Mark Pope leaves Kentucky event to save wife amid car troubles
It’s not every day you run into the head coach of the Kentucky basketball program, and it’s certainly not every day you run into Mark Pope when he’s playing the hero role on the side of the road.
But for a few lucky Kentucky fans, the dream became reality on Tuesday morning.
A user on Twitter with the handle @DrewMerriman happened upon Pope and tweeted about the experience, shedding light on a chance encounter with the new Wildcats head man on the road.
“Just drove by Lexington Metro helping someone who ran out of gas in the middle of Broadway and had traffic merged to one lane…” Merriman wrote. “It was @CoachMarkPope … What a relatable guy.”
Pope would then go on to share the exact story on The Field of 68 podcast with Jeff Goodman.
“Just this morning, like you talk about the great events, I had a great event this morning,” Mark Pope began. “So we’re starting a Zoom compliance meeting — (my wife) Lee Anne is going to kill me by the way — we’re starting a Zoom compliance meeting at 9 a.m. and I get a phone call at 9:01 and it’s Lee Anne and she’s just run out of gas on the busiest street in Lexington, like a mile away from here.”
Compliance, naturally, was going to have to wait for a bit. The first-year Kentucky coach finished up the call, then sprang into action.
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Not without a little help, naturally.
“So I get the GAs, we jump in the car, we run, the police are there, it’s this huge thing,” Mark Pope said. “We’re trying to get some gas, people are driving by honking horns, ‘Let’s go Cats! Let’s go Cats!'”
The support for the first-year head coach has been impressive since he arrived. A former Kentucky player — and a national champion, at that — Pope has been thoroughly embraced by the fans.
It’s something he feels all the time.
“I mean it’s every day,” Pope said. “It’s awesome.”
Mark Pope will officially make his debut with the Kentucky basketball program on Nov. 4 in a game against Wright State that will tip off at 7 p.m. ET with a broadcast on ESPNU.