Mark Pope knows Kentucky's depth can take them far this season

Last season, the injury bug caught up with the Kentucky team as the season went on. With Jaxson Robinson going down against Auburn in early March right before postseason hit, Lamont Butler and Andrew Carr both battling injuries going in and out of the in and out of the rotation in the middle of the season, to Kerr Kriisa's season-ending injury in December, Mark Pope is making sure his team is prepared for whatever happens this season.

One of the key talking points throughout the summer has been this team's depth, especially in the backcourt, with a number of players eying to play significant minutes off the bench. Pope knows that last season, his team faced a lot of adversity, but he feels like this team can handle whatever is thrown at them in regards to any injuries, and he also knows how special that group was last season.

"I was actually incredibly proud of our guys last year, I mean, it's actually unbelievably cool. We have for big blue madness, we have families coming back, and we have players coming back. I mean, I will the attachment to that group in my heart will never go away," Pope said at UK Media Day. "I love those guys, so I felt like they managed all of that in a brilliant way, and I think that this year, we're capable of doing it even better."

Pope sees a lot of similarities between this team and his 1996 National Championship team, not just from a depth standpoint, but from their competitive spirit in practice.

"When I was here, we had nine players go play in the NBA for my team, and so practices were so brutal. They were so competitive. You got to the games and it felt easier. And I don't know if we're gonna have nine players go to the league from this team or not, but, but it feels so familiar to me, where I'm kind of like, you know what? I got to get these guys off the floor, because they're going to kill each other right now and and I do think that our depth is making us way better in practice. I think it's going to serve us well as we go through the long season and face all the challenges that you face, including injuries."

Kentucky has plenty of bodies on the team, and it's going to be a very deep rotation early on to keep guys fresh for a March run, which the Wildcats are hoping to the most of.