Mark Pope's postgame radio shows are drawing huge crowds

The Rupp Arena crowds continue to grow larger and louder with every passing home game. Against a winless Jackson State squad on a cold Friday night in Lexington, fans packed the entire building from top to bottom.

But even after the game is over and the final buzzer sounds, a large contingent of those fans have been sticking around for one reason: to hear Mark Pope speak.

Pope’s postgame radio shows have become a must-watch spectacle in the 30 or so minutes following each contest. It’s only been four home games, but the fans have quickly caught on that they need to stick around and hear what the head coach has to say. The first two postgame radio show crowds following wins over Wright State and Bucknell were modest, but they’ve exploded in the two games since.

The postgame radio crowd after Tuesday night’s win nearly filled five sections in the lower bowl. There was an even larger crowd following the Jackson State victory, a 49-point beatdown that was all Kentucky from start to finish.

Mark Pope postgame radio crowd following a 49-point win against Jackson State. pic.twitter.com/7qakHwKuaB

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) November 23, 2024

Fans will wait around for over an hour after the game ends in hopes of having a basketball or piece of merchandise signed by Pope. But even before the head coach comes out to the floor (he has to do his postgame press conference with the media first), fans get to hear from some players, too. In this instance, it was Koby Brea, who dropped a game-high 22 points on five made three-pointers.

These types of postgame radio shows aren’t anything new to the Kentucky men’s basketball program, but the crowds over the last few years never grew to the size that they’ve been to start the season. For good reason, the Big Blue Nation certainly has a lot of hope in Pope.