Mark Pope never misses an opportunity to rave about his former head coach at Kentucky, starting way back when Rick Pitino rallied the troops to get Big Blue Nation behind Mitch Barnhart’s polarizing hire — “He changed me to my soul, changed my DNA as a human being,” Pope said at the podium in front of a sold-out Rupp Arena crowd for his introductory press conference.
“He allowed me to be someone who feels they can walk into any room and take on any impossible task, and I will love him forever,” he continued.