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Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope appeared to cause a mid-morning traffic jam on Tuesday after being seen standing next to a broken-down vehicle on a busy Lexington highway. He made sure to clarify the situation after the fact!
Pope threw his wife, Lee Anne, under the bus while refusing to take any blame in the roadblock. It offered a stark contrast to what’s been seen in the past!
Reports of a disabled vehicle surfaced Tuesday morning as folks attempted to make their ways to work. Those in traffic noticed a familiar face upon arriving to the stalled car.
Just drove by Lexington Metro helping someone who ran out of gas in the middle of Broadway and had traffic merged to one lane…it was @CoachMarkPope 😂 What a relatable guy.
— Drew (@DrewMerriman) October 22, 2024
Mark Pope ran out of gas!
Correction – Mark Pope’s wife ran out of gas.
He made sure that everyone knew what happened while sitting down with the Field of 68 podcast a few hours later.
“Lee Anne is gonna kill me, by the way, but we’re starting a Zoom compliance meeting at 9 AM and I get a phone call at 9:01 AM and it’s Lee Anne, and she’s just run out of gas on the busiest street in Lexington,” he said.
“The police are there. It’s this huge thing. We’re trying to get some gas, people are driving by and honking their horns saying, ‘Go ‘Cats!’ It’s just awesome.”
Mark Pope won husband of the day on Monday, leaving a 9am compliance meeting to rescue his wife, whose car ran out of gas.@CoachMarkPope had no comment on who left the tank on E the last time someone drove it … pic.twitter.com/h7G47F3X25
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) October 23, 2024
Pope had no issue throwing his wife under the bus, though he wasted no time in coming to her rescue. It wasn’t his fault!
He failed to comment, however, on who left the tank empty after driving it last.
Mark Pope is the anti-Calipari!
This scene offered the perfect comparison.
John Calipari went viral for his car troubles back in 2020. Rather than throw his wife to the wolves, he had to ask her for help!
Facebook: John Calipari
Jokes aside, Pope plans to lead a very different Kentucky program than what’s been seen over the last 15 seasons. With Calipari, short-term rentals were the norm as five-star prospects came and went like a revolving door.
His teams were built on getting to the NBA, which attracted top talent but often at the expense of team cohesion.
Pope’s recruiting style expects to be more Kentucky oriented. He wants players that want to play for the name on the front of the jersey, selling the opportunity to become a part of his alma mater’s prestigious basketball history.
His initial class was transfer heavy, but his 2025 cycle looks to be focused on top high school talent. It’s headlined by five-star guard Jasper Johnson and also includes the top player in the state of Kentucky, Malachi Moreno.
Mark Pope is not John Calipari. He’s looking to build the Wildcats program in his own way. We’ll see how it translates on the court in the 2024-25 season.