Before an awkward night in Rupp Arena, Mark Pope offers his thoughts on John Calipari
Two days before one of the most anticipated games of the college basketball season, Mark Pope sat in Memorial Coliseum and began his weekly press conference with a subject unrelated to X’s and O’s.
Pope showed off a pair of handpainted shoes that he planned to wear for Kentucky’s game against Arkansas on Saturday night. He explained excitedly that these personalized, size-16 Nikes would be worn in recognition of this week’s Coaches vs. Cancer initiative, which for more than three decades has seen college coaches wear sneakers — often with suits — on the sidelines.
The shoes that fans will see in Rupp Arena this weekend were painted by Pope and all of his assistant coaches, as well as the UK women’s basketball staff, back in November at the Joe Craft Center with kids and their families.
DanceBlue, a student organization in the UK that has raised over $23 million since 2006 to combat pediatric cancer, staged that event. Pope added, “So we got to spend some time painting these shoes with some young cancer sufferers.”
