It appears bearded Mark Pope is here to stay

Dark Pope has become a viral meme over the last week or two, the bald, clean-shaven head coach we’ve come to know over the last couple of seasons letting his hair and beard grow out some — all while stacking some massive recruiting wins at the withdrawal deadline, in the portal and at the high school level.

Malachi Moreno’s return was a relief, then Milan Momcilovic’s transfer was an all-out celebration. Ryan Hampton’s commitment was icing on the cake, setting up one of Pope’s most impressive stretches as the head coach at Kentucky.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? That’s his mindset with the beard at least, showing off his five o’clock shadow in the famous Many Men beach picture following Momcilovic’s addition, then keeping it for “Promo Day” on Monday.

All of those Coca-Cola and UK HealthCare ads you’ll see this year? Dark Pope will be the face of the Kentucky Wildcats, apparently.

He shared a couple of pictures on social media today, specifically from his reads with Coke and Golisano Children’s at UK—the latter featuring a Dairy Queen Blizzard, promoting Miracle Treat Day on July 30.

He also previewed an upcoming interview with the UK Sports Network, in which he raved about the new team’s shot-blocking in the quick snippet.

“I think we have a tremendous capacity for rim protection,” he said.

Some early hype for Malachi Moreno, Franck Kepnang and Ousmane N’Diaye, perhaps?

Promo Day in the studio! 🎥
Special thanks to everyone! @UKSportsNetwork @CocaCola @UK_HealthCare @KCHKids pic.twitter.com/EBOjTEk0EY

— Mark Pope (@CoachMarkPope) June 8, 2026

It’s all silly and means very little, but we’d rather this version of loose Pope than one that wasn’t confident about how the offseason unfolded going into a crucial year three, right?

He should grow it all out, get that lettuce flowing up top with a full beard. New year, new Pope.

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