As Mark Pope prepares for his third season as Kentucky’s head coach, he is having an interesting approach to team building. He is having all 14 scholarship players live together in the Wildcat Coal Lodge throughout the summer. Practice and summer workouts are set to begin on Monday, June 15, and will last for an eight-week period.
While many upperclassmen typically live in their own apartments during the NIL era, Pope wants every player under one roof during the offseason.
“The guys are all living in the lodge full-time during the course of the summer,” Pope said in an interview with UK Sports Network. “That’s a little bit of a new experience for some of these guys. They’re going to get to know each other in all the ways they want to know each other and all the ways they don’t want to know each other, so that’s really important.”
Pope knows that building team chemistry requires more than just practicing together, which is why he also plans for the team to remain active in the community throughout the summer.
“Our first meeting is always a service meeting, so that’s the first thing we do when we get together as a full team in any concentrated fashion,” Pope said. “Then the team plans out something to do each week.”
During the eight-week period, NCAA rules allow Kentucky eight hours per week for weight training, conditioning, and skill instruction, with no more than four hours dedicated to on-court work. The Wildcats will also have two days off each week while continuing to organize pickup games and individual workouts.
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