*Mark Pope Reaches Deal with Kentucky to Become Next Head Basketball Coach*
BYU Cougars head men’s basketball coach Mark Pope has reached a deal with Kentucky to become the school’s next head basketball coach. Kentucky announced the deal on April 12, 2024, writing, “Welcome home.”
Pope, a captain of the 1996 National Championship team, has returned to the university as the 23rd head coach of Kentucky Men’s Basketball. He described Kentucky as the “pinnacle of college basketball.”
“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. I’m thankful to Dr. Eli Capilouto and Mitch Barnhart for this opportunity. I’m proud to be your next head coach, and I can’t wait to do this together!,” he said.
Pope played his final two years of college ball at Kentucky in the 1990s after transferring from Washington. He won a national championship with the Wildcats in 1996. Pope’s coach at Kentucky, Rick Pitino, has long endorsed his former player, and told (link unavailable) on Thursday prior to the evening’s major news that, “I love Mark Pope and his family, and he would be an unbelievable choice” for the Wildcats’ opening.
In five years at BYU, Pope has tallied a 110-52 record, which has included two trips to the NCAA Tournament but no victories. This last season, the Cougars’ first in the vaunted Big 12 Conference, Pope led his team to a surprising 23-11 record and a fifth-place finish in the conference, but BYU lost in the first round of the Big Dance to Duquesne.
BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe thanked Pope for his time at BYU in a statement shared on social media Friday morning. “We want to thank Coach Pope for all that he has given to the BYU men’s basketball program in his nine years here as an assistant and head coach. His unique combination of passion, dedication, creativity, and excitement has inspired our BYU community. He led our team to a very successful inaugural Big 12 season and left the program in a position of strength moving forward,” Holmoe wrote.