HC Mark Pope in attendance for 2024 Kentucky Derby

Mark Pope is a busy man these days as he works to quickly rebuild the Kentucky Wildcats roster from the ground up. Amid this, he also took time to attend the 150th Kentucky Derby 2024 at Churchill Downs in Louisville on Saturday.

LEX 18 News tweeted a picture of Coach Pope accompanied by his wife, Lee Anne, attending the race:

 

 

The Derby had many other famous faces in attendance, including Louisville basketball coach Pat Kelsey, Kansas City Chiefs players Travis Kelce and Isiah Pacheco, New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers, rapper Jack Harlow, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, and many more.

Coach Pope also posted a photograph from the event, captioning it:

“Grateful for friends and family and the Kentucky Derby!!!”

It seems like the Popes have adjusted well to their new life in Kentucky.

HC Mark Pope already has his pieces in place for the next season

On April 12, Mark Pope took over as the head coach of Kentucky, and in less than a month, he signed nine players.

Pope has traveled across the country, from Las Vegas to Oklahoma and his previous home, Utah, in search of new players. On Friday morning, he was seen at Salt Lake City airport, alongside Anne and assistant coach Cody Fueger, welcoming incoming freshman Collin Chandler, who was returning from a church mission.

Now, the Wildcats have two incoming freshmen: Chandler, a previous BYU commitment, and Travis Perry from Kentucky, who originally signed with John Calipari but chose to stay under Pope.

The rest were acquired from the transfer portal and include Otega Oweh (Oklahoma), Koby Brea (Dayton), Lamont Butler (San Diego State), Kerr Kriisa (Arizona), Amari Williams (Drexel), Andrew Carr (Delaware) and Brandon Garrison (Oklahoma State).

While this may not be on the same level as the NBA-prospects-filled roster of the John Calipari era, fans are still curious to see how they will fare under the high expectations set for Mark Pope.

Kentucky priest gifts the Pontiff a Mark Pope jersey

Coach Pope’s fame has transcended oceans and has even reached the Vatican City. Lexington priest, Jim Sichko, was photographed handing over a white and blue Kentucky jersey of Mark Pope #23 to Pope Francis.

Maybe the touch of divine help will help Mark Pope as he takes on the tedious task of carrying a blue-blood team like Kentucky to its next glorious era.

What do you think of the Pope era at Lexington? Let us know in the comment section below.