For the first time in Kentucky basketball history, the program hosted ‘Media Madness,’ an event designed to unite players, coaches and the media before the start of the 2026-27 campaign, which is set to begin on Nov. 3 in Rupp Arena.

Here’s a breakdown of the event, how it unfolded, and how well Cats Coverage competed.

I first arrived at the Joe Craft Center and caught up with the Cats Coverage crew, along with friends in the media, before we checked into the event around 3:30. From there, after a brief waiting period, we headed downstairs and got to witness the closing portion of UK’s practice, and obviously, as a media member and basketball junkie, I analyzed the portion of practice we saw and observed a few things.

My biggest takeaway was Franck Kepnang; the guy is a tank, and if he can stay healthy, he can bring a ton to the table in terms of physicality in the paint. I also believe that Alex Wilkins will shock a bunch of people; the mid-major to power-six adjustment can be a problem, but he has a heck of a jump shot and looked extremely confident with the ball.

Head coach Mark Pope practically kicked the media out of the practice for being too loud, emphasizing that what they were working on was extremely important, while throwing in some curse words- yes, curse words; I can assure you the man does use explicit language. One of his assistants took the initiative after he yelled at us for the second time and just sent everyone to the hallway, where we waited.

Once the doors reopened, we were greeted by Ousmane N’Diaye, who was welcoming everyone with high-fives, saying, “Let’s get to work!”

We went in for a quick huddle, where Pope talked about how excited he was for the event, and from there we broke out into separate hoops (stations) to run drills with players. Cats Coverage was at Hoop No. 8, and we were coached by Mason Williams, who was extremely into the event. We warmed up, did some shuffles, ran through some layup lines, mid-range jump shots, etc. After that, we put on pinnies and went to work, where Williams said, “We don’t lose!”

Cats Coverage was paired with Cats Chat, another UK media outlet, and we partook in half-court scrimmages against other outlets. We beat WKYT in the first game and got bounced by KSR — which ended up winning it all — in our second game. Making it to the Final Four in the first-ever Media Madness is something I will always remember and flex for the rest of my life… I’m obviously kidding, kind of.

Following the event, we went to the press conference room, where one media member from each outlet got to get asked questions by the players. Pope played the SID role and picked on players to ask questions. Our founder, Tres Terrell, was the Cats Coverage member who took on questions.

All in all, I would say the event was a success; it was a great, light-hearted atmosphere that brought us media members closer to the athletes and coaches we will be covering. I and the rest of Cats Coverage was extremely appreciative of the effort that went into Media Madness; it is something all of us will definitely remember forever.