This is an opinion column.

There’s only one conclusion to draw after more than 20,000 Kentucky basketball fans filled Rupp Arena on Masters Sunday to welcome former Kentucky basketball player Mark Pope home as the new Kentucky basketball coach.

Kentucky loves basketball. Do not stop the presses. Do not hang the banner.

This was true the day Kentucky introduced John Calipari, Billy Gillispie, Tubby Smith, Rick Pitino, Eddie Sutton, Joe B. Hall and Adolph Rupp, which is the entire roster of UK head coaches since the SEC played its first season in 1932-33.

Some things don’t change. While Kentucky basketball ain’t what it used to be – South Carolina (2017), Auburn (2019) and Alabama (2024) have been to a Final Four more recently from the SEC – ain’t nothin’ like Kentucky basketball passion nowhere.

To call Sunday’s event an introductory press conference is as inadequate as the Wildcats have been in their valedictory NCAA Tournament performances since Auburn stole a piece of their soul in the 2019 Elite Eight. In a brilliant bit of showmanship, Pope arrived inside Rupp Arena riding on a bus with a bunch of former teammates. He burst through the doors and onto the floor carrying the 1996 national championship trophy.