Mark Pope crashed the player interviews following exhibition win

Mark Pope is all about bringing good kinds of energy. He had plenty of it to share following Kentucky’s second exhibition, a 98-67 win over Minnesota State on Tuesday night in Rupp Arena.

Shortly after wrapping up his own postgame press conference — where he talked about Kentucky overcoming a slow shooting start, the status of injured center Amari Williams, the importance of offensive rebounding, and much more — Pope decided he wasn’t done taking questions quite yet.

So to keep the good vibes rolling, he popped over to visit his players, who were starting their postgame interviews with the media. While I was asking sophomore center Brandon Garrison about his big poster dunk in the second half, Pope briefly interrupted the conversation and then broke down the play, which put a giant smile on Garrison’s face.

While I was asking Brandon Garrison about his big dunk against Minnesota State, Mark Pope crashed the interview. pic.twitter.com/CY991EqPYu

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) October 30, 2024

Is this some unique thing to Pope that only he does with his players? Probably not. But that’s beside the point. He has a clear joy built into his personality that rubs off onto his players. That being said, fifth-year guard Jaxson Robinson, who has played under Pope the last two seasons, jokingly asked the head coach to “get out of here” when Pope tried crashing his press conference.

You can’t please everyone, I suppose.

This might also just be Pope’s thing. He crashed Cameron Mills’ Practice Report update video from late last month, too. But if his antics continue to put a smile on the faces of others, Pope can smash his way into any interview he so desires.