Mark Pope and the Kentucky crew decided to take a rather unusual approach to their summer preparation in the off-season ahead of the new campaign, choosing to witness the NBA Summer League and organized a team-building trip to Las Vegas for their squad of players. And by the looks of things, this might have been a huge success, with Pope hinting at a similar and possibly even bigger strategy used next year.
Mark Pope took to social media platform X to explain what a wonderful experience it was for the Kentucky players and staff to be in attendance as many Kentucky alumni took to the court for the summer league, with some familiar faces visible.
The likes of Otega Oweh, Koby Brea, Amari Williams and many more did their Kentucky past a lot of good by competing at the summer league, and also interacted with some of the newer faces in the Wildcats squad.
But it was Pope’s last statement of “might have something even bigger coming up next year at summer league. Stay tuned. Go CATS!,” that could have Kentucky fans excited for an even bigger presence at the summer league, with the suggestion that this could be the new normal for the program.
Why Did Mark Pope Want Kentucky to be at the Summer League?
Other than the team-bonding aspect, Kentucky’s strategy to be at the summer league revolved around having high-intensity practice sessions to build chemistry in a new environment, connecting the current crop of players with former Kentucky Wildcats and keep them linked with the rich history of the program, and perhaps most importantly, be around high school recruiting events, which have been located in and around Vegas lately.
With Pope not quite done with recruiting for the new season either, this might have been the ideal time to get their sights set on fresh talent for the future.
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