In April, Mark Pope was hired as Kentucky’s next men’s basketball head coach. He was quickly faced with building an entirely new roster from scratch, and he did it methodically, all while using the transfer portal. After assembling a roster in essentially just over a month, Pope had a very interesting bar set on him in year one by fans, and that was to win an NCAA Tournament game.
Now, he’s done that, taking the Wildcats not only to the Round of 32, but to the second weekend to the Sweet 16, which Kentucky hasn’t done since 2019. Kentucky was hungry just for a taste of victory heading into the NCAA Tournament, looking for their second first-round win in five years. They did that, but now they find themselves in the Sweet 16 after defeating 6-seed Illinois on Sunday. The win over the Illini made some history, according to CBS Sports. Kentucky is the only team in the last twenty years to make the Sweet 16 with no returning points from the season before.