Warning Signs Surround Mark Pope After Latest Stunt

Kentucky fans know John Calipari will not be the head basketball coach in Lexington forever. There’s a list of potential successors that is constantly updated. Every time a new rising star has stepped in as the heir apparent, they have disqualified themselves, either with off-the-court antics or by losing their way out of a promotion. Former Wildcat Mark Pope is excelling on the court, but this weekend he proved he might not have ‘it’ for the job.

Approaching his fourth 20-win season in five years at BYU, on Saturday afternoon the 21st-ranked Cougars hosted Texas for their only matchup in Provo as Big 12 foes. Ahead of the game members of the BYU student section wore shirts that spelled out ‘HORNS DOWN.’

In a disgusting act of sportsmanship, without receiving a request from the opponent’s bench, Pope asked officials at the school to make the students remove the shirts that were poking fun at Texas.

“That’s just not us,” Pope said after the game. “That’s not how we roll and it was just a miscalculation on a couple eager kids, which — we love the eagerness of these fans — but that’s not what we do here … That’s not something that we’re supporting.”

The BYU students in the front row with 'Horns Down' painted on their shirts were asked to remove the shirts after the first media timeout, per @Mitch_Harper.

📸: @sleeslakin pic.twitter.com/KDN0yjI1na

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) January 27, 2024

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We should be encouraging Horns Down, not discouraging the playful taunt. If Texas doesn’t want to hear or see Horns Down, then they should be better.

As you might suspect, they were not better on Saturday. After all, Rodney Terry is the Longhorns head coach. Coaching is not something he’s very good at, just ask anybody who played for his UTEP teams that went 37-48 over three years, including one 8-win campaign.

Yes, BYU won 84-72 to improve to 15-5. The Cougars have one of their best teams since Pope took over and he continues to improve as a head coach. His future is bright.

By the time John Calipari is ready to hang it up, a former Kentucky National Champion may have the resume to take the reins and coach at Rupp Arena. But do we really want somebody coaching the Wildcats who is anti-Horns Down? I’m not so sure.