Kentucky Fans Turned Away From Mark Pope Introduction Due To Massive Attendance

Getty Image / Grace Bradley

In some places, certain sports just mean more than they do everywhere else. In Kentucky, that’s what Kentucky basketball is, and Sunday proved that.

The school was introducing newly-hired Head Coach and program alum Mark Pope to the fans on Sunday. Most schools would have a small gathering after a press conference with some boosters, or something of the sort.

Not Kentucky, though. Instead, their official introduction was held at the legendary Rupp Arena, which seats 22,000. Not only did fans show up, but so many fans showed up that they had to turn people away!

Pope was on the 1996 Kentucky team that won the national title under Rick Pitino. Today, he and his former teammates entered the arena in a bus, with Pope carrying the National Championship Trophy from that year.

This caps off a tumultuous coaching search that began when John Calipari left Kentucky for Arkansas last week. Coaches such as Alabama’s Nate Oats and UConn’s Bobby Hurley turned down Kentucky. They were rumored to be interested in former Florida Head Coach and current Chicago Bulls Head Coach Billy Donovan. But, the Bulls are in the Play-In Round, and they would’ve had to wait until his season was over to talk to him. With the transfer portal currently open, that was just not something that they could afford to do.

Originally, Kentucky fan reaction to Mark Pope was not great. The former Utah Valley and BYU Coach has only been to the NCAA Tournament twice, and has never won a March Madness game.

But, he runs a really fun offense that involves shooting a ton of threes with spread concepts, and Kentucky is going to be able to recruit players who can shoot from the perimeter while still being athletic enough to defend at a high level. If it does work, they will be one of the most fun teams in all of college basketball to watch.

One thing seems to be clear. He’s won the fans over and has the complete support of Big Blue Nation.