As if by fate, new Kentucky head coach Mark Pope says he enjoyed a special moment with former Wildcat coaches Tubby Smith and John Calipari just days before he would become the new leader in Lexington.
Pope, Calipari and Smith were among many current and former college basketball coaches who attended the Final Four. It was one week to the day after those Saturday Final Four games when Pope was announced as the new Kentucky coach, but when he ran into Smith and Calipari in Phoenix, the three men had no idea about the whirlwind of change that was about to occur.
While speaking with Jon Rothstein on the College Hoops Today podcast, Pope recalled that moment with the other Kentucky legends and how special it was to him — even before he had any inkling he would be the Wildcat coach by the end of the next week.
“On Saturday morning, I was at the Final Four, walked into the lounge and Tubby Smith and Coach Cal were sitting there in the corner,” Pope told Rothstein, admitting the Kentucky fan in him came out.
“So, you know, I’m a diehard Kentucky fan and both those men have been super gracious to me as I’ve been kind of finding my way through the coaching profession. So I went over, I literally said: ‘Guys I’m so sorry, so happy to see you guys, I’m just going to fanboy.’ And I sat down and took a selfie.”
After the photo opportunity, Pope says the three of them chatted, with Pope especially commending John Calipari for his great success over the 15 years he was the head coach.
“Then, we talked for a while. You know, really, I expressed my gratitude and admiration for Coach Cal and what he was doing at my alma mater, what he’s done the last 15 years, because it’s just incredible.”
Whether or not Calipari knew yet in his heart he would leave Lexington, Mark Pope says the meetup was just three Kentucky guys sharing a few minutes and a conversation together.
“I think all of us just felt pretty innocent and not locked in to what was about to happen in the next 24-48 hours. It was like this super cool moment that I’m glad that I captured randomly before everything happened. And then everything was quick.”
Well, thats quite a neat and coincidental story from Mark Pope, who shared time with two predecessors of the job he was about to take — and he had no clue.
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