Kentucky Officially Names Mark Pope As New Head Coach

by Staff Reporter

April 12, 20241 Comments

Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky officially announced the hiring of a new men's basketball head coach, Mark Pope, on Friday.

Pope has spend the past five seasons as BYU's head coach.

The 51-year old coach played for Kentucky from 1995-1996 and was part of the Wildcats 1996 National Championship team. Per UKAthletics:

quote:
Pope is a nine-year head coaching veteran with stops at BYU and Utah Valley, amassing a 187-108 career record. His squads won 20 or more games in six of the last seven seasons and he has made six postseason appearances.

“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 captain on the ‘96 championship team, Mark was a beloved and respected teammate. 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.”

Pope returns to UK from Provo, Utah, where he compiled a 110-52 record (.679) during five campaigns at the helm of BYU. He took the Cougars to three postseason appearances, including two trips to the NCAA Tournament, and missed another bid when the 2020 event was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Three of his five BYU teams finished the season ranked in the top 20 of the Ken Pomeroy efficiency ratings.

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