LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – New Kentucky coach Mark Pope made quite the impression on Tuesday, greeting the media with cookies before hosting his first preseason press conference of the year.

In his nearly 30-minute Q and A, Pope touched on a variety of topics, including the makeup of his very first Kentucky team, most of whom he recruited from the transfer portal.

“There have been very few surprises, in terms of what we thought we got, which is exciting,” Pope said. “The pieces fit.”

The coach said a normal summer offseason involves mainly skill development with players. But because this team is older, Pope said, the UK staff has had a sense of urgency and has implemented his philosophies much more quickly.

“We’ve moved at lightning-fast pace,” Pope said. “Trying to give our guys a sense, a bigger, grander overview of how we’re going to play, what we do and how we’re going to do it, and let them see it on the court.”

Like his predecessor, John Calipari, Pope said he wants his team to become a player-led program.

“We believe in leading from the middle, not out in front,” Pope said. “Our guys’ voices will always be more powerful than mine. That’s when you really know you have a team.”

Pope previously coached at BYU and said there are built-in advantages to recruiting at Kentucky.

“Every time that I get to walk into a building with UK on my chest, it just feels different, recruiting,” Pope said. “There’s just not that many players that are built to play here. They’ve got to be the best players in the country and they’ve got to want to take on the most amount of pressure and scrutiny of any players in the country.”

Pope added that coaching at Kentucky presents a significant challenge for he and his coaching staff.

“It’s a ton of work, it’s a ton of time,” he said. “It’s the greatest challenge that we’ll ever face in our professional careers. It’s pretty exciting.”

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