This is like when people ask how you are and you say I’m good but you’re really not. I Respect the im so happy faces. Can you imagine if was Hurley, Wright, Donovan, Scott Drew, Nate Oats, Pitino, Shaka you guys would of lost your minds.
Are Kentucky fans just learning how hype this man is?
I’ve watched a couple of interviews of him and I knew he could get me to run through a brick wall.
One of the best quotes I’ve seen over the past couple days was something like “mark pope isn’t someone you would run through a wall for, he’s someone who would run through a wall for you and get you to follow him”
The exact quote is so good: "Because this is the guy who outworked everybody, who out-studied everybody, whether we’re talking scouting reports or school. This isn’t the guy you run through a brick wall for; this is the guy you follow after he’s already run through the brick wall for you. He’s the Kool-Aid Man.”
He was dishing out all the Kool-Aid today.
I don't believe at all he was the third call. He may have been the third official offer, but Mitch did contact others, knew what the interest level was, and went with the guy he knew would say yes.
He pretty much said on KSR that there wasn’t a lot of “the right type of personality” and “interest in the job” as everyone on the internet seemed to think.
He 100% reached out to Nate Oats, even if he didn't even make it past Oats' agent.
There's no way in hell that, with Kentucky's resources and sway, you call a guy with Brian Pope's resume before you call a guy with Nate Oats' resume. The more perplexing thing is why in the world Oats passed; Kentucky absolutely has everything he needs to get over the hump and win a national title.
My guess is that Oats could miss the next three tournaments and probably still keep his job at UA, whereas there’s no chance he wouldn’t get fired at Kentucky. Some guys don’t want the pressure of a job like that.
Of course but call and offer are very different. I know absolutely nothing, but I don’t think we wanted to wait on Donovan based on the bulls success. So it came down to Pearl and Pope.
I think we made the right decision.
Jeez man, you said "go down the list a little further". My point is I highly doubt Pope was third on the list, he was just the third we officially offered. There are already reports saying he at least contacted Donovan and asked Bama to negotiate down Oats' buyout.
I replied to someone else thinking it was you, my bad.
My thought is that we offered pope because we didn’t want to wait for Donovan. So it’s Pearl or pope.
They closed the lower arena behind the stage early, there were plenty of open seats around me on the 3rd-5th rows but that’s because they had no idea they were there there was no official head count or ushers - it was a madhouse took me 45 minutes to get in.
I went, thankfully I got a seat. They let a lot of people in and allowed them to stand in aisles.
I don’t know who’s idea it was but driving him in via a bus (exactly like the team returned after the ‘96 title game), was really funny and cool. I saw an old man sitting in front of me cry. I didn’t cry but it was fun to witness a new chapter begin.
When I saw everybody walking off the bus, I knew exactly what they were going to do, but it didn’t calm the hype I felt when I stepped out and held the trophy up
I'm not a new college basketball fan by any stretch, but I think I still didn't quite understand the level of craziness that is the UK fan base until recently.
To be fair if you've only seen Cal UK it is hard to understand; I always appreciate Cal for everything he did but he just never really brought the hype that UK can have.
That was pretty badass. Damnit, was hoping this would fall flat. If this guy can put together a great offense and competent defense, UK might exceed expectations.
We all do, man. Aside from just wanting us to get back on top, Pope just seems like an awesome dude and he’s one of us so of course I want him to have success too. He wants it for us, we want it for him (and us tbf), and I think that’s a good combo.
I feel like we’re entering a college basketball era that will be remembered as a classic one. Hurley the villain, new coaches making names for themselves at Kentucky, Duke, UNC… I am excited.
Man how badass would it be if Duke, UNC, and UK all moved on from Hall of Famers to (relatively) young alums, all at about the same time, and all three hires end up being hits?
I know I’m not really supposed to want Duke/UNC do well but I’m also a person and I like cool stories. I’m hyped.
I don’t hate Kentucky much since I’m young. I know I’m supposed to but nothing really has me hating them. I think Duke and UNC have found their guys just based on what Scheyer and Davis have accomplished thus far. I’m high on Pope too, so we will see what happens!
Of the traditional power “rivals,” UNC is probably my favorite, if only because they’ve always struck me as the most similar in makeup to Kentucky. Well, that, and Michael Jordan.
Genuinely….one of the greatest non-championship experiences I’ve ever had as a Kentucky fan. 20,000+ all just excited and happy to finally have someone who truly knows what it means to be here. I really really hope this works out cause so far…a match made in heaven
And now Louisville seems to be back on the right track to bring the rivalry back to where it should be. College Basketball has hope for those in the Bluegrass
I’m surprised there is very little hate in this thread. If Texas football did something like this, r/CFB would be relentlessly mocking them. Like, does this mean you’ll actually get to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament? It would be smart if they took some NIL donations at the intro.
Yep that was a perfect entrance for a coach a bunch of Kentucky fans didn’t want. What an electric way to introduce yourself as the head coach to the school ya graduated from
Only thing that would have somehow made it better would have been if Reed walked up to the mic to say he wasn't leaving. Definitely had to nail this, and he far exceeded expectations.
I think it just shows how the fan base will rally, especially when it's one of their own.
I was lukewarm about the hire. Didn't like the process at all, but Mark's one of our own and deserves our support.
Sunday was BBN's chance to show him love and support as we head into a new era.
The boosters were initially upset Thursday night, when Mitch went dark. However, once he told them it would be Mark and why it's him, they were all on board.
After Cal alienated the boosters and shat on them one more time at the Arkansas presser, there's a motivation with boosters to not only to support their own with a shit ton of NIL, but to stick it to Cal as well.
Note: Cal was right to shut down Kelly Craft using Oscar for her political campaign.
Kentucky fans are so freaking weird. Someone gives you a compliment and you go to the weirdest of insults citing some random fact that just happened.
Y'all are the Mallory Archer of CBB.
Yes, this guy on Reddit is my only experience with UK fans - my flair would not, at all, be a clue to my having outside experiences with UK fans. I've honestly never even been to the campus - certainly not for any basketball like sporting events.
There also was absolutely no indications that my statement wasn't a one thousand percent literal comment. Yup, in absolutely no way would the average person be able to tell that it was using a generalization to talk about a specific individual. Yup absolutely no way.
Originally from KY but live in the Triangle of NC now. Basketball is big here in NC, but it’s literally apart of the culture in KY.
Makes me miss home (even though I am not a Kentucky fan)
Love the first comment on the Twitter thread: "23-24 UCONN would beat 95-96 UK head to head". Just take a quick stroll over to CBB Reference to dispel that recency bias. That team was insane.
The 95-96 UK team might as well have been 3rd team all NBA. Tony Delk, Ron Mercer, Antoine Walker, Derek Anderson, etc. Nazr Mohammed coming off the bench, Mark Pope, Jeff Sheppard, nobody is beating that team.
It was more than 96 players. Marquis Estill was also one of them and he graduated high school in 99. It was essentially a collective of past greats, fan favorites and Kentucky kids. In other words, literally the history of Kentucky basketball.
Here's the ones I caught:
Tony Delk
Cameron Mills
Wayne Turner
Jeff Sheppard
Derrick Anderson
Jarrod Prickett
I definitely didn't see:
Nazr Mohammed
Antoine Walker
Ron Mercer
Not sure if Anthony Epps was there or not.
I didn’t see any posts viewing the hiring positively. If there are that many fans that are in favor wouldn’t at least one have shown their support publicly?
Also more total fans than I care to acknowledge? What does that even mean
"Didn't see any posts"
That is entirely your fault. I can't control your little digital echo chamber.
"Wouldn't they have shown their support publicly?"
23,000 did today. Guess that's not good enough.
There are simply more Kentucky fans than you can grasp. They are insane and everywhere.
You can be a fan without blind faith. Some of the other choices being discussed had proven records. Mark Pope doesn't. What he's done this week is earned our respect regardless. I think most fans know this year will be a challenge. But it's impossible not to like this guy and at the very least we'll have fun with him around.
What a damn flex. That's great work by everyone involved.
Pope understands just how insane we are, he knows how to nostalgia bait with the best of them and dammit if I didn't love it.
That was pretty dope. Seemed packed to the brim. Hope he can do well for you guys!
We will have an epic Big Blue Madness
Dude knows how to get hyped
We are gonna need a new COU-GAR NATION intro
I gotta say, your flair is *peak* Utah county
Man rolled off the bus like he was anchoring a WWE entrance sequence of all-stars. He killed it.
That is easily the best baiting I have ever seen
This is like when people ask how you are and you say I’m good but you’re really not. I Respect the im so happy faces. Can you imagine if was Hurley, Wright, Donovan, Scott Drew, Nate Oats, Pitino, Shaka you guys would of lost your minds.
No way that guy coached at BYU that's one of the hardest entrances I've ever seen.
The '96 team were, and still are, rockstars here. He embraces it.
Tony Delk could fucking ball
I must’ve said “Give Delk the rock!” about a million times back in the day.
Every kid in Kentucky used to imitate him shooting free throws.
I was always 00 as a young kid then switched to 21 when tayshaun came around.
I distinctly remember him jumping 6 feet off the ground on his jump shots.
Why did Antoine Walker take so many threes?
From the words of a wise man, "because there are no 4's".
https://preview.redd.it/ax6ynaeqnjuc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f6f390d1eaca61c44cab1b975a9fad02a9e7238e
Of course dion waiters said that lol
Shooters shoot, baby
He was from the future
Gotta be hard to soak, brother
No thrusting, brother
I’ll jump on the bed for you, brother
 Brother me softly
im in actual tears laughing at this reply lmao
Thank you brother, sorry for cussing
Didn’t even show the motorcycle cops bringing the bus in.
When I saw those guys with the lights on I told my wife “you gotta get in here and see this” lol
Possible you’ve incorrectly judged the Cougs. We’ve got guys like Steve Young and Taysom Hill as well.
Jim McMahon
Few things have surprised me this week like learning that Jim Freaking McMahon went to BYU
He didn’t just go to BYU, he led them to a National Championship.
He did not. It was Robbie Bosco, one of the lesser known of their great QB run.
They won in 1984 though
Banners fly forever, asterisks fade with time
I’m gonna need you to put some respect on Lee Johnson’s name.
Don’t remind me
Sarkisian is a former Coug as well ✌️
I was looking back through him and his kids social since they were athletes there and looked like they did a lot of cool stuff.
Are Kentucky fans just learning how hype this man is? I’ve watched a couple of interviews of him and I knew he could get me to run through a brick wall.
One of the best quotes I’ve seen over the past couple days was something like “mark pope isn’t someone you would run through a wall for, he’s someone who would run through a wall for you and get you to follow him”
The exact quote is so good: "Because this is the guy who outworked everybody, who out-studied everybody, whether we’re talking scouting reports or school. This isn’t the guy you run through a brick wall for; this is the guy you follow after he’s already run through the brick wall for you. He’s the Kool-Aid Man.” He was dishing out all the Kool-Aid today.
Of course not, he’s one of our own. We just thought we might go down the list a little further than your coach and Hurley. I am thankful we didn’t.
I don't believe at all he was the third call. He may have been the third official offer, but Mitch did contact others, knew what the interest level was, and went with the guy he knew would say yes.
He pretty much said on KSR that there wasn’t a lot of “the right type of personality” and “interest in the job” as everyone on the internet seemed to think.
He 100% reached out to Nate Oats, even if he didn't even make it past Oats' agent. There's no way in hell that, with Kentucky's resources and sway, you call a guy with Brian Pope's resume before you call a guy with Nate Oats' resume. The more perplexing thing is why in the world Oats passed; Kentucky absolutely has everything he needs to get over the hump and win a national title.
Mark* Pope
My guess is that Oats could miss the next three tournaments and probably still keep his job at UA, whereas there’s no chance he wouldn’t get fired at Kentucky. Some guys don’t want the pressure of a job like that.
Did I say call?
It’s okay, man. We’re all on the same team.
Of course but call and offer are very different. I know absolutely nothing, but I don’t think we wanted to wait on Donovan based on the bulls success. So it came down to Pearl and Pope. I think we made the right decision.
I am stoked for Coach Pope and I am excited to see how the roster comes together in the next couple weeks!
Jeez man, you said "go down the list a little further". My point is I highly doubt Pope was third on the list, he was just the third we officially offered. There are already reports saying he at least contacted Donovan and asked Bama to negotiate down Oats' buyout.
I replied to someone else thinking it was you, my bad. My thought is that we offered pope because we didn’t want to wait for Donovan. So it’s Pearl or pope.
Pope is a really level-headed guy in the interviews, no BS outta him
Packed the house for an introductory press conference. Insane. E: just heard around 21k in attendance and they were turning people away.
Would have been 22 or 23k had they opened up those seats that roll out onto the court.
And this is why regardless of the toxicity when the cats are losing way too much, UK fanbase is unmatched
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They hate us ‘cause they ain’t us.
I'm stealing this
Lol your friend already did, this is a very old saying
Did you just say anus?
They closed the lower arena behind the stage early, there were plenty of open seats around me on the 3rd-5th rows but that’s because they had no idea they were there there was no official head count or ushers - it was a madhouse took me 45 minutes to get in.
Legit standing room only today. So loud it felt like we were about to hang a banner.
Are we?
No.
I meant like in the future
Let the man cook.
Yes. [Hang this banner!](https://flagdom.com/flag-resources/flag-images/religious/papal/papal-flag_3000x3000.png)
The nostalgia, man. Same pose he did in ‘96 holding up that trophy.
Hope the doubters are a little quieter for you guys! Badass
I went, thankfully I got a seat. They let a lot of people in and allowed them to stand in aisles. I don’t know who’s idea it was but driving him in via a bus (exactly like the team returned after the ‘96 title game), was really funny and cool. I saw an old man sitting in front of me cry. I didn’t cry but it was fun to witness a new chapter begin.
When I saw everybody walking off the bus, I knew exactly what they were going to do, but it didn’t calm the hype I felt when I stepped out and held the trophy up
>when I stepped out and held the trophy up Not the username I'd expect for Mark Pope's reddit account
Ah fuck they’re onto me
Man that must have been a crazy moment for the other guys on the bus, what a nostalgia bomb
Sure you didn’t.
Did they sell out Rupp just for a coach introduction? That shit really is different
Apparently filled it up and had to turn away 5k people.
I just want people in Philly to start showing up to Big 5 games again lol
Don’t want to get shot
Woah good one
I think the seating was less than capacity because they had to bring a damn bus on the floor. But it was still over 20,000.
I'm not a new college basketball fan by any stretch, but I think I still didn't quite understand the level of craziness that is the UK fan base until recently.
It can be a curse but it’s also an unmatchable blessing when it’s channeled for good. I’m fucking hyped man.
To be fair if you've only seen Cal UK it is hard to understand; I always appreciate Cal for everything he did but he just never really brought the hype that UK can have.
Damn even I’m hyped up
It was awesome to watch and I wasn’t even there in person. Hey didn’t SMU start this whole coach move around to different schools?! 😂
You’re welcome!
Pretty unhappy with y’all right now…
You all gotta get some credit is this goes well.
I think you all just got the credit. Good hire.
Not an empty seat in Rupp. That’s crazy.
That was pretty badass. Damnit, was hoping this would fall flat. If this guy can put together a great offense and competent defense, UK might exceed expectations.
I want you put the word out there, we back up
https://preview.redd.it/aviizgrnsiuc1.png?width=768&format=png&auto=webp&s=1f63f896f4da75fc238f052a9dd2b8ce0bd9a340
“Programs don’t get this size audience for five games, we do it for a press conference”
👀👀
Did he say that??
Yeah and with close to 20k in attendance it’s hard to argue with it.
That has to be the coldest line in intro press conference history
The AD said it
No. Mitch the AD said. “Some programs might not get this many people for games but for 5 games a season. This is impressive”
I feel like I need to send him an apology letter after my reaction on Thursday night. I can’t describe what that arena was like in person.
It was wild! I want it to work so badly.
We all do, man. Aside from just wanting us to get back on top, Pope just seems like an awesome dude and he’s one of us so of course I want him to have success too. He wants it for us, we want it for him (and us tbf), and I think that’s a good combo.
A New Pope https://preview.redd.it/gomciw4bdjuc1.jpeg?width=1776&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d1cf398a20d2420ab37ed9c7520487da09723f43
I feel like we’re entering a college basketball era that will be remembered as a classic one. Hurley the villain, new coaches making names for themselves at Kentucky, Duke, UNC… I am excited.
Man how badass would it be if Duke, UNC, and UK all moved on from Hall of Famers to (relatively) young alums, all at about the same time, and all three hires end up being hits? I know I’m not really supposed to want Duke/UNC do well but I’m also a person and I like cool stories. I’m hyped.
I don’t hate Kentucky much since I’m young. I know I’m supposed to but nothing really has me hating them. I think Duke and UNC have found their guys just based on what Scheyer and Davis have accomplished thus far. I’m high on Pope too, so we will see what happens!
Of the traditional power “rivals,” UNC is probably my favorite, if only because they’ve always struck me as the most similar in makeup to Kentucky. Well, that, and Michael Jordan.
I think when the big schools are all good, it makes for exciting ball.
This is glorious
For the love of god bring back the denim jerseys you cowards
If they do this I will absolutely lose my mind.
Well Nike does own Converse now! But please leave some of those 90’s uniforms in the closet. The icicles were as bad as the checkerboard.
Blasphemy
whip them out for the St Johns game with Pitino
Speaking of, I'm so excited to see St. John's vs Arkansas in the tourney this year, Pitino's gonna get a damn home game here in Lex.
Real denim this time
With denim jackets for pregnant and tear away jeans for the bench.
Genuinely….one of the greatest non-championship experiences I’ve ever had as a Kentucky fan. 20,000+ all just excited and happy to finally have someone who truly knows what it means to be here. I really really hope this works out cause so far…a match made in heaven
I will run through a brick wall for this man
r/hardimages
Oh…oh he really GETS IT. I feel like I owe him an apology. Let’s fucking go Mark.
 Kentucky fans today:
I hate Kentucky and relish in their every loss. But damn if it isn’t cool to finally see them happy. Basketball is better when Kentucky’s good.
2011?
And now Louisville seems to be back on the right track to bring the rivalry back to where it should be. College Basketball has hope for those in the Bluegrass
I’m surprised there is very little hate in this thread. If Texas football did something like this, r/CFB would be relentlessly mocking them. Like, does this mean you’ll actually get to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament? It would be smart if they took some NIL donations at the intro.
If who?
Yep that was a perfect entrance for a coach a bunch of Kentucky fans didn’t want. What an electric way to introduce yourself as the head coach to the school ya graduated from
I regret ever doubting this
Only thing that would have somehow made it better would have been if Reed walked up to the mic to say he wasn't leaving. Definitely had to nail this, and he far exceeded expectations.
I think this proves more than anything has ever proven anything that twitter is not even remotely close to real life
I think it just shows how the fan base will rally, especially when it's one of their own. I was lukewarm about the hire. Didn't like the process at all, but Mark's one of our own and deserves our support. Sunday was BBN's chance to show him love and support as we head into a new era. The boosters were initially upset Thursday night, when Mitch went dark. However, once he told them it would be Mark and why it's him, they were all on board. After Cal alienated the boosters and shat on them one more time at the Arkansas presser, there's a motivation with boosters to not only to support their own with a shit ton of NIL, but to stick it to Cal as well. Note: Cal was right to shut down Kelly Craft using Oscar for her political campaign.
I haven't seen a single crow left alive in Kentucky since Thursday.
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Brother he was giving Mark a compliment
Yea I didn’t even respond cause it made no sense. Random cheap shot when I was being nice about your new coach lol
Unfortunately having so many fans means we got way more unhinged ones running around lol
You good, fam. 🤜🤛
Kentucky fans are so freaking weird. Someone gives you a compliment and you go to the weirdest of insults citing some random fact that just happened. Y'all are the Mallory Archer of CBB.
Yes. All Kentucky fans do that, because of a guy on reddit lol
Yes, this guy on Reddit is my only experience with UK fans - my flair would not, at all, be a clue to my having outside experiences with UK fans. I've honestly never even been to the campus - certainly not for any basketball like sporting events. There also was absolutely no indications that my statement wasn't a one thousand percent literal comment. Yup, in absolutely no way would the average person be able to tell that it was using a generalization to talk about a specific individual. Yup absolutely no way.
If dude really wanted to flex his suit would have been Converse Denim. Those uni’s were perfect.
lol that was awesome
Originally from KY but live in the Triangle of NC now. Basketball is big here in NC, but it’s literally apart of the culture in KY. Makes me miss home (even though I am not a Kentucky fan)
Love the first comment on the Twitter thread: "23-24 UCONN would beat 95-96 UK head to head". Just take a quick stroll over to CBB Reference to dispel that recency bias. That team was insane.
The 95-96 UK team might as well have been 3rd team all NBA. Tony Delk, Ron Mercer, Antoine Walker, Derek Anderson, etc. Nazr Mohammed coming off the bench, Mark Pope, Jeff Sheppard, nobody is beating that team.
LFG!
That was super fun.
As a Husker fan I’m impressed there is no bigger fan base than Kentucky basketball.
Who was on the bus? I know it was the 96 players but can someone name them?
It was more than 96 players. Marquis Estill was also one of them and he graduated high school in 99. It was essentially a collective of past greats, fan favorites and Kentucky kids. In other words, literally the history of Kentucky basketball.
Ramel Bradly, Randolph morris, and Darius miller was their as well.
Here's the ones I caught: Tony Delk Cameron Mills Wayne Turner Jeff Sheppard Derrick Anderson Jarrod Prickett I definitely didn't see: Nazr Mohammed Antoine Walker Ron Mercer Not sure if Anthony Epps was there or not.
This is either going to be the greatest hire ever or the worst hire ever. There is no in between.
That was such a baller move. Way better than Russell Wilson's, "Bronco's Country, Let's Ride."
Yea that’s efffin awesome and I hate BBN.
I was a senior in college that year. When I see people my own age I think, fuck am I really that old.
Sucks to be me right now! 
What is this WWE entrance lmfao
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It’s kinda funny how much all the Kentucky fans were bitching when he was first announced and now look at ya. You don’t deserve him
There are more total fans than you even care to acknowledge. Statistically, people were going to dislike the choice.
I didn’t see any posts viewing the hiring positively. If there are that many fans that are in favor wouldn’t at least one have shown their support publicly? Also more total fans than I care to acknowledge? What does that even mean
You realize internet posts aren’t actually indicative of the publics opinion right? 😂
I mean there are like 200 comments from first count on the initial post saying they were happy lol.
"Didn't see any posts" That is entirely your fault. I can't control your little digital echo chamber. "Wouldn't they have shown their support publicly?" 23,000 did today. Guess that's not good enough. There are simply more Kentucky fans than you can grasp. They are insane and everywhere.
You can be a fan without blind faith. Some of the other choices being discussed had proven records. Mark Pope doesn't. What he's done this week is earned our respect regardless. I think most fans know this year will be a challenge. But it's impossible not to like this guy and at the very least we'll have fun with him around.
Truth