I didn’t have a chance when to tune in when it first aired, but I just watched the CBS sports “Kentucky Basketball Confidential”
Here are a few thoughts/takeaways
“For 17 minutes, we had the roster that we envisioned.” - Mark Pope
That quote above encapsulates the season entirely, not saying it’s okay to lose some of the games we lost without our guys, but playing through the injuries this team had, was brutal.
- The behind the scenes coverage of Collin and Hannah Chandler’s love is another thing that let’s see you realize that these people are humans, and it’s amazing to see. They’re not just robots that play basketball for our joy, they have their own lives.
- You can truly tell that the guys see and hear the negativity online even when folks don’t think they do.
- This season had some high highs and really low lows, just like Tom Leach mentioned towards the end of the documentary.
- Denzel Aberdeen will never get enough respect for being brought in for one role, and then molding into a new player because that’s what the team needed, and it did it exceptionally well.
I know it wasn’t a season to remember record wise and based on the ending we all wanted to be further down the road, but this season had its incredible moments. These guys fought and fought and fought. They battled injuries, and many things stacked against them, but still played with pride and for each other, and that’s all you can ask. #BBN
This moment that Otega Oweh got to share with his mom following his clutch shot against Santa Clara. 💙
"My mom being there definitely meant a lot… Making that shot, it was like the little kid in me. I got to accomplish that for him."
🎥: CBS
"Let's go compete. Like, let's leave some bloodied bodies out there at the very least on this hallowed hall. Can we at least leave some blood on the fucking floor!" - Mark Pope
Mark Pope gets emotional when reflecting on the Gonzaga loss and being booed by Kentucky fans:
"There is nowhere like Kentucky Basketball. There is no one that cares as much as we do, and I walked off the floor in Nashville after we got crushed and embarrassed by Gonzaga. People all decked out in Kentucky gear were booing so loud because we care so much and it spills over. I would give everything I had to be apart of that.
Just like every bit of adversity, just like every bit of hate, if you do it right, it is the greatest gift ever. If you don't do it right it destroys you. I don't want to see it or hear it ever again, but we'll take it, and it will make us better. It will make us stronger."
(📸 @rarerookies)
One of my favorite parts of CBS’ Kentucky special.
Otega Oweh came to UK as an underrated transfer, & left as one of the best two year players in program history.
"He did an incredible job embracing who God made him to be as a basketball player.”
🎥:CBS
This is how Mark Pope described the 2025-26 season to wrap up the CBS co Kentucky Basketball Confidential.
“We didn’t complete our goal. We didn’t accomplish everything we wanted to accomplish, but this was a beautiful season of growth, and growth is hard and painful and messy and tough. It’s the building blocks of greatness. We fail over and over again so that we can become successful, and that’s what this season was.”
https://t.co/pusjWoOfhe