Big Blue Madness tips off another Kentucky basketball season. ‘No. 9 is ahead of us.’

A beloved Kentucky basketball star returned to Rupp Arena. Another No. 1-ranked recruiting class was introduced to UK fans for the first time. An arrival more than two months in the making finally landed. And, just like that, the 2023-24 season had begun.

Big Blue Madness ushered in another UK basketball campaign Friday night in Rupp, which was once again home to multiple mentions of the Wildcats’ aspirations for a ninth national title as they hope to hang a new banner in the building’s rafters for the first time in nine years.

The most recent one to go up celebrated the Cats’ 2015 Final Four appearance.

This Kentucky team has its sights set on something grander, as all UK squads do this time of year.

John Calipari’s comments were brief Friday night as he prepares to embark on his 15th season as Kentucky’s head coach. At this Madness, the spotlight shined brighter elsewhere.

There was the former Wildcat who introduced Calipari to the Rupp Arena crowd. That was DeMarcus Cousins, a co-star on Calipari’s first UK team back in the 2009-10 season and still a fan favorite in Lexington.

“Big Blue — what’s happenin’, what’s happenin’?” Cousins asked the crowd, going on to say that he was “super excited” to be back in Rupp for the first time in several years. “I’ve got the pleasure of introducing a Hall of Fame coach. The GOAT. Y’all better put some respect on his name.”

Calipari then appeared on stage, immediately shared an embrace with Cousins, and thanked the fans for showing up.

“When you coach, there’s some good stuff said, and there’s some bad stuff said,” he told the crowd. “But when guys come home, there’s nothing better for a coach. I love this guy. ‘Boogie’ — as we know him. Never left us. Never left me. We never left you either.”

But no matter how many former Kentucky players came home on this night — and there were around a couple dozen ex-Cats in attendance Friday — Madness is always about looking toward the future.

And that future holds plenty of intrigue.

The player who held the attention of fans all summer finally made his Rupp Arena debut.

Zvonimir Ivisic — fondly known as “Big Z” before he even arrived in the United States — first set foot on UK’s campus Thursday morning and was already center stage a little more than 24 hours later. He didn’t participate in any basketball activities Friday night, but Calipari told the crowd that the 7-foot-2 center from Croatia would play in the Blue-White Game next Saturday.

Ivisic accounts for just one-eighth of Kentucky’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class, however, and others from that group are expected to make a bigger splash for the Wildcats this season.

Aaron Bradshaw, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards, Reed Sheppard and D.J. Wagner form the core of UK’s star-studded freshman class, and they were all there Friday night.

Edwards, the possible No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft, impressed in the dunk contest. (Though fellow freshman Joey Hart unexpectedly took home the trophy.) Wagner, Dillingham and Sheppard form a three-pronged backcourt attack that has had UK fans excited for months. Bradshaw remains sidelined with a foot injury — Calipari said earlier in the week he was still 5-6 weeks away from a return — but the 7-1 center had plenty of pep in his step as he glided across the Big Blue Madness stage and made quick work of the six steps down to the court level.

Not a bad sign for the Wildcats.

Sophomore center Ugonna Onyenso, who is also recovering from a foot injury and has a similar return timetable, according to Calipari, looked a little more hesitant on the stairs but moved well on the court while his teammates put up some shots.

Senior guard Antonio Reeves won the 3-point shooting contest, making 19 of 25 shots in the first round before beating Sheppard in the finals.

Before the Wildcats were introduced to the Rupp Arena crowd, the annual expectations that surround this program were hammered home to the fans.

The lights went out and a hype video blasted across the main video board. With a version of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” blaring, highlights of past Kentucky teams filled that space, some of the biggest shots from some of UK’s deepest NCAA Tournament runs sprinkled throughout. The video ended with snippets from the Wildcats’ eight national title teams, and a smiling Calipari was the final frame.

Another video introducing this season’s players then played. That one led with Sheppard, who received perhaps the biggest applause of the night during the Madness introductions.

And there was also a video featuring UK greats of the Calipari era, among them his trio of No. 1 draft picks — John Wall, Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns — all addressing the crowd and hyping up another season of Kentucky basketball.

That video ended with Oscar Tshiebwe, the Wildcats’ star of the past two seasons.

Tshiebwe told the crowd that he’d be watching.

“And No. 9 is ahead of us,” he said. “Go Cats.”

UK women start the show

The Kentucky women’s team hit the Big Blue Carpet backstage in Rupp Arena before the event began and tipped things off when the TV broadcast started at 7 p.m.

The UK women’s program will celebrate its 50th anniversary of playing at the varsity level this season, and several former head coaches were in attendance to commemorate the start of the 2023-24 campaign. Matthew Mitchell, Mickie DeMoss, Bernadette Maddox, Sharon Fanning and Sue Feamster were all there — wearing matching UK letterman jackets with their names on the back — and walked the blue carpet together, posing for photos before Madness began.

Once they hit the court, senior guard Maddie Scherr won the 3-point contest, and that was followed by a quick scrimmage before head coach Kyra Elzy addressed the Rupp Arena crowd.

The women’s team will play 12 home games and one exhibition in Rupp this season due to the ongoing renovations at Memorial Coliseum.

“This is a team you want to watch,” Elzy said. “Thank you all for coming out. Thank you for being the best fans in the country. We’ll see you all at Rupp Arena.”

The Wildcats play their season opener against East Tennessee State on Nov. 7 at the Beck Center on Transylvania University’s campus. Their Rupp debut will be Nov. 11 against South Carolina Upstate.

During the women’s scrimmage, UK men’s assistant coach Chin Coleman led a slew of recruits into the arena and ushered them to their seats right behind one of the Kentucky benches. The group featured UK commitment Somto Cyril — the Cats’ only pledge for the 2024 class so far — priority 2024 target Billy Richmond, all-time Kentucky class of 2025 point guard Darius Acuff, and former Woodford County star Jasper Johnson, who is a top national recruit in the 2025 class.

Richmond’s father played for Calipari at Memphis, Acuff was in town for an official visit, and Johnson recently transferred to Link Academy (Mo.) but is still strongly considering UK.

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