Mark Pope has done a solid job during his first year leading the Kentucky basketball team, earning a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament with a team capable of making a deep run. The Wildcats will begin their work in Milwaukee with a matchup against Troy on Friday night and Pope had a unique idea to ensure the building was full of Kentucky fans.
"If anybody is having trouble with gas money, hit me up," he said on his radio show Monday night. "Let's go. Let's get all of BBN out there."
Not all, but certainly, some of BBN immediately answered the call and began inquiring about making good on this offer.
Mark Pope says a "whole slew" of requests for gas money have already come in, including from a college student in Florida named Jack.
— Tristan Pharis (@TristanUda) March 17, 2025
"That was not a good call on my part... Gas money for Milwaukee, this is not going to go well."
🎥: @UKSportsNetwork https://t.co/MvXsFTT1jj pic.twitter.com/zD7szIZaz7
"That was not a good call on my part," Pope realized. "Gas money for Milwaukee, this is not going to go well."
This is about as pure as it gets. A coach on a coach's show currying favor with the fans and then the receipts and bills begin to stack up. It's like when someone is happy enough to buy an entire round of sodas for the entire local bar and grille and then notices that two buses full of college athletes have made their way in for a post-game bite.
Lexington to Milwaukee is roughly a 470-mile trek and will take even the most impatient driver about seven hours to make. Anyone doing that is already pretty committed. Pope can give them the greatest gift of all by advancing into the Sweet 16. Can't put a price on that.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mark Pope Immediately Regretted Offer to Cover Kentucky Fans' Gas Money to Milwaukee.
