Ron Mercer calls into the Mark Pope radio show and talks about similarities to the 1996 Kentucky Basketball team

On November 27, 2024By Littum

The Kentucky Wildcats are off to a fast start and look to move to 6-0 on Tuesday night when they host Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

With plenty of excitement surrounding the program, comparisons to the 1996 championship continued Monday night on the first-ever Mark Pope radio show. Along with Tom Leach, Coach Pope took time to talk about the start of the season and take phone calls from BBN.

A phone call took the cake though when Ron from Tennessee called.

It turned out to be Ron Mercer, an All-American forward who was part of Kentucky’s ’96 championship team and ’97 runner-up.

With Mercer on the line, he compared this squad to the ’96 team because they have so many guys who can step up. He was also asked if he would compare himself to anyone on this list. Jaxson Robinson and Koby Brea got the shoutout.

Former UK star Ron Mercer calls into the Mark Pope Show and talks about how exciting it is to watch this team play. Asked if anyone shows a little hint of himself, he says maybe a little about Jaxson Robinson and a little about Koby Brea and his attitude about coming off the bench like RM did in ’96.

— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) 26 November 2024

Mercer says he sees some other similarities as a team to the 1996 squad in that there are so many guys who can step up and play a big game at any time.

— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) 26 November 2024

A cool story for the first ever Coach Pope show. Be sure to listen to a replay of it here.

Go Cats!