The first words out of Mark Pope‘s mouth during his debut Kentucky Basketball Media Day to open the preseason focused on his team’s desire to find moments to be still, a message stemming from a recent sermon at church that “just hit my heart hard.” He wanted his players and staff to carve out time during the day where they stayed off their phones and social media, keeping to themselves in silence rather than listening to the outside noise.
That includes practicing what he preaches himself.
“This job is just begging you to never stop,” Pope said at the time. “It’s begging you to be so consumed by everything that you never really think and that you never really listen. You never really, really listen. And if we miss on that opportunity, for me in a spiritual sense, if I don’t take the opportunity to really stop and listen and kind of commune, I’m not going to be a great coach.”
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