John Wall, Mark Pope meet for first time at Indianapolis AAU event

Major names from across the basketball world gathered in Indianapolis on Friday for an AAU event featuring some of the premier names in high school basketball.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope and Arkansas head coach John Calipari were spotted sitting together during one AAU game. Later in the event, former Kentucky star and former No. 1 overall NBA Draft choice John Wall met up with Pope for a moment where the two exchanged some words and embraced for a moment.

All of which was recorded by KSR’s Jack Pilgrim.

John Wall is a Wildcat through and through.

The former Kentucky star meets Mark Pope for the first time in Indianapolis pic.twitter.com/NbbpMz3I9e

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) May 18, 2024

After greeting his alma mater’s new head coach, Wall made his way over to Calipari — whom Wall committed to nearly 15 years ago to the day (May 19, 2009) — where he sat with his former coach for a moment before settling in with his group to watch the action in Indi.

While some Wildcats fans have felt a shift in loyalty in some of Kentucky’s Calipari-era stars, Wall has long since confirmed his loyalty to Big Blue Nation.

“It’s sad to see him leave,” Wall said on his podcast Point Game, provided by KSR’s Jack Pilgrim. “I’m still part of Kentucky. I’m still going to be Big Blue Nation. They gave me the opportunity to play on the highest level you can in college basketball in D1, one of the biggest schools ever, and then get an opportunity to go to the NBA. That’s always family. I have the jersey [tattooed] on me. I’m in the Hall of Fame. It’s always love and support for Kentucky, and that’s never going to change.”

Mark Pope shares special moment he shared with John Calipari, Tubby Smith at Final Four

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.

Read more from On3’s Alex Weber here.