Even though they left Tuscaloosa on the wrong side of the result, Kentucky Wildcats fans did get a treat as the voice of college basketball, Dick Vitale, was on the call as Mark Pope's team took on the Alabama Crimson Tide. It's always a treat for the ears to hear a broadcast that's awesome, baby, and that's exactly what Big Blue Nation got.
Of course, they would've loved to have heard Vitale call something other than the 96-83 loss that Kentucky took in the SEC showdown. At the same time, though, the college hoops legend left the game with high praise for the Wildcats and Pope in his first year since taking over for longtime head coach John Calipari.
The morning after the Kentucky-Alabama game, Vitale took to X/Twitter to express how impressed he is with what Pope has done with the Wildcats and speaking about what the Wildcats could be capable of once Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson get back on the floor for assumedly March Madness.
After seeing the @KentuckyMBB in person vs the talented @AlabamaMBB team I’m impressed by what @CoachMarkPope has done .
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) February 23, 2025
With the return of Lamont Butler & Jaxson Robinson BBN will be a legit threat @MarchMadnessMBB time .Playing in the @SEC w/o ur starting guards is TOUGH!
Though Calipari wasn't mentioned at all there, it's hard not to view that message from Dickie V through a lens that considers Pope's predecessor at Kentucky.
Dick Vitale reaction to Mark Pope's Kentucky feels like John Calipari shade
It should be noted that Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks picked up a big win in their own right on Saturday, upending Missouri in Fayetteville for a crucial Quad 1 victory. At the same time, though, Vitale's message seems to underscore one of the reasons why Big Blue Nation was ready to push Calipari to the Razorbacks and away from Lexington, thus ushering in Pope.
Kentucky has been a bit snake-bitten this season when it comes to injuries with Butler and Robinson at the forefront of that. Vitale is right; it is exceptionally difficult to compete in a power conference without your starting backcourt. That's only more true in the SEC this season, a conference that non-hyperbolically looks historically great top-to-bottom. The fact that Pope has the Wildcats competing in spite of the injuries is deserving of Vitale's praise.
At the same time, far too often throughout the Coach Cal era in Kentucky, it felt as if he and his teams faltered at the first signs of adversity. That's not ubiquitous, to be sure (it seems like everyone has quickly forgotten Calipari's national championship in 2012), but especially near the end of the line in Lexington, that definitely was the vibe around the Wildcats under the former head coach's watch.
So no, Vitale wasn't directly taking a shot at or calling out Calipari. However, as he admires Pope's ability to coach this Kentucky team through one hurdle after another and has hope they'll come out on the other side even more dangerous when healthy, it's impossible not to look at Cal and think the sentiment wouldn't be a bit different if he were still at the helm.