Taking the podium for his midweek press conference on Thursday, Mark Pope had something important he wanted to share.
While many in attendance were eager to pepper the Kentucky men’s basketball head coach with questions about the upcoming contest against John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks, Pope started his press conference with something that has very little to do with basketball at all.
Holding up custom Nike shoes that had been hand painted, Pope talked about how Saturday’s men’s basketball game would also recognize Coaches Versus Cancer, a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
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“How cool are these, right?” Pope asked. “These are actually awesome. We got to spend some time with some young cancer patients painting these shoes.”
Kentucky’s head man would go on to talk about his personal experience designing the pair he himself will don on Saturday and breaking down some of the finer details of the design.
“I won’t share too much information, but (Gunnar) and his sister Lily did my shoes that I’ll be wearing on Saturday,” he said. “There’s a few things I like about it. I like the color schemes, but what I really like is this on the sole, it’s all eight (Kentucky national) championships. And then, in true fashion, it got smudged a little bit, but this is a 25 with a question mark, so we’ll see how that goes.”
Coaches Versus Cancer was not the only organization Pope chose to discuss in his opening statement, however, as he also praised UK’s Dance Blue, a student-run philanthropy mission that is best known for its 24-hour dance marathon to raise funds and awareness to fight pediatric cancer.
“We have a tremendous organization here on campus, Dance Blue,” Pope said. “In the last 15 years, give or take, (it) has raised $23-million dollars toward cancer research. A student-run organization that partners with UK Healthcare and focuses on pediatric hematology and oncology.”
Per Dance Blue’s official website, the organization is credited with raising $23,024,466 since 2006, raising $2.1-million dollars in 2024 alone.
Never one to shy away from the gravity of the platform he possesses as the head of one of the biggest brands in sports, let alone college, Pope spoke about the importance of fighting for good causes and giving back to the community off the court as well as on it.
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“This fight against cancer is something that touches every single one of us,” he said. “We’re so excited to partner with organizations, especially student-run and UK-centered programs, that are making such a huge difference in this. Kudos to everybody involved in all those organizations and prayers to all the families, not just these kids that helped paint these shoes, but everybody that’s being touched by cancer right now.”
Pope said that, after the coaching staff dons the shoes on Saturday, each pair will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to fight pediatric cancer.
Kentucky men’s basketball will take the court with the coaching staff in the custom sneakers on Saturday, Feb. 1, inside Rupp Arena. Tipoff against the Razorbacks is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN.
UK Dance Blue 2025 is currently scheduled for Saturday, March 29, and will conclude on Sunday, March 30. The event will be held inside Historic Memorial Coliseum on UK’s campus.