Tag: Big Blue Madness

Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness on Friday featured a surprise guest

Former Kentucky basketball coach Rick Pitino was a surprise guest at Big Blue Madness on Friday.

Friday night saw Kentucky basketball officially begin the 2024-25 season. The annual event showcases the current rosters, coaches, and sometimes some surprises. The biggest of those was the appearance by former coach Rick Pitino, who is also attending Saturday’s football game.

Despite being the current head coach at St. John’s, Pitino showed up in Lexington decked out in Kentucky regalia to support Mark Pope. He seemed to almost tear up as he addressed the crowd, who very loudly showed their approval of his being there.

Related: Kentucky gets official prediction for Acaden Lewis

He told fans:

Mark Pope is going to lead you to greatness in every sense of the word.

It was a special moment for everyone involved, and the fans clearly were excited to have him attending.

Former players like Doron Lamb and Willie Cauley-Stein were in attendance as well, and football coach Mark Stoops also spoke to the crowd. It was an exciting night for fans, and getting Coach Pitino back in Lexington for a night helped make this another successful Big Blue Madness.

Kentucky basketball sold out all Big Blue Madness tickets in 24 minutes

Kentucky basketball event Big Blue Madness sells out all their tickets in 24 minutes.

Kentucky basketball hasn’t lost any popularity with the coaching change this year, and subsequent roster turnover. Despite some early worries about the hiring of Mark Pope, fans have adapted and are excited for the coming season.

Perhaps the best evidence for Wildcats fans acceptance of Pope and his staff concerns this year’s Big Blue Madness event. Tickets for it went on sale Friday at 5:00 PM. Just 24 minutes later, they were sold out, per UK Athletics.

Related: Kentucky announces date for 2024 Pro Day

Both Pope and women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks will showcase their new rosters at the event, scheduled to take place on October 11th at 7:00 PM ET at Rupp Arena.

Big Blue Madness is always a fun event for fans, who get to see the players they’ll root for in the coming season. This year’s team is an underdog as the season gets ready to start, but has plenty of veteran leadership.

The women’s team is in a similar position, with lots of transfer additions, but plenty of talent. Both teams will have to prove themselves. The journey begins for both at Big Blue Madness.