By LARRY VAUGHT
(LEXINGTON, Ky.)-Rupp Arena is one of the more respected college basketball venues in the country but also does not have the amenities or revenue potential that many newer arenas across the country have.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope played in Rupp Arena when he helped UK win the 1996 national championship but not a lot has changed in the 30 years since then. Pope was asked about keeping the balance between respecting tradition but also trying to maximize revenue in a time when all colleges are looking for additional revenue.
“There is not an easy answer there. You are always going to be threading the needle. You can’t be held hostage by sentimentality and tradition but you have to honor it,” Pope said.
“It’s just like most things in life, it’s both. You’ve got to find a way to move forward. We should be leading the way, which we do. (UK athletics director) Mitch (Barnhart) and President (Eli) Capilouto are leading the way in so many incredible ways, so we want to keep leading the way with innovation and kind of being the forward thinking group.”
Pope believes the “real answer” is to do that but also honor tradition at the same time.
“We have to find a way to do that where we are really, really emphasizing the beauty of this building that’s been here and celebrated with great teams for so long,” he said.
One of those great teams certainly was the 1996 national championship team that produced nine future NBA players. Kentucky fans are hoping for another national championship contender this season but the team is not overloaded with individual talent like his 1996 team was.
“I think this team has a ton of potential. We are not runaway good. We are just team great. We can be team great if we lean into each other and lean into what we do,” Pope said. “We are not going to just dominate people just because our individual talent is overwhelming. I actually love coaching this team that way.”
He hopes his team will love embracing defense and draw energy from success on the defensive end,
“It will give us a chance to be special. We can do it. If we can ever get to a point where we like … we don’t even care if we score. We are getting a stop every single time down the floor, that would be actually a really fun team to coach,” Pope said. “This team, I don’t know if we are built exactly that way but we might be built close. It’s a pretty fun way to play. It could be great.”
