin and Kahlil “The Dragon” Whitney were added to the roster on the TBT website without any announcement, surprising Big Blue Nation as the news leaked and began to circulate.

They were removed from the website afterwards, but as of Thursday, June 19, appear on the website as listed members of the roster.

Goodwin has been an active member for years, highlighted by his semifinals appearance last year where he averaged 13.8 points per game en route.

Whitney is a name that may cause some to shed a tear, with so much potential surrounding the former five-star leading up to his debut. Ultimately, he left the program after appearing in just 18 games for Kentucky.

La Familia is competitive as all get out, shown by chippy play with guys who have nothing to lose but everything to win for the place they call home. Goodwin and Whitney, now added to that list of guys, will look to redeem themselves with one goal in mind. Win.

The official La Familia roster as of June 19:

– Willie Cauley-Stein (2012-15)

– Doron Lamb (2010-12)

– DeAndre Liggins (2008-11)

– Aaron Harrison (2013-15)

– Andrew Harrison (2013-15)

– Ansley Almonor (2024-25)

– Archie Goodwin (2012-13)

– Kahlil Whitney (2019-20)

Men's Basketball

Former Kentucky Star, 10-year NBA Veteran Eric Bledsoe Arrested and Charged with Felony Domestic Violence

Published

2 days ago

June 19, 2025

Tristan Pharis

Former Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe has been arrested and charged with felony domestic violence.

Scott Utterback | Courier Journal

Eric Bledsoe, a key part of the 2009-10 Kentucky team that reinvigorated the Big Blue Nation following the Billy Gillispie era, was arrested on Wednesday morning.

According to reports, the California Highway Patrol investigated a report of domestic violence. The investigators were led to a gas station on a Los Angeles-area freeway where they discovered Bledsoe with a woman who was suffering from “bruising and swelling” to her face, and who said that Bledsoe allegedly hit her. Bledsoe was booked on a felony domestic violence charge and held on $55,000 bail.

Bledsoe was previously arrested on a similar charge back in 2022, but that case was later dropped when prosecutors said the alleged victim gave “inconsistent statements about whether there was a physical altercation.”

Bledsoe was part of Kentucky’s La Familia team last year in the TBT, and was announced to return again this season.