With the men’s and women’s college basketball regular seasons concluded, both Kentucky squads completed their first years under new management.
The women, with former Virginia Tech Head Coach Kenny Brooks, and the men with former BYU Head Coach Mark Pope, each recorded monumental victories during their first campaigns while also taking some head-scratching losses.
As the postseason either continues on or gets ready to kick off, the Kentucky Kernel brought out the report cards to break down how each coach did in their respective role.
Mark Pope: B
Pope’s first season is truly hard to grade. By all means, it had some extremely high highs, but it seems destined to flame out far earlier than it should for reasons entirely out of his control.
Taking over a program that had zero scholarship players returning after John Calipari’s exodus to Arkansas, Pope had a massive task in building a roster entirely from scratch that could compete in what would become the best conference, perhaps in college basketball history.
Bringing in players that would quickly become fan favorites, the highs for this team were through the roof. A win over Duke in Atlanta, a herculean comeback against Gonzaga in Seattle, a regular-season sweep of Tennessee and big successes on the recruiting trail to keep in-state talent.
On the other end, however, a blowout loss to Ohio State with the entire team healthy, a complete collapse at Texas, one of the most lopsided losses in recent history inside Rupp Arena against No. 1 Auburn and an embarrassing loss to Calipari and Arkansas left a sour taste in some fans’ mouths.
With that being said, one can’t speak of Pope’s first year without addressing the elephant in the room: injuries.
When healthy, Pope’s squad showed it had the ability to down the likes of Duke and Gonzaga, but it hasn’t been fully healthy since the latter.
Kerr Kriisa’s season-ending foot injury, Lamont Butler missing multiple games with his shoulder, Andrew Carr being far from 100% because of his back, Amari Williams having some scares with his legs and Jaxson Robinson’s wrist injury that would ultimately cut his season short have all severely lowered the season of this Kentucky unit.
While not entirely his fault, Pope’s first season at UK gets a B, though there is confidence he can secure an A plus next year if things go his way.
Kenny Brooks: A (with five big booms)
When Kenny Brooks arrived in Lexington, he faced the challenge of rebuilding one of the SEC’s worst women’s basketball programs. Like Pope on the men’s side, Brooks needed to assemble an almost entirely new roster just months before Big Blue Madness with only two returning players.
Brooks immediately turned heads by bringing over several recruits and roster members from Virginia Tech, including two of his star players, Georgia Amoore and Clara Strack.
Since then, Amoore has earned the 2025 SEC Newcomer of the Year award, been selected to the All-SEC First Team and been a top-five finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award, recognizing the country’s best point guard.
Strack emerged as one of the nation’s best centers and was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year, making both the SEC All-Defensive and All-SEC second teams while being a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award, recognizing the country’s best center.
Brooks’ first season was not without adversity. Before the season began, two expected starters, Jordan Obi and Dominika Paurová, experienced season-ending injuries. However, he found a way to fill the gaps with his tremendous recruiting in the transfer portal.
Brooks proved his ability to win big games, specifically against long-time rivals. He led Kentucky to victory over No. 18 Louisville, snapping a seven-year losing streak against the Cardinals.
A few months later, he guided the Wildcats to a historic blowout over No. 11 Tennessee, marking the largest margin of victory over the Lady Vols in program history.
Even in losses to powerhouses like No. 6 South Carolina and No. 7 LSU, Kentucky proved it could compete at an elite level by keeping top-ranked teams within single-digit margins.
Brooks’ only real struggle this season came on the road, the most painful loss came at Texas A&M, which has since finished last in the SEC and will not compete in March Madness.
However, considering the season’s overall success, it is easy to overlook the few road losses, considering that this was Brooks and the majority of the team’s first time playing consistently in SEC environments.
Beyond the wins and losses, Brooks has completely changed the culture surrounding the program. Kentucky women’s basketball sold out four home games this season and for the first time in a long time, the program is drawing five-star recruits nationwide.
There is no hesitation in giving Kenny Brooks an A for his first season as head coach. In only a year he has turned one of the SEC’s worst teams into one of the best and will undoubtedly be in serious contention for a national championship within the next few years.
