Mark Pope Article from 1995

Today while surfing the net I came across this old article on Mark Pope and thought I'd share it with our readers. Mark was a transfer from University of Washington and only played two years for UK. During Pope's two years at UK he had 546 points and played in 69 games. Pope played a big role on UK's 1994-95 team which advanced to the Elite Eight and the 1995-96 NCAA Championship team. For info on Mark Pope and his career stats at UK visit Jon Scotts UK History and Stats.

Pope hopes he finishes, not foulsBanging under the basket for a rebound or draining a three isn't Mark Pope's favorite part of the game of basketball.

It's "when the refs don't call any fouls," he said.

As a junior, Pope committed a total of 96 fouls, second on the team behind hackster Andre Riddick. Twelve times last year, he received at least four fouls.

Pope continued to live up to his foul-prone reputation during the Wildcats' Italian tour.

"In Italy, the moment he left the locker room, he had two fouls," Coach Rick Pitino said.

This prompted Pitino to name senior Walter McCarty as the starting center, with Pope contributing off the bench.

But he's not complaining.

"The great thing about our team is that we don't have to worry about any of that stuff," he said. "You just come in and play and fill whatever role is available. If that means coming off the bench, that's great."

Starting McCarty will prevent Pope from getting into early foul trouble, Pitino said.

"Mark, by starting, never gets to play much in the first half," he said. "What we're trying to do is stop him from getting three fouls per half."

Pope, who led the team in rebounds last year, also was named the team's Mr. Hustle. But his leadership abilities were evident long before that.

A transfer from Washington, Pope was named a co-captain before playing a minute in a UK uniform. He's a co-captain again this season.

An academic All-American who has his sights set on law school rather than the NBA, Pope is active in UK's Fellowship of Christian Athletes. So it isn't surprising he's taking the backup role in stride.

"Walter's a heck of a player," Pope said. "He's earned that spot."

Although Pope won't start, he will finish.

"We need Mark Pope that last seven minutes of the game," Pitino said. "We need him on the court."