“It’s going to be fiery”: Kentucky HC Mark Pope anticipates blazing matchup against John Calipari’s Arkansas

Mark Pope, the new head coach of Kentucky, acknowledged the weight of succeeding John Calipari, who had great success with the Wildcats. In one of the most surprising college basketball events this offseason, long-time Kentucky head coach Calipari left and accepted the coaching role at Arkansas.

A couple of days later, Kentucky revealed Pope as their new coach. Mark Pope believes the lost love between Kentucky and Calipari will lead to an intense showdown when the Wildcats face the Razorbacks in the coming season.

"We’re in the same league and we get to go head-to-head here at Rupp this year. And it’s going to be fiery,” Pope told Fox Sports’ John Fanta. “There will be fireworks because that’s how Cal is, that’s why he’s so good and that’s certainly how we’re going to represent the University of Kentucky."

Arkansas finished in the bottom third of the 2023-24 SEC regular season and did not qualify for the NCAA tournament. New coach Calipari has a lot to do to rebuild the program back to national prominence. At the UK, he won a national championship, six SEC regular season and SEC tournament titles.

On the other hand, Mark Pope, who previously had a stint at BYU, has not had any major successes in his relatively young coaching career. After a few assistant roles, Pope's first job as a head coach began in 2015 with Utah Valley. He joined the Cougars in 2019 before leaving for Kentucky in April 2024.

Mark Pope has high praise for John Calipari

Mark Pope is a huge admirer of John Calipari's work. He said he has learned a lot from watching high-caliber coaches like him. Pope is also confident that he will do justice to the incredible legacy Coach Cal built at Kentucky.

"John went to four Final Fours in five years and coached a billion draft picks and represented Kentucky really well and gave his heart and soul to this place," Pope said. "I'm just as much a member of BBN as anybody. All of us should be grateful to him forever."

"Every single day that goes by my gratitude for him increases because he's been so helpful. We've gotten a chance to sit down a couple times on the road recruiting. He's so generous, and gracious and wise. He's a Hall of Famer."

According to the SEC's recent announcement, Kentucky will face off against Arkansas once this season at Rupp Arena.