Inside Kentucky Basketball’s summer plans: Las Vegas trip and camp pauses

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Summer is a critical period for college basketball development, and Mark Pope’s Kentucky Wildcats are taking an unconventional route this year, skipping what was a planned foreign tour for a domestic vacation. From a team-building trip to Las Vegas to the pausing of traditional summer camps, the program is recalibrating its off-season schedule.

Taking over Las Vegas​

Kentucky is in Las Vegas this week to soak up the scenes and get an up-close look at the NBA Summer League. The trip serves multiple functions for the newly built roster:

• High-intensity practice: The team will hold early morning practices at a facility to build chemistry in a new environment.
• NBA networking: A major emphasis of the trip is connecting current Wildcats with former Kentucky players currently in the NBA, something that will only help strengthen the desire to be great.
• Recruiting: With high school recruiting events now strategically located in Vegas during Summer League, the coaching staff can seamlessly transition between team development and scouting. Games featuring teams from the Nike EYBL, EYCL, and Jr. EYBL, and two other NCAA-sanctioned events are taking place.

“This connection between Kentucky and the NBA is like no other, and this makes a lot of sense for us,” Pope said on KSR, noting that seeing their potential future firsthand is vital for current players.

A pause on Summer camps and overseas trips​

Fans waiting for the annual father-son or daddy-daughter camps will have to wait at least another year. Pope announced that the program is taking a pause on those events to re-evaluate its summer structure amidst massive changes in college athletics.

That’s kind of a bummer; I really always enjoyed those. But I also understand the importance of getting this year right.

Additionally, the team will not be taking an overseas summer tour, as previously planned. Pope explained that recent NCAA rule changes, which doubled the allowed summer practice time from four hours, have made the traditional 10 extra practices granted for foreign tours less of a necessity. However, Pope teased that the program is currently seeking NCAA waivers for an undisclosed alternative project. Though he was mum on exactly what that was.

For now, it’s all about the team building.

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