By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
It will be a full day for the Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball teams on Saturday.
In addition to Big Blue Madness, a FanFest will take place from noon to 4:30 p.m. in the exhibit halls at Central Bank Center in Rupp Arena. The free event will give fans who don’t have access to Madness an opportunity to meet the Wildcats.
“I’m going to be there (and) the guys are going to be there signing, talking, pictures,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. “We’re going to have a bunch of booths there, food and games there. It’s just an opportunity for us to reach out and actually touch and hug every single member of Big Blue Nation. It’s going to be unbelievable.”
Pope will speak on the main stage from 12:30-1 p.m., followed by women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks from 1:15-1:45 p.m. The women’s basketball team will speak and sign autographs from 1:45-2:45 p.m., while the men’s team will appear from 2:45 p.m.-4 p.m., speaking on the main stage and signing autographs for fans.
The event is ahead of the team’s annual Big Blue Madness set for 6 p.m. Saturday at Rupp Arena. Tickets for Madness sold out in just 29 minutes last month.
“I’m so excited about Big Blue Madness, as always,” Pope said. “One of the greatest things about Big Blue Madness, that separates us from everything else, is I think the whole arena is sold out in 29 minutes.”
Donor program
Attendees to the BBN United FanFest will have the opportunity to donate to the National Marrow Donor Match Program. Pope and his wife Lee Anne Pope are heavily involved in the program.
“Lee Anne and I are incredibly passionate about (it),” Pope said. “What you do is you just come in, and you just take a simple cheek swab, and then they put you in a database. It’s really young adults, older teens and young adults, that’s really the age where it’s most relevant. You could be called, and they could find you as a donor for a bone marrow transplant.”
Pope gave an example of the impact of the donor program during Media Day earlier this week at Memorial Coliseum.
“I (had) a manager at BYU who jumped into this program. He was with all my guys on the team. He did a little swab, just a little test. It takes 30 seconds. He got a call like a year later and was given the opportunity to give a bone marrow — to be a donor, a bone marrow donor, to a young girl, and he went through the surgery and saved her life. It just is incredible. It’s the most amazing thing ever.”
Pope added he wants the Bluegrass to set an example in giving through the donor program and other aspects of the medical profession to help save and change lives.
“In this state of Kentucky, where we want to be No. 1 at everything, where we don’t want to stay is No. 1 in the occurrence, the incidence, and No. 1 in the mortality of cancer,” he said. “That’s where we are right now. There’s no community I’ve been around that rallies like this commonwealth. When you come to this FanFest, if it’s in your heart to do this, it takes 30 seconds. It’s nothing. It’s no commitment, but just to join this donor registry where you literally, literally, could have the chance to save a life.
“I’m just urging everybody where it’s in their heart to do it. It can make a huge difference.”