Mark Stoops references old 'spat' with John Calipari while praising Mark Pope

Mark Stoops almost made it out of SEC Media Days without being asked a basketball question. During his sitdown with Chris Childers and Rick Neuheisel on Sirius XM SEC Radio, Stoops was asked if the vibes in Kentucky’s athletic department were different now that Mark Pope is the basketball coach. While neither the show’s host, Chris Childers, nor Stoops used John Calipari’s name, the references to Pope’s predecessor were clear, with Stoops even bringing up previous “spats.”

“Is Kentucky right now, overall, does it feel unified?” Childers said. “You’ve got a basketball coach in there who, everything I’ve ever been told, community drive, loving, wants to shake your hand, kiss the baby, talk to you at the grocery store kind of thing. A little different, maybe? What does it feel like now on campus with everybody?”

“It feels great,” Stoops said. “Mark Pope is absolutely wonderful. What you see and how he interacts, you’re like, ‘Is this real?’ It’s real, man. He’s the best. A great guy, great person, great leader, and coach.”

Stoops could have stopped there, but continued, seemingly alluding to his famous feud with Calipari three years ago when Calipari said Kentucky was a “basketball school” while campaigning for a new practice facility. Stoops fired back at Calipari on social media, making the squabble front-page news to the point Mitch Barnhart had to get involved.

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“And all of us are like that. It’s been like that. There are always different personalities. You know the family I grew up in, you know what I mean? We’re going to have a few spats here and there. I think some of that was maybe warranted for a small amount of time, but it’s like anything — and I’m the type of person, I’m gonna get it off my chest. We’re going to have a confrontation, and it’s going to be over. It’s just like that — it’s over. It’s how I grew up.

“I think some of that was overblown or whatever, but right now I think there’s a great feeling on campus. I greatly appreciate — I’m going into the 13th season with the same president and the same athletic director. That’s very rare.”

One could argue that Stoops bringing that spat up is proof he doesn’t think it was overblown, but instead, I’ll just be happy the vibes are good between the two Marks in Lexington — even if this clip from last year’s Big Blue Madness, after Kentucky’s upset of Ole Miss and before the loss to Vanderbilt, feels like a million years ago.