Urgent:Kentucky hires BYU’s Mark Pope as men’s basketball coach to replace John Calipari
Mark Pope, who was initially overlooked by Kentucky’s coaching candidates, is now trusted to uphold the program’s highest standards. It makes sense because, as a player, he assisted in doing so.
The coach from BYU was hired by Kentucky to lead its men’s basketball program, and he brought home a member of the Wildcats’ 1996 national championship squad to replace John Calipari.
In a release issued Friday morning, the school confirmed the 51-year-old Pope’s employment, but it made no mention of the terms of the deal. Rupp Arena will host a press conference on Sunday afternoon to introduce him.
Calipari, a Hall of Famer who led Kentucky to its eighth NCAA championship in 2012 and its fourth Final Four trip in 15 years, is replaced by Pope. Kentucky has not been back there since 2015, when they finished 38-1. Calipari was named Arkansas’s coach the
Pope went 23-11 in their debut season in the Big 12 Conference and finished 110-52 in their five seasons with the Cougars. Additionally, under Pope, BYU just made its second trip to the NCAA Tournament in four years.
Prior to it, he had a four-year record of 77-56 at Utah Valley, leading the Wolverines to back-to-back Western Athletic Conference runner-up finishes in his final two years. Both times, they advanced to the CBI quarterfinals.
