Kentucky to hire Mark Pope: Five things to know about BYU coach with deep Wildcats ties

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Kentucky is zeroing in on hiring BYU coach Mark Pope to succeed John Calipari as the next head of the men’s basketball program, CBS Sports Matt Norlander reported on Thursday. Pope, the former Kentucky star who played under Rick Pitino at Kentucky from 1994-96, is returning to Lexington after spending the last five seasons at Brigham Young. Pope will replace Calipari, who spent the last 15 seasons with the Wildcats before taking the vacant job at Arkansas earlier this week.

Pope, 51, started his college career at Washington before transferring to Kentucky ahead of the 1994-95 season. Pope was a team captain on Kentucky’s national title team in 1996.

The two sides quickly engaged on Thursday afternoon, in the hours after Baylor’s Scott Drew and UConn’s Dan Hurley both turned down the job, Norlander reported. Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan and St. John’s coach Rick Pitino both were considered potential candidates for the job, but Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart didn’t pursue either, Norlander said.

Here is what to know about the newest Kentucky coach.

Deep Kentucky ties

Pope was an instrumental part of Kentucky bringing home its sixth national title in 1996. Pope averaged 7.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 20.3 minutes per game during his senior season in Lexington. Pope was roommates for two years at Kentucky with Jeff Sheppard — the father of current Kentucky star Reed Sheppard. The younger Sheppard was recently named CBS Sports Freshman of the Year, and he has yet to decide whether he will declare for June’s NBA Draft or return to school for his sophomore season.

Rising up the ranks 

After six seasons in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets, Pope decided to take some time away from the game before jumping into the coaching ranks. Pope started his career as director of basketball operations in the SEC at Georgia in 2009 under Mark Fox. He…

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/kentucky-to-hire-mark-pope-five-things-to-know-about-byu-coach-with-deep-wildcats-ties/

Author : Cameron Salerno

Publish date : 2024-04-12 03:24:49

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