Mark Pope will wear suits for home games: "I can't in good conscience walk into Rupp in a quarter zip"

Whether or not coaches should wear suits on the sidelines is a popular debate, especially after the shift to comfort during the pandemic. It’s even been a major talking point in the Kentucky Basketball offices.

Just when it appeared Mark Pope and his staff had settled on suits for regular season games, Pope wore a quarter zip for the Champions Classic matchup vs. Duke in Atlanta. On Tuesday vs. Lipscomb, he switched back to a suit, which he said would be the standard moving forward for home games.

“I just can’t in good conscience walk into Rupp in a quarter zip,” Pope said at his weekly press conference. “It just doesn’t — to me, that’s a really sacred building and there’s nothing that feels right about it.”

Pope and his staff actually did wear quarter zips during the exhibitions vs. Kentucky Wesleyan and Minnesota State, so apparently, the new rules (and Pope’s conscience) only kicked in when the regular season began. While he insists on suits at Rupp, he’s willing to give in a little when the Cats go on the road.

“On the road — it was a long, tenuous negotiation with my staff. They’re less inclined to be excited about a suit than I am and so, we kind of thought, we’ll start this way: suit at home honoring Rupp, quarter zip on the road, and then we have these neutral games.”

Those neutral site games are a topic of dissension. While Pope was fine wearing a quarter zip in State Farm Arena in Atlanta, he can’t imagine walking into Madison Square Garden for Kentucky’s game vs. Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic in such casual wear. Not only did he and his wife Lee Anne live there for several years, he played for the New York Knicks. It’s up there with Rupp as hallowed ground.

“So, the original decision was suit [at] neutral [site games] because there is no way that Lee Anne is going to let me walk into Madison Square Garden in a quarter zip. That just ain’t happening. That’s the world’s most famous arena. We love that place. We love that city but J-Hart [Jason Hart], after the Duke win, he was like, ‘Coach, I don’t know, these quarter zips are pretty good in these neutral [site games]’, so now, that’s under consideration.”

Who will win out, the assistant coaches or Lee Anne?

“Originally, we made a deal we’ll do a quarter zip in Atlanta and then we’ll do a suit in Madison Square Garden. I don’t know how that’s going to end. That’s in hands way more powerful decision-making than my own.”

My money’s on Lee Anne.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.