LEXINGTON, Ky. (KT) – Mark Pope left Kentucky as a player and returned as coach and it was like a family reunion Sunday at Rupp Arena.
The former Wildcat standout and captain of the school’s sixth national championship team was formally introduced as the school’s 23rd head coach in front of a capacity crowd that gave Pope the same kind of “Heroes’ Welcome” it gave in 1996 to those champions.
He led the crowd through the chant of C-A-T-S! Cats! Cats! Cats! and posed with the No. 41 jersey he wore after he was presented a new one (No. 23) during his formal introduction.
“Every coach in America at every other job in America stands up at the press conference and they try and moderate expectations,” he said to the delight of those in attendance. “We don’t do that here at Kentucky. When Mitch (Barnhart) called me and talked to me about being the head coach here at Kentucky, I would have walked here. I understand the assignment. We are here to win banners.”
It’s exactly what Barnhart was looking for when he hired his third men’s basketball coach.
“You need a guide, you have to have someone who has been on the journey before and knows the way, the work, the challenges and eventually the beauty of the destination — to understand the heart of this special place,” Barnhart said.
The more Barnhart thought about Calipari’s replacement, the more Pope “checked the boxes.” When Pope got the call from Barnhart to come back home, he “understood the assignment” he was asked to perform once he signed the dotted line. Almost immediately, he began planning the journey back home and jokingly said he would have walked from Provo, Utah, to Lexington for the job.
