Mark Pope greeted over a hundred fans after Kentucky beat Oklahoma
It’s almost becoming the norm at this point, but head coaches staying after the game to greet fans is truly unique. By my rough count, over one hundred fans who made their way to Norman, Oklahoma on Wednesday night to witness Kentucky pull off an incredible win over the Sooners stuck around in hopes of catching an autograph or selfie with Coach Mark Pope. Their patience paid off.
After his press duties and other post-game responsibilities, Pope came back into the arena where a hoard of Big Blue Nation waited eagerly for a brief interaction with the Wildcat head coach. A normal human being would have gone down the line with quick handshakes and hellos, but Mark Pope is not a normal human being. He made sure each fan had a sincere interaction, gave every fan a selfie who wanted one, and signed dozens of balls, jerseys, and whatever merchandise fans had on them.
Finally, after 11:30 local time (12:30 a.m. Eastern), a member of the Kentucky staff told Pope it was almost time to go. Looking at about 30 or 40 more people waiting for him, he still made sure to get a selfie and/or sign something with everyone, even at a hastier speed, even though that same Kentucky staffer told fans no more pictures.
An Oklahoma reporter who witnessed this with this jaw dropped, asked me about it. “Are all these people waiting to see your coach?” I confirmed his disbelief, realizing that to someone used to a non-sold-out arena for a top-25 matchup, seeing fans with this much adoration for a college basketball program was perplexing. “And he’s talking to each one of them. Wow. That is so cool.“
Cool, it is. Who knows if Mark Pope can keep up this energy long term but it can’t be said enough: He understands the assignment. Better yet, it’s rubbing off on his players.
Otega Oweh also came back out onto the court and signed autographs for fans before he spoke to the media after the game. “Go Big Blue” changes rained down from the arena as he autographed a poster.
It can get easy to become numb to stuff like this, but this kind of thing is rare. Never take it for granted, Big Blue Nation.
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