Mark Pope left BYU 10 months ago to return to his alma mater Kentucky, where he plied his craft at the direction of legendary coach Rick Pitino. Now, as head coach roaming the sidelines of Rupp Arena, that leap of faith is paying off big time.

Before Mark Pope’s first visit to Memorial Gym as Kentucky’s coach, he strolled down memory lane to recall some funny moments from road games as a player.

As No. 9 Kentucky prepares to take on Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium this Saturday, Mark Pope is gearing up for his first visit back to the iconic venue since his days as a Wildcat.

Kentucky's Mark Pope started his coaching career at Rupp Arena with 11 straight wins. How does that start compare to other first-year UK coaches?

LEXINGTON — Normally jovial and verbose during postgame news conferences, Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope struck a different tone after last week's game against Alabama at Rupp Arena.

Kentucky played only one game last week, a loss at Vanderbilt. Here’s how badly that hurt the Wildcats in the rankings with a trip to Tennessee up next.

LEXINGTON — John Calipari and Rick Pitino aren't just the two most well-known ex-Kentucky ... Kentucky's most recent leader prior to Mark Pope, former coach John Calipari guided the program for 15 seasons. He left as the school's second-winningest ...

The gesture by the Kentucky coach drew praise from all circles, including Louisville men’s basketball coach Pat Kelsey, who typed the words, “Love your neighbor” on a retweet of the video of Pope talking with the fan in the wheelchair. “Great stuff,” Kelsey said.

Mark Pope will be the first to tell you he would not be coaching at all had he not transferred from Washington to become a Wildcat in 1994. He nearly didn’t anyway, enrolling in medical school at Columbia University as a Rhodes Scholar candidate before he quit to ‘fold laundry and hand out water’ as ‘the assistant to the operations guy’ under Mark

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope was asked on Thursday, during his weekly press conference, if he had a particular memory of Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, where his Cats will face Vanderbilt on Saturday. Pope said that one moment definitely stood out above the rest.

Still, Ricky P is at it again. The 72-year-old Pitino is proving once again he is one of the best basketball coaches to ever walk a college sideline.

John Calipari's legacy in Lexington extends beyond what his Kentucky Wildcats did on the court. Kentucky residents share meaningful moments for them.