It was a powerful weekend for Kentucky Wildcats basketball fans with the first Big Blue Madness under new head coach Mark Pope.

Pope, a former Kentucky basketball player, won a National Championship under Rick Pitino during his time in Lexington.

Pitino made an appearance in Lexington over the weekend at Big Blue Madness and had an emotional message for Kentucky fans during his long-overdue return.

Pitino has been a huge fan of Kentucky’s hire since Mark Pope was named the next head coach in Lexington.

He made it clear he had wanted to come back to “Camelot” for quite some time and knew it would happen when his former player took over the program.

In an interview with KSR’s Matt Jones, Pitino compared Pope to a very decorated basketball coach: Billy Donovan.

“Both Billy and Mark had the same quality of humility, selflessness, and I knew after watching Mark at a Utah Valley State practice, he was going to be a great one. He’s a great offensive coach. He knows how important defense is, and I thought he was the perfect choice, and that’s why I did the video,” Pitino said when chatting with Jones.

The comparing did not stop there as Pitino made sure to share his thoughts about the two again before the Kentucky football game.

It was quite an exciting and emotional weekend for Kentucky fans, and now it is time for Pope to go out and win basketball games for Big Blue Nation.