Kentucky basketball held an open practice for fans on Thursday

Kentucky basketball fans were treated well on Thursday. For the final practice of summer, Mark Pope had a surprise for fans. He allowed fans that were able to attend to come into Rupp and catch the practice. After a summer of intense practices, there's nothing like the final one, and BBN got to witness it.

The practice began at 10:30 a.m. with stretching, which was when the doors of Rupp Arena opened. Pope announced this was happening on an Instagram Live video this morning. "I'm gonna open the front door up on High Street. We start at 10:30. ...You'll get to walk into the gym with no fans. Just team, just practice. And it's winner's day. If you wanna come in and just be you, by yourself with the team and feel what the last day of summer workouts is, come on."

It was not only the last day of summer practice, but it was winner's day, as Pope said. All summer, the players have been competing towards a goal of getting the most 'win's' in practice. The Kentucky head coach shared the leaderboard on Wednesday night prior to the final practice of the summer, where Malachi Moreno held the top spot, with Jerone Morton, Zoom Diallo, Milan Momcilovic, and Ousmane N'Diaye behind him on the board.

The boys been talking trash about the winners' board for weeks, but tomorrow we're standing on business in Rupp. Final practice of camp is going to be an absolute dogfight! I wish you all could be there to see this….. pic.twitter.com/BROqe5HfZC
— Mark Pope (@CoachMarkPope) August 5, 2026

Who ended up taking the top spot in front of dozen's of Kentucky fans? None other than the homegrown Jerone Morton, who has been a standout all summer, as you can tell. Heading into a backup role at Kentucky, the 6-4 guard is very experienced and looking to show that on the biggest stage in college basketball and back in his home state. Also during the practice, Momcilovic's shooting really stood out to fans. He started practice making 24 of his first 25 threes. Pope even later on was heard screaming "best shooter in the country" for everyone in attendance to hear.

Thursday was a unique day for those who were able to attend and it was something Mark Pope didn't have to do, but he did anyway. Pope understands what Kentucky basketball means to BBN and he let them watch their Wildcats up close and personal on Thursday in a full practice, getting a look at a team that fits his system extremely well.

We're only just over two months away from Big Blue Madness, BBN!

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