LEXINGTON, Ky. — It is some six months until the return of the University of Kentucky’s “Big Blue Madness” heralds the dawn of another college basketball season in the commonwealth.

Likely, it will be some seven months until the UK men face Duke in the State Farm Champions Classic in what will be the first marquee game of the Mark Pope coaching era at Kentucky.

Presumably, it will be eight months or so until Pope and new Louisville head man Pat Kelsey match coaching wits in the UK-U of L rivalry for the first time each.

Yet months away from the return of college hoops in Kentucky, fans in the commonwealth are already assured of watching history unfold in 2024-25.

Thanks to the flurry of head coaching changes at in-state schools this spring, Kentucky’s college basketball followers are guaranteed to see things in the coming season that they have, either, literally, never seen before or have not witnessed in eons.

Let’s start with some of the history that will be made in Kentucky college hoops in 2024-25:

— With Louisville’s firing of Kenny Payne, and Kentucky’s John Calipari (Arkansas) and Western Kentucky’s Steve Lutz (Oklahoma State) bolting for other jobs, it means that the UK (Pope), U of L (Kelsey) and WKU (Hank Plona) men’s programs will all have new head coaches in the same season for the first time.

To fully grasp the magnitude of that, keep in mind that Kentucky, Louisville and Western Kentucky are three of only seven men’s hoops programs in NCAA Division I history that have produced at least 48 seasons with 20 wins or more (the others are Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and UCLA).

— Preston Spradlin’s exit to the James Madison coaching job after going 140-109 in eight seasons as Morehead State men’s head man, means the Eagles, too, will have a new coach in 2024-25.

A former Morehead State assistant, Jonathan Mattox returned to MSU from an assistant’s role at Murray State.

...continued

©2024 Lexington Herald-Leader. Visit kentucky.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.