It’s the beginning of a new era for the Kentucky Wildcats. Although nothing has been officially announced yet about the successor of John Calipari as head coach of the SEC program, it appears that BYU Cougars mentor Mark Pope has the job virtually in the bag. On Thursday night, multiple outlets reported that Pope is expected to be the next Kentucky head coach.
Pope is a familiar face for Kentucky basketball fans. He played two seasons for the Wildcats from 1994 to 1995 and during his stint in Lexington as a player, he averaged 7.9 points and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 49.7 percent from the field and 41.6 percent from behind the arc.
Is Mark Pope the Right Pick for the Kentucky Wildcats?
The Kentucky opening is a high-profile one, given that the Wildcats are a genuine blueblood in college basketball. Many Wildcats fans would love to have that head-coaching vacancy filled by someone with a solid resume in March, something that Pope doesn’t have at the moment.
That has been further illuminated by this post on X by The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach:
“It really is wild that KENTUCKY just hired a coach who has never won an NCAA Tournament game. Like, let that sink in.”
Pope started his head-coaching career in the collegiate ranks in 2015 for the Utah Valley Wolverines before moving to the WCC to coach the Brigham Young Cougars in 2019. Under Pope, the Cougars were able to rank as high as 12th on the Associated Poll and make the NCAA Tournament twice, though, both those trips lasted just one round. That includes the Cougars’ 2024 appearance in the Big Dance where they got eliminated by the Duquesne Dukes.
Dan Hurley of the UConn Huskies, Nate Oats of the Alabama Crimson Tide, and Scott Drew of the Baylor Bears have all been mentioned as potential replacements for John Calipari, but nothing on those ends has progressed beyond mere interest and speculations.
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