Mark Pope believes he should wear a suit when he's coaching at Rupp Arena. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Will Mark Pope listen to his wife, Lee Anne, or assistant coach Jason Hart when it comes to what the Kentucky coaches when the Cats play Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic in Madison Square Garden in New York?
After Pope and his staff wore suits for regular season games against Wright State and Bucknell, they came back in quarter zips against Duke in the Champions Classic in Atlanta. However, Pope and his staff were back in suits Tuesday night when Kentucky beat Lipscomb and apparently will be tonight also against Jackson State.
“I just can’t in good conscience walk into Rupp (Arena) in a quarter zip. It just doesn’t — to me, that’s a really sacred building and there’s nothing that feels right about it,” Pope said
Remember the UK coaching staff did wear quarter zips in two exhibition games and former coach John Calipari and his staff often went with the casual look the last few seasons.
Pope joked Friday it was a long, tenuous negotiation with my staff” about what to wear.
“They’re less inclined to be excited about a suit than I am and so, we kind of thought, we’ll start this way: suit at home honoring Rupp, quarter zip on the road, and then we have these neutral games,” Pope said Thursday.
However, Pope knows his wife, Lee Anne, is not going for a quarter zip at Madison Square Garden. The Popes lived in New York for several years and Pope played for the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden, one of the nation’s most historic arenas.
“There is no way that Lee Anne is going to let me walk into Madison Square Garden in a quarter zip. That just ain’t happening. That’s the world’s most famous arena. We love that place. We love that city,” Pope said.
“But J-Hart after the Duke win, he was like, ‘Coach, I don’t know, these quarter zips are pretty good in these neutral (site games),’ so now, that’s under consideration.”
Pope has made it clear several times that Lee Anne Pope is the boss of the family
“Originally, we made a deal: we’ll do a quarter zip in Atlanta and then we’ll do a suit in Madison Square Garden. I don’t know how that’s going to end. That’s in the hands of way more powerful decision-making than my own,” Pope said.
My money is on Lee Anne and suits for the UK coaching staff in New York.
One Response
Its kinda weird that the wife of the coach decides what the other coaches wear. I say let everyone wear what they want to wear. A suit isn’t very comfortable to wear inside of a basketball arena. It gets very hot. Maybe the assistants wear quarter zips and Pope wear a suit? What does it really matter?