Kentucky HC Mark Pope replies to Arkansas HC John Calipari's hilarious threat: "That's what Cal expects"

Mark Pope took over as the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats before last season after a long run with John Calipari at the helm. After the 2024 season, Calipari announced that he was leaving Kentucky and taking the job with the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Despite his departure, Calipari still holds a fondness for the team he coached from 2009 to 2024. On Thursday, Mark Pope appeared on Kentucky Sports Radio and spoke about how he believes Kentucky has the best fan base in college basketball.

"We have the greatest fanbase in all of college basketball. There is no one at any other fanbase that would argue that. Nobody can argue that," Pope said. "o that fanbase deserves the best of everything. You go down the list, and we’re trying to be the best at everything, and that’s what Kentucky’s supposed to be."

Pope then spoke about how he recently had a conversation with Calipari, who jokingly threatened him if he does not do well in Kentucky.

"I was just with Karl-Anthony Towns yesterday in New York, and that’s what he expects out of this joint," Pope said. "That’s what all our former players, former coaches expect. You know what, that’s what Cal expects! Cal is at Arkansas and he’s like, "Don’t you ruin my program, man. That’s the best program in all of college basketball.""

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In his first season with the Wildcats, Mark Pope led the team to a 24-12 record and an appearance in the Sweet 16 of March Madness. It was the team's best run in the tournament since reaching the Elite Eight in 2019. The change appeared to be positive for both parties, as Calipari also reached the Sweet 16 with the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Mark Pope believes transfer Kam Williams has NBA potential

Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats have been active this offseason, trying to improve their team. Pope believes one of the most significant additions in the offseason for the team was Tulane transfer Kam Williams. In his interview on Thursday with Kentucky Sports Radio, he spoke about Williams' potential.

"Kam was pretty easy for us," Pope said. "I think about that three, four spot guy that can really shoot it, really stretch the floor. He's an NBA piece. Like, the NBA loves him."

Williams considered entering the 2025 NBA draft but decided to opt out of the process. He is coming off a strong freshman season at Tulane, averaging 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.4 steals per game.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Alexander O'Reilly