Mark Pope compares current Kentucky players to members of 1996 team

Mark Pope compared Otega Oweh and Collin Chandler to teammates of his from the 1996 Kentucky team.

Feb 7, 2026; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope huddles up with members of the 1996 National Championship team after the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

The Kentucky Wildcats got a big win over Tennessee on Saturday during a very special day. It wasn't special because Kentucky was playing basketball or that it was against Tennessee, but rather due to the fact that the iconic 1996 National Championship team was being honored. Not only did Kentucky wear a special edition of the throwback denim jerseys, but the team was also introduced before the game.

With a team that features so many beloved players, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope, being the captain of that special team, was asked on his radio show Monday night who on this current team reminds him of someone on his past team. Pope started out by comparing Otega Oweh to Antoine, who was a veteran on the '96 team, leaned on during many crucial times as a star.

"There's just something similar in terms of their just impact on the game and their reliability, especially as Antoine got a little bit older," Pope said on his radio show Monday night as he compared Otega Oweh to former Wildcat Antoine Walker.

Then there was the other comparison, which was Collin Chandler and Jeff Sheppard, which if you think about it, makes a lot of sense given their big-shot ability during games. Pope went very in-depth on this comparison. Here is what he had to say about the similarities between Chandler and Sheppard:

"There's something about this Collin Chandler that is like, let me go take the moment," Pope said. "Probably for the rest of my life, I'll remember this. You know, we're in a much different place than we were a month ago when we were at LSU and and we're scratching and clawing to try and come back and win that game. And with everything on the line, we got to make a really, really difficult, high-pressure decision-making pass in desperation to try and win the game. And Collin Chandler runs back, 'I'll make the pass, I got it.' There's something special about that."

Dec 29, 2023; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Reed Sheppard's parents, Jeff and Stacey Sheppard, cheer during the second half against the Illinois State Redbirds at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

With Sheppard, Pope recalled a moment similar to how Collin Chandler has continued to show up for this Kentucky team.

"It was the last few seconds of the game, a huge game and Coach Pitino called the play. Ten seconds left, (Jeff Sheppard) working the point. Shepp turns down the play, goes by, his guy shoots a pull up jumper that I can't remember if it got deflected or not, misses it, game over. We walked in the locker room and Coach P was just super composed, as you can imagine, not emotional. And he was tearing into everybody. And then he got to Shepp, and he was like, if you ever turn down a play call, ...something to the effect of 'you'll walk all the way back to Peach Tree, Georgia and you will never wear this jersey again.' And and then there was the end, which there was never an end with coach, but there was and he said, 'I love the fact that you had the courage to do it.'

Maybe there really are some similarities between the two teams in terms of certain play styles, but that 1996 Kentucky team will go down as one of the more special teams in college basketball history. That's some some very high praise for both Oweh and Chandler.