Can anyone help Coach Mark Pope out?
Kentucky’s head coach Mark Pope is known as a sharp basketball mind, a former NBA player, and a man who nearly finished medical school. He can talk about the brain, strategy, and philosophy all day—but when it comes to chess, he’s getting absolutely schooled by his 6’10” freshman phenom, Jayden Quaintance.
“This JQ is just crushing me,” Pope admitted with a laugh during media availability. “I’ve just lost all pride.”
The friendly rivalry has gotten so lopsided that Pope had to call in backup — teammate Colin Chandler — just to make things interesting.
“CBS wanted to film me and JQ playing chess,” Pope joked. “I said, ‘Nope, not doing that.’ So it was me and Colin Chandler, two boards, JQ on the other side of the table, switching between them on a two-minute timer. Colin and I had a combined nine hours! True story.”
Even with those odds, it didn’t go great.
“One of us got checkmated in about 11 moves,” Pope said. “Thankfully, we managed enough on the other board to escape with a draw. So, yeah—it took two of us just to split a game with him.”
After the humbling defeat, Pope half-jokingly called on Big Blue Nation for help.
“I might start a game with JQ and post every move,” he laughed. “Maybe BBN can give me advice along the way.”
So, Kentucky fans — get those chess boards ready. Coach Pope might need your help figuring this one out.
— Drew Holbrook, long-time Kentucky fan and Cats reporter. When he’s not covering UK basketball, he’s watching Premier League soccer or spending time with family. Follow him on X. Micah 7:7.
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