“More Than Basketball”: Kentucky Wildcats Donate $40,000 to Tornado Victims in Southern Kentucky
London, KY — June 21, 2025 — What started as a typical summer satellite camp for Kentucky basketball turned into something much deeper a reminder that this program is built on more than just wins and highlights. It’s about heart. It’s about home. And on Friday, the Wildcats gave back to a region that needed it most.
In the heart of Reed Sheppard country North Laurel High School Mark Pope and his Kentucky men’s basketball team made a powerful statement, not just through coaching and drills, but through compassion. After devastating tornadoes swept through southern Kentucky last month, leaving destruction in their wake across London and Somerset, the Wildcats stepped up with a major gesture of support: a $40,000 donation toward Southern Kentucky Tornado Relief.
The check was presented by sophomore guard Otega Oweh and the rest of the team at the end of the camp, catching parents and young players completely by surprise. It wasn’t a publicity stunt. It wasn’t a photo op. It was a genuine act of service, player-led and heartfelt from the start.
“Let’s Go Be There”
Head coach Mark Pope shared that the idea wasn’t born in a boardroom it came straight from the locker room. “The morning after the tornadoes hit, I reached out to Shep [Jeff Sheppard] with none of this in mind,” Pope said. “And we had long conversations about what the community needed. And our guys, as we started to present a bunch of ideas, they’re like this is the one, let’s go do a camp down there and let’s go be there. And they just kept building it and building it until they were like, hey we want to actually make a real financial contribution.”
The check may have said $40,000, but the real value of the day was far greater. This was about presence. About listening. About healing.
A Day of Giving
Before even stepping foot on the gym floor, the Wildcats spent their Friday afternoon in the trenches with tornado victims. They visited Faith Assembly of God, a local church sheltering nearly 250 residents impacted by the storms. Players and staff didn’t just pose for photos or offer empty words. They sat down, asked questions, and listened.
“We got to go around for a few hours just listening to them, hearing their stories,” said Collin Chandler. “I think that was super important to them — to have people that will listen and care. It was super inspiring for us as a team to just see a community come together like that.”
The team also helped deliver furniture to another tornado victim, offering a bit of stability for someone whose home life had been turned upside down. It was a full day of giving before the first basketball ever bounced in the gym.
“Find Some Light”
For Otega Oweh, this experience became personal. He talked about sitting with the church’s pastor, who encouraged him to “find some light in the negative stuff.” It’s a message that stuck and one the Wildcats embodied throughout the day.
As the team prepares for another camp the following morning in Russell County, this one in Laurel County will be hard to top not because of the drills or the dunks, but because of the purpose. The smiles they left behind. The tears they helped dry. The message they delivered to southern Kentucky:
We see you. We’re with you. And you’re not alone.
Building Something Bigger Than Basketball
Kentucky basketball will always be about championships, banners, and blue-blood tradition. But under Mark Pope, it’s also about humanity. This wasn’t just a camp. This was a mission.
And for those kids running layup lines in London, Kentucky the ones laughing as Otega Oweh blocked their shots or grinning while Collin Chandler showed them how to jab step this will be a memory they’ll never forget. Not because of what the Wildcats did on the court, but because of what they did off it.
$40,000. A day of service. A lifetime of impact.
This is what it means to wear Kentucky blue.
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