Playing basketball at the University of Kentucky isn’t for everyone. In the history of the program, hundreds of athletes have had to deal with the good and bad of representing the program, and many have struggled. Only more recently has it become more acceptable for athletes to open up about their struggles with mental health.

In just the last couple of seasons, multiple Wildcats have done so, such as Jacob Toppin, Justin Edwards, and Zvonimir Ivisic. To help each of those players, John Calipari contacted renowned sports psychologist Bob Rotella and each player has credited Rotella in their path towards better mental health.

Mark Pope is using sports psychologists to help his players as well, doing so on a daily basis.

In a practice update, UK Sports Network’s Cameron Mills shared that Pope had contacted the UK Department of Psychology and asked for their expertise. What that led to was a licensed psychologist attending every practice, yet to miss one. What are they watching for? Body language and visual cues that may suggest things like negative feelings or a lack of confidence.

In attendance for practice earlier this week, Mills recounted talking to one of the psychologists. In that practice, she had noticed a player who looked to be losing confidence. She went straight to Coach Pope to inform him, which caused his interactions with that player to change for the rest of practice to raise that confidence.

Sports psychology is not new, nor is it new at Kentucky. However, this is the first time that it is being monitored daily in the program, which is certainly a positive. Keeping player’s minds right will help them on and off the court.

Jimmy Dykes, the ESPN and SEC Network broadcaster that calls many of Kentucky’s conference games, had the opportunity to get a closer look at the Wildcats under new head coach Mark Pope last week.

Teasing it on social media, Dykes shared his first thoughts on X, “shot makers all over the floor. BBN (is) gonna love this team.”

Dykes went on Kentucky Sports Radio for an on-air interview to talk in more detail about what he got to see, and the difference was apparent as soon as he walked into the facility.

“It’s a new day for Kentucky Basketball,” Dykes said. “The first thing I noticed when I walked into the practice facility, (was) all of those individual (NBA) banners were down. The only thing left on the wall are the national championships. That’s the standard… He (Pope) Knows that.”

But the question of the offseason remains, how talented is this team? Bringing in thirteen new players, Dykes praised Pope for finding players to fit his style of play.

“He did a great job of identifying guys that fit how he plays,” Dykes said. “Analytics and what the guy did at his previous school might not be eye-popping and catching your attention like maybe some other Kentucky teams have in the past, but they fit how this guy play.”

“My overall impression was that they are going to be very aggressive. They are going to play fast. He has shooters at every position on the floor… Can they score? Yes. Can they get stops? Question mark, I don’t know.”

While the players fit Pope’s system, it won’t be until November we see how they fit together as a team. With new coaches, the first year can be one of uncertainty. That said, Dykes believes that this Kentucky team is a Top 25 team, and will be ready to win from the start.

“Right away, from year one, they’re going to be a major factor under Mark Pope,” Dykes said. “I’m a big (John) Calipari fan, a good friend to him. But Kentucky, they just won one NCAA Tournament game in the past four years. Mark knows where the bar is set and it is from year one. Mark knows, ‘I’m going to win right now, and I’m expected to win right now.’ And I think he’s got the roster to do it.”

Dykes closed his interview with an answer to the question, will Mark Peope prove himself to be the right here? Being a former Kentucky assistant in 1990, and covering the program for years, Dykes understand what is expected from the Kentucky Wildcats head coach.

“I’ve coached here (Kentucky). I’ve been all across the country in college basketball. There’s no place like Kentucky. And Mark Pope knows that,” Dykes said. “With how smart he is and all of the things that I see, his staff included, I think in five years you’re gonna say, ‘Wow, Mitch Barnhart knew exactly what he was doing when he drove that guy in on a bus into Rupp Arena for his introduction.’”

The biggest story of the college basketball offseason, and one of the biggest stories in all of sports at the time, was certainly John Calipari’s departure to Arkansas and Kentucky’s hire of Mark Pope.

A Hall of Fame coach leaving a traditional blue-blood school is a rare occurrence. So is a blue-blood hiring a coach out of the program, who had never won an NCAA Tournament game. Kentucky was a part of both in the same week.

It has been more than five months since their respective moves and both programs are filled with renewed energy and excitement. Thus far, the move has been a positive for all sides and Pope said as much in a recent interview with Seth Davis.

“There is a time and a season for everything,” Pope said. “This was a huge boost for Arkansas. This was a DRAMATIC move for Kentucky. There’s a bunch of winners in this.”

While there are a lot of winners in this situation, less than five months from now, Pope and Calipari will face each other for the first time in their new roles and Pope is aware.

“There’s only going to be one winner on February 1st,” Pope told Davis with a smile.