Mitch Barnhart on Rick Pitino’s influence in Mark Pope hire: ‘That was really important’
When news broke that Mark Pope would be the next head men’s basketball coach at Kentucky, shock quickly turned to outrage for Big Blue Nation on social media.
After giving the hire a night to think about it, the UK’s fan base would change their minds. In addition, the support that Pope’s acquaintances showed for his hiring was overwhelming.
Rick Pitino, who coached Pope while he was a player in Lexington, was among them. Pitino said in a video he filmed from his St. John’s office that he would “write the check” for anything Mark Pope needed. According to athletic director Mitch Barnhart, this significantly influenced the public’s perception of the new head coach.
“We had we had a couple of really strong supporters of our program say, ‘We believe too,’” Barnhart told Paul Finebaum on Wednesday. “And they came alongside of us early Friday morning and then and then we got to midday and frankly, Coach [Rick] Pitino put out a video that was very supportive of Mark saying, ‘Hey, you got to recognize the depth of this guy’s knowledge regarding the game of basketball. That was beneficial to us. And that was a really significant point.
After a hectic few days in Lexington, Pope was scheduled to be named Kentucky’s head coach on Sunday. In Rupp Arena, more than 20,000 spectators would be present to witness the dawn of a new era in Kentucky basketball.
Once split between supporters and detractors of former head coach John Calipari in the latter part of his career, the fan base united behind Pope. Pope held BBN in the palm of his hand during his inaugural press conference.
“For Mark, I’d say he was so, so good. He touched all the right buttons,” Barnhart continued. “And when he went into the presser on Sunday. And by the time we got to press on Sunday we’d said a few things to him, but when “I understand the assignment,” he adds as he approaches. “I understand,” he replies, gesturing to the rafters, “which is what we’re all here to do.” We found that to be useful.
“It was just a series of really, really special things that happened along the way, and none more significant than Mark pressing the appropriate buttons and realizing what Kentucky was all about.”
Pitino has expressed his belief that Pope “will go on to greatness” in the past. It’s unclear how long that will take. Going into his first season as the head coach of UK men’s basketball, he has the support of every member of BBN for the time being.
