WELCOME TO BLUE NATION: Mark Pope arrived With Two Elite Player.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WSAZ)- Mark Pope arrived at Rupp Arena on Sunday, much like he did after winning the national championship in 1996.

He was captain of the 1996 national championship-winning squad.

Pope enters a rare, dream transition from a former player to the head coach for the University of Kentucky Men’s Basketball program.

Sunday, Pope held his first press conference as head coach.

“When Mitch called me and talked to me about being the head coach at Kentucky, I understood the assignment. We’re here to win banners. As we go through this journey, we are here to win banners in Nashville. Our assignment is to win banners in the final four and win national championships. That’s our job,” Pope said.

Pope is a nine-year coaching veteran with stops at BYU and Utah Valley with a 187-108 career record. His squads won 20 or more games in six of the last seven seasons, and he has made six postseason appearances.

He returns to UK from Provo, Utah, where he compiled a 110-52 record (.679) during five campaigns at the helm of BYU. He took the Cougars to three postseason appearances, including two trips to the NCAA Tournament, and missed another bid when the 2020 event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Three of his five BYU teams finished the season ranked in the top 20 of the Ken Pomeroy efficiency rankings.

UK won the 1995 and 1996 regular-season Southeastern Conference championship, the 1995 SEC Tournament title, and the 1996 NCAA Tournament. He averaged 7.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in 69 career games. Pope was named to the All-SEC Tournament team in 1995 behind a pair of double-doubles in three games, including one in the title game that went to overtime.

Pope expressed his excitement on Sunday for a new era in UK basketball.

“These players are my job to coach and shepherd and our job to love. For every player, I wish they could experience something like this. There’s nothing better. You can’t get it anywhere else besides Kentucky,” Pope said.