John Calipari applauds “awesome” Mark Pope
on Saturday, Arkansas basketball program suffered a heavy defeat at home on hands of the Kentucky Wildcats in an anxious way. This game matched the Razorbacks head coach John Calipari against his former Wildcats team, and Arkansas turned in one of its most disappointing performances of the year, falling 85-77.
Still, after the game, Calipari didn’t just exude class and he had it a lot of nice things say about Mark Popewho succeeded him as Kentucky’s head coach two years ago.
“I think he’s doing a great job. I said that. When you struggle and then you get your team to play, that’s coaching,” Calipari said when asked what advice he would give Papi, per Cats Coverage on X, formerly Twitter. “He’s doing great. I think he’s the right guy for the job. You know, they beat us.”
“It’s like when my team came in last year and was more desperate than his team. This year his team came in here more desperate than my team,” he continued. “I don’t give advice to other coaches, I fight myself.”
Struggle might be a little overstated, as Arkansas is still 16-6 and currently ranked No. 15 in the country. However, Pope certainly deserves credit for the way he’s been able to lead Kentucky through their turbulent 2025-26 season so far.
Meanwhile, Arkansas is looking to build on the success they experienced in their first year under Calipari in 2024-25, in which they went to the NCAA Tournament, losing to Texas Tech in the Sweet 16.
They started the year strong, but will look to quickly put the loss to Kentucky behind them as their SEC slate continues.
Arkansas will next take the floor Saturday against Mississippi State on the road.
2026-02-01 19:31:00
