Editor’s Note: Joe Hafley went with Larry Vaught to the Southeastern Conference Media Day in Birmingham. Not only did he help gather notes and quotes, but he also wrote this story about former UK player Mark Pope’s role on the Georgia staff of new coach Mark Fox.

By JOE HAFLEY

New Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox first met former University of Kentucky basketball player Mark Pope when he was coaching his first year on the staff at Washington and Pope was there as a player.

“Dr. Pope was just a kid then, but he was actually only four years younger than me. He was a wonderful person,” said Fox.

Pope eventually transferred to UK to play for Rick Pitino and was on UK’s 1996 national championship team. He went on to play seven years in the NBA and then went to medical school. However, he kept calling Fox, then the coach at Nevada, to let him know he wanted to coach.

“I told him I could not create a job for him. At Nevada, you don’t have the resources to do that. I said, ‘You are going to be a doctor. Why do you want to coach?’ But he has a passion for young people,” Box said.

When Fox got to Georgia, Pope was “blowing up” Fox’s phone. “He was relentless in his desire to come and help,” Fox said.

Finally Fox relented and let him come work camp.  Fox held off a job offer for two months.

“I told him he was not going to blame me that some day he was not a doctor living in a big house on the beach. I wasn’t going to let him hold me accountable for leaving his medical career,” said Fox who told Pope all the coaching horror stories he could to discourage him.

Still, when Fox offered him an administrative role, Pope took it even though he was almost finished with his class work for medical school and was close to his internship. “He is going to be terrific in this business,” Fox said. “Mark is a brilliant person. But every ailment I get, I ask him for medical advice.”

Pope keeps an eye on players’ academic work and tracks administrative functions.

“Mark has brought a level of technological excellence that I cannot grasp.  He does things on computer that I did not know you could do,” Fox said. “Mark talks of Kentucky being his ‘second’ favorite school in SEC.  He had a great time at Kentucky and has fond memories of there as he should.”

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