A Homecoming for Pope: Kentucky Reportedly in Talks to Bring Former Player Back as Head Coach
Unexpectedly, one of Kentucky’s own is coming back to Lexington to take John Calipari’s position.
Mark Pope, the head coach of BYU and a member of Rick Pitino’s 1996 national championship team at Kentucky, is set to take over as head coach of the Wildcats program after Calipari steps down, numerous sources told FOX Sports. Pope will be departing Provo, Utah.
Though negotiations are nearing their conclusion, Pope has been identified by Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart as the candidate to succeed him.
After serving as a college head coach for nine seasons, the 51-year-old Pope has spent the last five of those at Brigham Young, where he has guided the Cougars to two NCAA Tournament appearances in the previous four seasons. Following seven NBA seasons as a player for the Pacers, Bucks, Knicks, and Nuggets, Pope began his coaching career as an assistant at Georgia from 2009 to 2010. He later transferred to Wake Forest and worked as Dave Rose’s assistant at BYU from 2011 to 2015.
After finishing 77-56 in four seasons as Utah Valley’s head coach in 2015, Pope took over for Rose in 2019.
Pope, a future NBA player, was a captain of Kentucky’s 35-2 national championship team in 1995–96. Other players on the team included Tony Delk, Antoine Walker, and Walter McCarty.
Earlier on Thursday night, Pitino told FOX Sports he “loves my former captain, a Kentucky great” and referred to Pope as one of the hardest workers he is ever taught.
The seriousness of a search that seemed to have many unanswered questions heading into the evening increased after Scott Drew and Dan Hurley openly rejected Kentucky’s generous offers earlier on Thursday. Barnhart is choosing to bring back an alumnus to the school, Billy Donovan, the head coach of the Chicago Bulls and former Kentucky assistant. This should give Barnhart more influence over the program’s operations than it did with Calipari, who was named Arkansas’ head coach on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, compared to other searchers in March, Pope is somewhat unknown in terms of coaching qualifications and has never won an NCAA Tournament game. Now that he is back at his old institution, all eyes will be on him and expectations will be high.
John Fanta works for FOX Sports as a writer and national college basketball broadcaster. He calls games on FS1, serves as the principal host on the BIG EAST Digital Network, and offers commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network, among other roles covering the sport. Become a fan of @John_Fanta on Twitter.