Big Blue Madness is just six weeks away, after all.

What do you need to know about the team before things get hectic with preseason festivities? Let Cameron Mills, who played at Kentucky from 1994-98 while racking up 365 total points and 81 made 3-pointers in four seasons, tell you.

The former Wildcat was in and out of practice all summer long and learned just about all there is to know about his alma mater, now coached by his teammate and fellow national champion in Pope. He released another edition of the UK HealthCare Practice Report, courtesy of the UK Sports Network, highlighted by three major takeaways:

• 32 Summer Practices
• Team Bonding
• Coaching Offense vs. Defense

“Cannot emphasize enough the importance of 32 practices that Mark Pope’s new team got this summer,” Mills said. “The importance of it is — you heard Pope talk about so many times — getting kids in here that have the bandwidth to understand that they had a brand new offense to learn and a brand new defense to learn. But it’s not just that. It’s actually learning each other and understanding and getting that sixth sense of where the other player is going to be if I’m driving down the right lane or the left lane. So everything they’ve done on the court, whether it’s those 32 practices or as they go forward the next few weeks now back on campus, is to learn each other, learn the offense, learn the defense and learn how to play together as a team.”

Then there is the off-court chemistry that translates to chemistry on the floor. We just saw them go to Hazard for a team retreat this weekend, building houses and hanging out at the lake. But they’ve also done the traditional team-bonding activities such as bowling and golf.

“Everything right now about learning how to be together and build a team, because we’ve got 13 or 14 new guys this year,” he added. “It’s different than what we’ve had in the past where we’ve got five new guys, maybe. We’ve got a whole brand new team that’s gotta learn how to gel and coach is trying to get them to gel as fast as possible.”

How about the specifics? Mills talks about Pope’s experience with Larry Bird when he coached him on the Indiana Pacers, the NBA legend designating one offensive expert and one defensive expert on his staff.

Pope is doing something similar while also adding a few of his own tricks, including piping in crowd noise.

“That’s what he’s building here, except he’s got two coaches on offense and two coaches on defense. That’s their specialty. They take turns trading in and out,” Mills said. “Whether we’re focusing on defense in the practice or offense, that coach or those coaches get in and they’re teaching because there is a lot of new stuff for these guys to learn defensively. One of the interesting things is, while they’re working on defensive drills, they’re piping in loud, in-your-face-on-the-road crowd noise. So more than anything, these guys are having to learn how to communicate, how to communicate verbally and non-verbally.”

And then there’s the shooting, what everyone wants to know about. We’ve heard about the 35 threes per game Pope wants his players taking, but how many of them will be makes?

Mills expects efficiency to go with that volume.

“The amazing thing about it is it’s not just how many threes I think we’re going to get up per game this year, but one through five, we’ve got guys — I can’t think of a single guy that can’t shoot at least 33 percent from the three-point line,” he said. “Now look, we’ll have fives and bigs that aren’t going to shoot as many threes, but of the guys that will consistently shoot threes, you’re talking a large percentage (of makes).

“We’re going to have a lot of threes shot in every single game. And I can’t really promise this, but it seems pretty obvious to me we’re going to make a lot of three-point shots.”

Take a look at Mills’ complete practice report:

Can the season tip off now?

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Tubby Smith offers Mark Pope words of wisdom on replacing John Calipari: “Stay the course”

Tubby Smith can remember sitting there with his wife, Donna, at Bridgestone Arena this past March for the SEC Tournament. The three-time SEC Coach of the Year was invited to represent the University of Kentucky as a member of the 2024 SEC Legends class, honored at halftime of the Wildcats’ opening-round matchup vs. Texas A&M in Nashville.

His joy quickly transitioned into uneasiness as he watched the clock hit triple zeroes with Kentucky falling by a final score of 97-87, sent home in a blink once again. Smith watched the fans hit the exits juggling anger, sadness and confusion.

“You could kind of see it,” the five-time SEC Tournament-winning coach told KSR. “I witnessed it. You could kind of sense it when they lost, there was kind of a hush over the crowd. I was there with my wife and was like, ‘Oh boy, this is (tough).’”

Meeting with Calipari and Pope before the coaching changes

That would be the first of back-to-back postseason losses for the Wildcats, the next coming against No. 14 seed Oakland in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. John Calipari wouldn’t coach another game at Kentucky, leaving for Arkansas immediately after the Final Four in April with conversations starting during the prestigious event.

Ironically, Smith was there with Coach Cal in Phoenix, the two having breakfast together one morning when a familiar face walked up to join them.

“I had just seen him at the Final Four and we spent some time together, just conversing and talking,” Smith said. “Actually, we were down in the concierge lounge one morning having breakfast and Mark Pope came in. So there’s Mark Pope, John Calipari and myself taking a picture together. So people later on said, ‘Tubby, did you know?’ Like I had something to do with Cal leaving! It was really interesting.”

Being in a similar position at Kentucky

Interesting is one way to put it, those days of mass chaos from April 7 when reports of Calipari finalizing the five-year deal with Arkansas first emerged to April 12 when similar reports involving Pope and Kentucky broke. How does one voluntarily leave the throne in Lexington for Fayetteville?

On the surface, yeah, it’s pretty mind-blowing. If there is one person that knows that feeling, though, it’s Tubby Smith, making a similar move from Kentucky to Minnesota in 2007.

“It was shocking, number one,” Smith told KSR. “I mean, that may be the number one sports story in college sports all of last year: John Calipari leaving the Kentucky Wildcats to go to the Arkansas Razorbacks. … I know how tough it was for Cal and I told him that. But again, you don’t want to be somewhere where you’re just tolerated. People end up — if you’re not careful, familiarity may breed contempt.”

Winning titles is ‘hard to do’

Smith was a National Coach of the Year with five regular season titles and four Elite Eights, racking up 100 wins faster than any coach in UK history not named Adolph Rupp before Coach Cal did it a few years later. But his first Final Four and national championship in 1998 would be his last, and fans got restless over the course of the decade, just as they did with Calipari in his decade and a half.

“Even though you’re succeeding — and Cal had some great years, now. You can’t find a better coach. Man, it’s hard to find a better one or a better recruiter, just a good person,” Smith said. “… But in my 10 years — and I’ve been here previously (as an assistant under Rick Pitino from 1989-91). That transition I was familiar with, then the transition going from Georgia to coming here. But I could tell in my 10 years, even in my first seven, eight years. We won a championship in our first year and that may have been the best thing and the worst thing, because now, what are you going to do as an encore?

“Obviously, we thought we’d win more championships and had expectations of championships, but it’s hard. It’s hard to do. That’s why what Connecticut has done and what Coach (Dan) Hurley has done is just remarkable. No one did it previously — Billy Donovan (at Florida), and that was, what, 20 years ago? 15, 20 years ago? It’s not easy to win championships.”

Advice for Pope as he takes over

Coaching at Kentucky is a beast, something Mark Pope will have to learn in time when the games get rolling in a couple of months and the years to come. He’s got an advantage, though, experiencing the pressure cooker in Lexington as a championship-winning player before taking on this challenge as a coach.

That’s what gives Smith hope Pope is the clear man for the job, along with his personal experience interacting with the new leader of the program.

“They couldn’t have found a better person, the Wildcats. He understands, he’s been here as a player, won a championship, and he’s proved himself as an outstanding coach at BYU and Utah Valley. I’m really impressed,” he told KSR. “I’ve been to a workout already that he invited me to and I’m looking forward to watching and following along with great anticipation.”

There’s a difference between Smith replacing Rick Pitino and Pope replacing Coach Cal, though. He’ll be the first to tell you the roster he inherited in 1997 isn’t like the empty cupboard Pope was left this offseason, and for that reason, patience will be necessary for all parties involved.

That doesn’t even account for normal coaching transitions and what that entails in terms of establishing a culture and implementing a system. Those hurdles are universal, no matter the personnel.

Pope is dealing with all of the above.

“People have to be patient, he’s trying to build a program from nothing. It’s not like me taking over for Rick Pitino where we had some outstanding players returning like Jeff Sheppard, Scott Padgett, Allen Edwards, Wayne Turner, Jamal Magloire and Nazr Mohammed — we had some pros!” Smith told KSR. “The transition is never easy. I don’t care if you have good players like I had, or very few players like Mark Pope inherited, it just takes a while to teach your system and your style of play.”

Stressing patience

Smith used that talent and his experience coaching in the SEC to lead Kentucky to its second title in three years with back-to-back-to-back championship appearances — an all-time high for the program, rivaled only by Rupp’s run of banners in 1948, ’49 and ’51. He saw what it looked like to win big early and often.

Can Pope replicate that success? That’s certainly the goal, and he hasn’t shied away from those expectations, talking endlessly about understanding the assignment of hanging banners in Lexington.

Smith just wants the first-year coach to remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

“My hat is off to Mark Pope. He’s got a chance. You’ve just got to be patient because it’s a whole lot different from when I came in or when Calipari came in with players still here. That’s not the case,” he told KSR. “He’s got to have patience. Don’t change. What you did (at BYU) worked, so be committed to it, and then plan for the long term. Longevity is the key to success.

“He knows what he’s coming into and he’s prepared. My advice to him is just to be himself and stay the course. … I was impressed with his workout. He’ll do a good job.”

Coach Cal’s full-circle moment will come

Smith’s marathon wrapped up with back-to-back losses in the Round of 32, paving the path for his own fresh start with the Golden Gophers. He bounced around from there, spending six years at Minnesota, three at Texas Tech, two at Memphis and four at High Point before calling it one heck of a career with 642 combined wins.

Then came his full-circle moment, returning to Rupp Arena to have his jersey deservedly retired to the rafters in 2021. Things weren’t perfect when he left in 2007, but all of these years later, the memories of those highs with Tubby run circles around those brief lows. The fanbase has wrapped its arms back around him like it’s 1998 all over again.

And he firmly believes Coach Cal will feel that same love at some point, likely sooner rather than later. He’s an SEC rival now, but when the dust settles on his career, Big Blue Nation will remember him as the guy who brought banner No. 8 to Lexington in 2012.

“It’s going to take time,” Smith told KSR. “And whenever that happens — I know when Rick Pitino left, when he came back with Louisville, some people never get over it. But again, the joy — coaches love coaching. Cal put all he could into this program, he did all he could and other than people leaving, he left the program in pretty good shape the way it is.”

Pope’s key to success in Lexington

Until that day comes, it’s on Pope to start writing his own legacy as he looks to become the sixth head coach to win a title at Kentucky. As long as he pours everything he’s got into the program both on and off the floor, the rest will sort itself out, likely with that 6-foot-10 goofball raising another trophy above his head.

Just like ’96.

“Every coach has ever come through the University of Kentucky has given it their all. We tried to give it our all when we were here, and that’s what it’s going to take for Mark Pope,” Smith told KSR. “You’ve got to be all in, you’ve got to be committed. Joe B. Hall, when I took the job, he said it was a 24/7, 365-days-a-year job. And he’s right. But you’ve got to have an outlet, you can’t allow it to change who you are and your personality. That’s why you’ve got to be here to serve.

“I think if you come with that approach here, to serve the community, serve the university, serve your players and your constituents, everything else will take care of itself.”

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