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WATCH: Mark Pope fills in as restaurant host, tells Rick Pitino to watch his back

Zack Geogheganby: Zack Geoghegan08/16/25ZGeogheganKSR
Mark Pope
Mark Pope

Mark Pope was popping up left and right on social media Friday as he showed love to a couple of Lexington businesses.

The Kentucky men’s basketball head coach made a trip to the Malone’s in Hamburg, showing off his hospitality skills as the tallest host you’ve ever seen. Kentucky fans were in for quite the shock when they walked in for what they thought would be a normal lunch consisting of a Lexingtonian and sweet tea but ended up with Mark Pope welcoming and escorting them to their tables. He’s got some jokes, by the way, as you’ll see in the video below.

Pope wasn’t just out testing other career opportunities, though. He also made a pit stop over at Logan’s of Lexington to look for a new suit and make a vague threat to Rick Pitino.

Will Pope and Pitino wear matching suits for the Kentucky vs. St. John’s showdown this December? We can only hope.

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2025-09-12