Mark Story: In year 3, Mark Pope needs a good season. This is how UK produces one.

Mark Story, Lexington Herald-Leader on Nov 1, 2026

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — In Mark Pope’s first year coaching the Kentucky men’s basketball team, a well-constructed roster he put together meshed into a good team whose season was sabotaged by injuries to key players.

For Pope’s second year leading the Wildcats, an ill-fitting roster he put together yielded a so-so team whose season was sabotaged by injuries to key players.

As Pope prepares to enter season three at his college alma mater, two things seem self-evident:

1.) Kentucky could really use a season with fewer injuries to key players;

2.) Standing 46-26 as UK head man, Pope needs a good year.

For Pope to justify a fourth season as top Cat, the Wildcats do not need to win the Southeastern Conference Tournament for the first time since 2018; UK does not have to win the SEC regular season crown for the first time since 2020; Kentucky does not have to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2015 nor win the NCAA Tournament championship for the first time since 2012.

Not that doing those things — or even one of them — wouldn’t be great.

What Pope does need to produce in 2026-27 is a team that, by the heart of the coming season, looks like Kentucky. When Pope’s third year as UK coach ends, one needs to feel like the Wildcats are on the path back toward their historic competitive level.

For UK and Pope to reach that status, the Cats must come through in four areas.

— 1. The creators have to thrive. Due to injury, Kentucky essentially played without a true point guard for the majority of 2025-26.

On his final weekly radio show of last season Pope told the UK Sports Network’s Tom Leach “We are desperate to bring creators here to Kentucky.”

In fulfilling that quest, Pope brought not one, but two starting point guards to UK.

Washington transfer Zoom Diallo and Furman transfer Alex Wilkins are both transitioning from situations in which they were ball-dominant into a Kentucky system built on ball movement.

Even as UK went 3-0 in its exhibition season, that transition looked rocky at times for Diallo and Wilkins.

How quickly the two guards can acclimate to what they are being asked to do is vital for Kentucky.

— 2. Momcilovic needs shots. Last season at Iowa State, Milan Momcilovic made more 3-pointers (136) than any player in NCAA Division I men’s hoops.

The 6-foot-9, 220-pound wing did that in spite of only taking the 20th-most treys (279) in the country.

For Kentucky in 2026-27, the more open looks UK can get Momcilovic, the better chance there will be for Wildcats’ success.

In UK’s exhibition victories over Little Rock and Texas Tech, Momcilovic took only 14 combined shots. So it was encouraging when the wing got off 17 field-goal attempts in Wednesday’s overtime win over Central Florida.

— 3. Break free from “the trap of the middle.” Through two seasons, there has been an odd pattern to the Pope coaching era at Kentucky.

Under Pope, UK men’s basketball has fared respectably against the best opponents.

However, Kentucky has seen both its seasons under Pope compromised by mediocre results against middling competition.

In 2024-25, UK finished 7-5 against teams that were in the top 21 of the final NET Rankings. Included were victories over eventual national champion Florida, Final Four entrant Duke and 21st Century perennial power Gonzaga.

Against the teams that rated 22 through 50 in the final 2024-25 NET, however, Kentucky was 5-7.

Last year, a mid-season surge saw Kentucky sweep two games from border rival Tennessee (No. 17 in the final NET Rankings), score a road win over Woo, Pig, Calipari (No. 18) and beat Vanderbilt (No. 15).

Alas, late-season losses to Georgia (No. 33 in the final NET), Auburn (37) and Texas A&M (43) canceled the momentum UK had built.

— 4. Find a breakout at power forward. In three exhibition games, relatively-unheralded freshman guard Mason Williams has looked liked a recruiting steal for Kentucky. The 6-3, 210-pound Williams hit 16 of 23 shots and averaged 14 points a game.

To elevate Kentucky’s ceiling to something higher than merely a good team, UK needs to find a similar breakout player at the forward spot opposite Momcilovic.

Ousmane N’Diaye, the 7-foot, 220-pound international import from Senegal, got up a robust 28 shots in the three exhibitions, making nine. Greater offensive efficiency from N’Diaye would allow Kentucky to continue to benefit from his defensive length.

Second-year player Bryadon Hawthorne flashed potential in the exhibition vs. UCF, as the willowy 6-8 forward scored seven points, claimed three rebounds, blocked four shots and recorded two steals.

Maybe it is as simple as a return to health from Kam Williams, the 6-7, 210-pound junior who was just finding his comfort zone for Kentucky last season as a transfer from Tulane when he suffered a Jones fracture in his left foot.

With a nucleus that includes a potential standout in center Malachi Moreno, a lethal shooting wing and, UK hopes, multiple backcourt creators, someone emerging at power forward should unlock the type of season three that Mark Pope needs.