Mark Pope may have accidentally created one of the strangest and funniest stories of the Kentucky basketball offseason.
During a recent interview with Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68, the Kentucky head coach was asked about a recent trip to New York that included an unexpected first for him: getting a pedicure.
The interesting part?
Pope wasn’t alone.
The Kentucky coach revealed that he was with someone he described as “one of the most powerful people in all of sport” and someone who has also been a major mentor throughout his career.
Naturally, Goodman wanted to know who this mystery person was.
Pope wasn’t telling.
The Kentucky coach explained that he and his wife were in New York, while the mystery man’s wife was also there. The two couples spent time together because their wives are close friends.
After spending much of the day exploring the city, Pope and his mystery companion decided to escape the heat and spend some time indoors.
That’s when the pedicure happened.
Pope revealed that it was his first-ever pedicure, and his reaction was exactly what you might expect from someone experiencing it for the first time.
He joked that he felt like he had “lost a little bit of my manhood,” although he admitted the experience was actually pretty enjoyable.
Pope also dropped another interesting clue about his mystery companion.
This wasn’t someone who would casually walk into a small, ordinary nail salon. According to Pope, the person “only does it right,” suggesting that the experience was a little more upscale.
Still, Pope said the best part may have simply been sitting inside in the air conditioning for about 20 minutes after spending hours in the New York heat.
But the big question remains: Who was sitting next to him?
Pope refused to reveal the identity.
That hasn’t stopped Kentucky fans from making their own guesses.
And one name immediately stands out — Rick Pitino.
Pope and Pitino share a long history. Pitino coached Pope at Kentucky, where Pope was a captain on the 1996 national championship team. Their relationship continued beyond Pope’s playing career, with Pitino remaining an important mentor.
None of that confirms Pitino was the mystery pedicure partner.
But when Pope describes the person as a powerful figure in sports, a mentor, and someone who wouldn’t settle for an ordinary nail salon, it’s easy to understand why fans are connecting the dots.
For now, Pope is keeping the identity of his pedicure partner a secret.
So, did Mark Pope really sit beside Rick Pitino in a New York nail salon?
We don’t know for sure.
But until Pope reveals the truth, Big Blue Nation is going to have plenty of fun guessing.
