Before Mark Pope’s first visit to Memorial Gym as Kentucky’s coach, he strolled down memory lane to recall some funny moments from road games as a player.

LEXINGTON — John Calipari and Rick Pitino aren't just the two most well-known ex-Kentucky coaches still active in college basketball. The pair are two of the biggest names in the sport, as other coaching titans — Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams ...

Don’t look now, but there’s an oldie but goodie at the top of the Big East Conference college basketball standings. St. John’s is 16-3 overall and 7-1 in the Big East. The St. John’s coach: Rick Pitino.

Led by RJ Luis Jr., Zuby Ejiofor and Kadary Richmond, this St. John's squad is off to the school's best start since opening 20-2 in 1985-86, when a team that finished 31-5 earned the program's third No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in a four-year span.

As No. 9 Kentucky prepares to take on Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium this Saturday, Mark Pope is gearing up for his first visit back to the iconic venue since his days as a Wildcat.

St. John’s fans should appreciate RJ Luis while he’s here. Rick Pitino is anticipating the dynamic junior wing going pro when this season is up. The reigning Big East Player of the Week, the 6-foot-7 Luis has taken a big leap this year as the Johnnies’ leading scorer at 17.5 points per game.

The Kentucky Wildcats joined just about every other ranked team by losing a game last week. Here’s how it all shook out in the new AP Top 25 poll.

LEXINGTON — John Calipari and Rick Pitino aren't just the two most well-known ex-Kentucky coaches still active in college basketball. The pair are two of the biggest names in the sport ...

Mark Pope will be the first to tell you he would not be coaching at all had he not transferred from Washington to become a Wildcat in 1994. He nearly didn’t anyway, enrolling in medical school at Columbia University as a Rhodes Scholar candidate before he quit to ‘fold laundry and hand out water’ as ‘the assistant to the operations guy’ under Mark

St. John's guard RJ Luis Jr. (12), left, dribbles the ball against New Mexico guard Donovan Dent (2), right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith) AP

After indicating on Friday that Deivon Smith wouldn't play against Seton Hall because of a sprained right shoulder and adding that he wouldn't use a player experiencing pain, Rick Pitino had Smith on the court for 17 minutes in a blowout win.

Riding the program's best start in 39 years, No. 20 St. John's regained sole possession of first place in the Big East by rallying past Xavier 79-71 in overtime.