Life is starting to feel a lot more like Kentucky basketball again.
After a rocky start to the season - 9-6 overall and 0-2 in SEC play - the Wildcats have flipped the script in a big way, winning eight of their last nine and climbing back into the rankings for the first time since early December. With March looming, Mark Pope’s squad is heating up at the right time. And if you’re a Wildcats fan, that’s exactly what you want to see.
But let’s not pretend the early-season frustration wasn’t real. The criticism was earned.
Kentucky wasn’t just losing - they were losing badly, and at times, without the kind of fight the program is known for. Pope understood that from day one.
In fact, he embraced it. At his introductory press conference back in April 2024, he joked about having a built-in accountability system: a group chat with his 1996 championship teammates.
“With those high expectations, there will come criticism,” Pope said. “But I don’t want you guys to worry, because I have a group chat with every single one of my ’96 championship teammates and they will destroy me every time something goes wrong.”
One of those teammates? Derek Anderson - All-SEC standout and a key piece of that ‘96 title run. And yes, that group chat is very real, and very active.
“He gets it, too - he gets no passes,” Anderson said. “We’d be like, ‘Pope, what you doing, man?
We’re gonna come in here and rough you up.’ It’s always ongoing, but we’re always positive.
We always tell him, motivate him. He asks for some opinions sometimes, just talking, because we’re his brothers.”
That brotherhood runs deep, but it doesn’t come with blind loyalty. Anderson made it clear: they’ll hold Pope accountable, but they’ll also lift him up. The standard at Kentucky doesn’t change - even when one of your own is running the show.
“We’re not opinionated, we’re facts,” Anderson said. “We’re not gonna give him a pass if he’s not doing well.
We’re not gonna beat him down when he’s not doing well. We’re gonna say, ‘Hey, man, we’re here for you, just keep getting better, man.
Just do this, this, and that,’ and he’s always been responsive to that.”
Year one of the Pope era felt like something out of a movie - building a roster from scratch, notching a record-tying number of top-15 wins, and taking Kentucky to its first Sweet 16 since 2019. But year two?
It’s been more of a grind. The Wildcats flirted with bubble territory not long ago, and the fan base wasn’t shy about voicing its concerns.
Anderson gets it. He’s not here to slap a letter grade on Pope’s first 18 months, but he sees the growth - and that’s what matters.
“Well, I don’t think I’d grade anybody’s first year - it’s like me grading me as a freshman or a sophomore, as I was as a junior or senior,” Anderson said. “I’m averaging 20 points, playing different, mature.
You’re different. I think his progression has been great, and I think that’s what you wanna see.
You wanna see progression.”
That’s the key word: progression. Nobody walks in and wins a title overnight.
But if the arrow’s pointing up, you’re on the right track. And lately, Kentucky’s arrow has been pointing way up.
Of course, there were some low points along the way - including blowout losses that raised real questions about effort and intensity. And for Anderson, who grew up in Louisville and knows what it means to wear that Kentucky jersey, that’s where things crossed the line.
“We was giving it to him, too,” he said. “We’re gonna be honest with you, we’re gonna be like, ‘Come on, man. Get on them guys a little rougher,’ and he started doing that.”
The issue wasn’t just the losses - it was how they were losing. Getting run off the floor without showing fight? That doesn’t fly in Lexington.
“I think when the fans are upset, they’re upset at how you play,” Anderson said. “Because we lost games (in ‘96) and nobody went in on us, and it’s just how you’re losing.
We don’t lose by effort. We lose by chance, or somebody plays well, someone beats us on a better shot or something, but you don’t lose by effort.”
That’s the Kentucky standard. Play with pride.
Play with passion. And lately, that’s exactly what this team has done.
“The kids started understanding that, and their passion and effort is starting to show more, and that’s why we’re winning,” Anderson said.
Anderson and the rest of Pope’s ‘96 teammates will keep the group chat going - that much is certain. But if Kentucky keeps playing like this, those messages might stay a little more celebratory and a little less critical.
Because when the Wildcats bring the heart, the wins tend to follow. And if that continues, this stretch run might just get even more fun.