This past weekend was a big moment for Kentucky basketball, as the first Big Blue Madness of the Mark Pope era took place. In years past, the event has hosted multiple five-star recruits and this year was no different.

While the guest list was smaller due to USA Basketball junior mini camp, the Wildcats had two top recruits in attendance, 2026 five-star Anthony Thompson and 2024 four-star combo guard Acaden Lewis.

The latter is one of Kentucky’s biggest recruiting priorities in the 2025 class and was also on campus for an official visit as he prepares to make his college decision in early November. To help was five-star commit, Malachi Moreno.

While Moreno couldn’t make it to Big Blue Madness, he was able to meet with Lewis during his visit on Thursday and even took part in his photo shoot, as the pair posed together in Kentucky uniforms in Rupp Arena.

It helps to have a five-star commit just down the road to help recruit. Could we see the pair play together next season at Kentucky? Things are trending in that direction, but time will tell.

Also published on A Sea of Blue.

SEC Basketball Media Days were held in Birmingham on Tuesday, and while Alabama is the preseason No. 1 team in the country and the conference has nine teams ranked in the Top 25, the biggest story was John Calipari and Mark Pope in their new positions.

Facing non-local media for the first time since they were hired, of course they were both asked about each other. First to the stage was Mark Pope, who couldn’t have been more gracious in his first SEC Media Days.

“You’ll never hear me say a negative word about Coach Cal,” Pope answered. “He’s a Hall of Fame coach. As a die-hard Kentucky fan, alumnus, and former player, I am grateful for all of the incredible things that Cal accomplished at the University of Kentucky. He’s been a good friend, a terrific mentor.

The exception, February 1st, when the two match up against each other for the first time with their new programs. “We’ll be cheering for him like crazy except for February 1st.”

A few hours later, Calipari was asked about his successor.

“I think they hired a perfect guy for that job,” Calipari said of Pope. “He played there, graduated from there. Has a heart for the place. I’ll be rooting for him.”

By the faces of the media, this caught some off guard, to which he responded, “Come on, I have fifteen years [at Kentucky]. Gave my heart and soul. I want them [Kentucky] to do well, except that date [February 1st]. He’s [Pope] a good man. Terrific basketball coach. They hired the right guy.”

Two classy and respectful answers. Time will tell if this good blood will sustain and who will come out on top on February 1st.

“This is all about family,” Mark Pope said Friday night at Big Blue Madness. At the end of a long line of former Kentucky players, carrying eight national championship trophies stood Rick Pitino.

Yes, the former Louisville coach who flipped off the crowd in his last time at Rupp Arena in 2015, but also the man who resurrected Kentucky from the death penalty and helped assemble one of the greatest collections of talent in Kentucky history in the 1996 team.

As he walked out, Kentucky fans roared in applause, many having tears in their eyes. Pitino admitted in an interview with Matt Jones, that he nearly shed tears of his own.

“I came within inches of crying my eyes out,” Pitino said. “It was very emotional for me. I was backstage with all my players. It was great to see them. Then walking out, became more emotional. I didn’t know I was going to receive that kind of ovation. It was one of the best nights of my life. It really touched me.”

Immediately after Madness, Pitino told Kentucky Insider, “It meant the world to me.”

A moment that will be remembered in Kentucky basketball history.