BYU’s Mark Pope to Return to Kentucky as Head Coach

Kentucky set to hire Mark Pope as Men's Basketball Head Coach | Image: Kentucky Sports Radio

Mark Pope, the coach of BYU, who clinched a national championship during his time at Kentucky as a player, will be coming back to his alma mater to take over from John Calipari as the head coach, according to Wildcats’ athletic director Mitch Barnhart’s announcement on Friday.

“The University of Kentucky is the pinnacle of coaching in college basketball. It’s the definition of a blueblood program where hanging a banner is the expectation ever year,” Pope said Friday in a statement.

“Equally as important, UK changed my life forever as a human being. The love and passion I have for this program, this University and the people of the Commonwealth goes to the depth of my soul.”

The 51-year-old Pope, who contributed to Kentucky for two seasons, including the 1995-96 national championship team, steered BYU to the NCAA Tournament twice in the span of five seasons, accumulating a 110-52 record.

In the recently concluded season, where BYU competed for the first time in the Big 12, the team finished with a 23-11 record overall and 10-8 within the conference. The Cougars, seeded sixth, were unexpectedly defeated by Duquesne, the No. 11 seed, in the initial round of the NCAA Tournament.

Pope, a 6-foot-10 forward/center who saw action in parts of six NBA seasons, commenced his coaching journey at Georgia as an assistant for the 2009-10 season.

Subsequently, he moved on to similar positions at Wake Forest (2010-11) and BYU (2011-15) before taking the helm at Utah Valley (2015-19), achieving a 77-56 record in four seasons.

“Mark Pope not only brings an impressive record in nine years as a head coach, but also a love of the University of Kentucky and a complete understanding of what our program means to the people of our state,” Barnhart said.

“As a head coach, he is highly regarded nationally as an innovator. His teams run a unique and dynamic up-tempo offense and they get after it on defense. He is a strong recruiter with international ties and a person of integrity.”

“He fully embraces our high expectations and standards and I know that as our fans get reacquainted with Mark, they will be eager to join him on what promises to be an exciting ride.”

Calipari departed for Arkansas after leading Kentucky to four Final Four appearances and capturing a national championship in 2012 during his tenure, where he accumulated a 410-123 record.

In the current season, Kentucky amassed a 23-10 record overall and 13-5 in the Southeastern Conference but suffered a startling defeat at the hands of Oakland, the No. 14 seed, in the initial round of the NCAA Tournament.

Scott Drew of Baylor, Dan Hurley of UConn, Nate Oats of Alabama, and former Villanova coach Jay Wright explicitly stated that they were not interested in the coaching position at Kentucky.

Billy Donovan, a former college coach and ex-Kentucky assistant who presently serves as the head coach for the Chicago Bulls, publicized his allegiance to his existing role.

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