Mark Pope promises to give gas money to Kentucky fans wanting to go to Milwaukee

Mark Pope may have made his biggest mistake yet as the head coach at Kentucky. It has nothing to do with anything he did regarding an in-game adjustment or roster decision, nothing egregious to impact the Wildcats’ play.

It was fairly egregious to his wallet, though — just as it was when he offered to buy ice cream to everyone at Rupp Arena.

This time, he’s offering to pay for gas for Big Blue Nation as fans make their way to Milwaukee to watch Kentucky take on Troy in the NCAA Tournament this weekend. Not that there is any question whether BBN will prove itself as the most passionate fanbase in sports yet again, but Pope just wants to be certain no one has a reason to miss the trip.

If you’ve got a vehicle, he’ll fill it up for you. The catch? He won’t tell you how to get in touch with him — it can’t be too easy on you, right?

“It’s only a 7-hour drive, so if you’re having trouble with gas money, hit me up. Let’s get all of BBN out there,” Pope said on his call-in radio show. “I’m not gonna tell you how to hit me up, because I’m nervous about how many people are about to hit me up. I had this ridiculous notion one night after a game to buy everybody that was left in the arena ice cream. It cost me a little bit more than I anticipated, but it’s all in the family, baby. It’s family. Let’s go.”

The UK head coach wouldn’t reveal exactly how much he spent on ice cream earlier in the season — Tom Leach set the over/under at $2,000, Pope responding, ‘Yeah, we’ll go with the over on that one’ while adding Rupp Arena did not give him a friends and family discount when the credit card bill came through.

“It was worth it!” Pope said at the time.

This one might cost him a little more. In fact, one fan emailed him before the show even came to a close — a UK student named Jack wanting help getting him and his girlfriend to Milwaukee from Florida, where he’s currently vacationing for Spring Break.

“I gotta pay for gas from Florida all the way to Milwaukee, but I get back early Friday morning. If you could throw me some gas money or a ticket,” the email read. “… I’ll drive myself and my girlfriend up to Milwaukee to catch her first tournament game.”

Pope didn’t like Jack changing the terms and conditions of his deal, but he took him up on the offer.

“It just went from gas money to a ticket!” he responded. “Listen, Jack, here’s the deal. I’m gonna try and hit you back, man. I’m doing my best, okay? I love it. BBN, man, it is the greatest blessing in the world to be able to be a part of BBN. There’s nowhere like it. I love it.”

Good luck to your wallet, Coach. It’s about to get much, much lighter.