Mitch Barnhart on Rick Pitino's influence in Mark Pope hire: 'That was really important'

When news broke that Mark Pope would be the next head men’s basketball coach at Kentucky, shock quickly turned to outrage for Big Blue Nation on social media.

UK’s fandom would change their tune on the hire after a night to sleep on it, not to mention the outpouring of support from those who have spent time around Pope banded together in support of his hiring.

That included Pope’s former head coach when he played in Lexington — Rick Pitino. Pitino recorded a video from his office at St. John’s saying that whatever Mark Pope needs, he’ll “write the check.” Athletic director Mitch Barnhart believes this went a long way in aiding the public’s opinion on the new head coach.

“We had we had a couple of really strong supporters of our program say, ‘We believe too,'” Barnhart told Paul Finebaum on Wednesday. “And they came alongside of us early Friday morning and then and then we got to midday and frankly, Coach [Rick] Pitino put out a video that was very supportive of Mark saying, ‘Hey, you got to understand what this guy knows about the game of basketball.’ That was helpful to us. And that was really important.”

The next few days in Lexington were a whirlwind and by Sunday, Pope was to be introduced as Kentucky’s head coach. Over 20,000 fans would be on hand inside Rupp Arena to soak in the new era of Kentucky basketball.

A fanbase that was once divided between those for and against former head coach John Calipari in the latter stages of his tenure were now banded together in unity for Pope. During his introductory press conference, Pope had BBN in the palm of his hand.

“For Mark, I’d say he was so, so good. He touched all the right buttons,” Barnhart continued. “And when he went into the presser on Sunday. And by the time we got to press on Sunday we’d said a few things to him, but when he walks up and he says, ‘I understand the assignment. I get it,’ and he points to the rafters and says ‘That’s what we’re all here to do.’ That was helpful to us.

“It was just a variety of things that happened along the way that were really, really special and none more important than Mark touching the right buttons and understanding exactly what Kentucky was all about.”

Pitino has previously stated that he believes Pope “will go on to greatness.” How long that will take remains to be seen. For now, he’s got the backing of everyone in BBN heading into his first season at the helm of UK men’s basketball.