Video: Rick Pitino is honored by Kentucky and receives a standing ovation as he returns to Rupp Arena | News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

Those boos from the Kentucky faithful when Rick Pitino returned to college basketball to coach arch-rival Louisville?

Pitino returned to Rupp Arena in the familiar Wildcats colors on Friday as part of Big Blue Madness ahead of the 2024-25 season. He addressed the crowd in what was clearly an emotional moment for him and was met with thunderous applause.

The former Kentucky coach led the Wildcats from the 1989-90 season through the 1996-97 season. His team won the national title in 1995-96 and coincidentally featured current Kentucky head coach Mark Pope.

“I’m so happy to be back,” Pitino said Friday (h/t Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald Leader). “I said in coaching before I did it that I wanted to go back to Camelot again. And there’s no way I can go back better. This is one of the best evenings I’ve had in a long time because.” I’m visiting all my players who have made me happy every day for eight years.

He also didn’t hesitate to praise the Wildcats’ current coach and his former player.

“And now we can get excited about a gentleman — there have been a lot of great coaches here, a lot of great ones — but we can get excited about someone that that Kentucky name represents,” he said.

“It’s not about Pope. You’ll never hear that from him. The most selfless, humble young man I have ever coached in my life. One of the greatest examples of what Kentucky basketball is all about. Mark Pope will do it.” Lead yourself to greatness in every sense of the word.

Pitino is a Kentucky legend thanks to his eight seasons as coach, which included three Final Four appearances, two SEC regular season titles and five SEC Tournament titles. He eventually left to coach the Boston Celtics, but his return to college basketball was not well received by Kentucky fans for many years.

He eventually returned to coach Louisville and was met with boos when his Cardinals teams played at Rupp Arena.

There were no boos on Friday, and he’s clearly back in the fan base’s good graces as the Pope era begins.