Mark Pope sends gas money to UK student for NCAA Tournament: "Pope really is one of a kind."

By now you’ve seen Mark Pope‘s crazy offer to pay for Kentucky fans’ gas to get to Milwaukee for the team’s first weekend in the NCAA Tournament. That all unfolded during his call-in radio show Monday, telling Big Blue Nation if you know how to get in touch with him — he couldn’t make it that easy by telling you explicitly — he’ll fill up your tank.

Anything to get the blue mist to Fiserv Forum.

“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. “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.”

It took a matter of minutes for the first email to come in, Pope reading a message from a UK student named Jack asking for gas money and/or a ticket to the game so he could watch the Cats. He’s currently on Spring Break in Florida, but promised he could get to Milwaukee in time for Kentucky’s game vs. Troy on Friday night.

“It just went from gas money to a ticket!” Pope 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.”

The Kentucky head coach did not just try to make it happen, he did make it happen. KSR got in touch with the UK student, Jack Hughes, who confirmed Pope did, in fact, put his money where his mouth is and offered to pay for their gas money.

Hughes shared screenshots of the conversation with KSR, starting with the initial message from Spring Break — the one Pope read live over the air.

“I’m Jack Hughes and a student here at UK! I’m in Florida currently for spring break but I get back early Friday morning,” he wrote in the email. “If you could throw me some gas money or a ticket I’d drive myself and my girlfriend up to Milwaukee to catch your first tournament game as head coach here at UK.”

Hughes didn’t know what to expect when he fired off the email, but his mind was blown when a response came through.

“Hi Jack! Coach Pope would love to take care of your gas money! For this to happen, we would need you to send us proof that you have tickets to the game! At that point, we can send you the flat rate gas money,” the email read. “Please verify that there is no one in your party that is within the recruitable age (9th-12th grade).”

“We will have a $100 Visa gift card here at our office for you to pick up. Let me know what day and time you will be able to come get it,” said the follow-up email.

Hughes shared his real-time reaction and where things stand on Thursday before the Wildcats take on the Trojans on Friday.

In short, you better believe they’ll be in Milwaukee by tip-off — gas covered, courtesy of Mark Pope.

“I shot him an email quickly then a few hours later I saw another clip of Pope responding to my email live on his show. I was freaking out,” Hughes told KSR. “Two days went by and I got an email from his assistant saying they’d give me a flat rate for gas money if I provided proof of tickets. … They got back to me with a $100 Visa gift card. I’m in Florida right now on Spring Break, so I’m flying into CVG early Friday and then me and my girlfriend are driving 6 hours straight to Milwaukee to catch the game.”

Hughes fired off the request on the beach in Florida, not thinking anything of it — odds slim to none he’d hear anything back. It was worth a shot, right?

Now he’s on his way to the NCAA Tournament to root on his Kentucky Wildcats.

“Pope really is one of a kind,” he said.