LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mark Pope is about to face his former coach Rick Pitino when Kentucky and St. John's battle in a regular season game in Atlanta on December 20.
The two got together on a video call to announce the game which will be played in the home of the Atlanta Hawks, State Farm Arena for the CBS Sports Classic. St. John's is replacing UCLA in the series with Ohio State and North Carolina meeting in the other game for the double header.
“Obviously, Kentucky was Camelot for me, I’ve said it many times,” said St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino. “So now to play against The Captain [Mark Pope], who made so many special moments for me and the team, in a battle that CBS is putting on is quite special. I will remember it for a long, long time.”
This is the second time the two have faced off since Pope got into coaching. He was at Utah Valley State and Pitino was at Louisville back on December 23, 2015. The No. 16 Cardinals won that game 98-68.
Coach Pitino was at Kentucky from 1989-'97 where he led Kentucky to the 1996 NCAA Championship with Mark Pope being one of the leaders on the team. He's about to start his third season on the Red Storm sidelines.
The Wildcats are coming off a 24-12 record and trip to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16. The Red Storm were 31-5 and were upset in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament by Arkansas.
North Carolina is 7-4 in the CBS Sports Classic, Ohio State is 6-4 and Kentucky is 5-6.
