Mark Pope‘s first order of business with Kentucky‘s new roster in 2025-26 was to give back and show the players it means more than basketball to wear the blue and white. Right now, there is no better place to show that than London, KY and the surrounding areas after experiencing deadly tornadoes in the spring, wiping out homes tearing families apart.
What brings them together, though? UK basketball, and the Wildcats got to experience that firsthand by traveling to the area to meet with fans and hear their stories at a community barbecue and a pair of satellite camps.
It was step one in the program’s pursuit of once again Becoming Kentucky’s Team.
“It meant a whole lot to our team because we were able to really get to know these people who have experienced devastation in their lives,” Collin Chandler said in a video feature put together by UK Athletics. “It’s really just inspiring for us as a team to see how they came together as a community. It was really impressive to see how these people have responded to the challenge of losing really everything in their lives and how focused on gratitude they are, how motivated they are to build their lives again.”
“Hearing all of the different stories kind of made me a little bit emotional, but it also made me grateful for what we have,” Jaland Lowe added. “That’s fellowship, that’s neighborship, so having those talks was everything to me, especially being new to the community. It really made an impact for me. I’m grateful we were able to brighten some people’s days.”
They started with the barbecue and finished with the satellite camps, including one at North Laurel High School — the home of former Kentucky star Reed Sheppard. The players interacted with young fans, showing them the game they love just as others did for them growing up in basketball.
Only now, they get to do it with Kentucky across their chest.
“Wearing this Kentucky across my chest means a lot more to me now,” Lowe continued. “Being able to go out here and see these people, actually have deep talks and be around people that have been through it and support us at the same time. I support them, I wanna do everything I can and best I can so they have people to enjoy during tough times and hard times. It’s the best feeling ever to wear this Kentucky across my chest.”
“The more we get to know the people of Kentucky, the more inspired we are to play for something bigger than just us,” Chandler added. “These people, even though they’ve just lost everything in their lives, they’re still talking about Kentucky basketball and us, our season, how we’re feeling. We talk all the time about how much Kentucky basketball means to these people and this showed us even more how much people care. The joy of the game isn’t just affecting us, it’s affecting all of the people of Kentucky.”
It’s a video that will get you in your feels and make you proud to be a Kentucky Wildcat with Mark Pope leading the program. Take a look:
As you may recall, the Wildcats presented a $40,000 check to Southern Kentucky Tornado Relief at the North Laurel satellite camp, all of the money coming from the players directly.
“The morning after the tornadoes hit, I reached out to Shep (Jeff Sheppard) with none of this in mind,” Pope said at the time. “And we had long conversations about what the community needed. And our guys, as we started to present a bunch of ideas, they’re like, ‘This is the one, let’s go do a camp down there and let’s go be there.’ And they just kept building it and building it until they were like, ‘Hey, we want to actually make a real financial contribution.’”
That’s the good stuff.
Kentucky’s Team.
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