Who is Mark Pope? Meet Kentucky's new basketball coach replacing John Calipari

Kyle Irving

Who is Mark Pope? Meet Kentucky's new basketball coach replacing John Calipari image

Kentucky has found its John Calipari successor.

The Wildcats have hired BYU's Mark Pope as their next head coach, the school announced Friday.

"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," Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart said in a statement. "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 was a member of Kentucky's 1996 national championship team, bringing some familiarity to Big Blue Nation after a quiet coaching search. The 51-year-old is coming off an impressive year at BYU, leading the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament with a 23-11 record in their first Big 12 season.

For more information on Pope and his future at Kentucky, The Sporting News has you covered below.

MORE: John Calipari jokes about meeting Arkansas' roster: 'There is no team'

Who is Mark Pope? Meet Kentucky's next head coaching

Pope was a two-year player at the University of Kentucky, winning a national championship with the Wildcats in 1996.

He began his coaching career in 2009, working as an assistant at Georgia (2009-10), Wake Forest (2010-11) and BYU (2011-15) before taking his first head coaching job at Utah Valley in 2015.

Pope spent four years at Utah Valley before returning to BYU, serving as head coach for five seasons from 2019-24. Pope led the Cougars to two NCAA Tournaments in five seasons, including an impressive 23-11 record in BYU's first Big 12 campaign this past year.

Kentucky considered several high-profile candidates to replace Calipari this past week, but to no avail. UConn's Dan Hurley and Alabama's Nate Oats elected to stay put. Former Villanova legend Jay Wright did not entertain coming out of retirement to fill the void. Even Baylor's Scott Drew, who was seen as the frontrunner for the opening, decided to stay in Waco instead.

After the Wildcats came up empty-handed, they landed on Pope to keep it in the family.

MORE: Tracking John Calipari's Kentucky recruits: Who will follow him to Arkansas?

Mark Pope coaching record

Pope has tallied a 187-108 (.634) record over nine seasons as a head coach between Utah Valley and BYU.

In four of his five seasons at BYU, he won at least 20 games and had his team in the AP Top 25. The Cougars qualified for two NCAA Tournaments under Pope, and they were projected to receive an at-large bid in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled March Madness.

MORE: Which BYU recruits could follow Pope to Kentucky?

The only knock on Pope is that he has not recorded an NCAA Tournament win in two appearances. No. 6 BYU was upset by No. 11 Duquesne this past season.

You can find Pope's record from each head coaching stop in his career below.

Year School Conference Overall Record Result
2015-16 Utah Valley WAC 12-18
2016-17 Utah Valley WAC 17-17
2017-18 Utah Valley WAC 23-11
2018-19 Utah Valley WAC 25-10
2019-20 BYU WCC 24-8 Final rank No. 18
2020-21 BYU WCC 20-7 NCAAT Round of 64
2021-22 BYU WCC 24-11
2022-23 BYU WCC 19-15
2023-24 BYU Big 12 23-11 NCAAT Round of 64

Mark Pope stats, Kentucky playing career

Pope spent his first two seasons at Washington from 1991-1993. He earned Pac-12 Rookie of the Year as a freshman. After two years as a starter with the Huskies, he transferred to Kentucky.

Pope sat out the 1993-94 season due to the NCAA's previous transfer rules. He played his final two seasons with the Wildcats from 1994-96, serving as a key rotation player on Rick Pitino's team that won two SEC championships and a national title in 1996.

Year School Class GP MIN RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1991-92 Washington FR 29 30.2 8.1 2.0 0.9 0.6 10.3
1992-93 Washington SO 27 32.1 8.0 1.3 1.1 0.3 12.2
1993-94 Kentucky Redshirt              
1994-95 Kentucky JR 33 22.1 6.3 0.9 0.7 1.2 8.2
1995-96 Kentucky SR 36 20.3 5.2 1.0 1.0 1.2 7.6

Following his senior season, Pope was selected with the No. 52 overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. He played six seasons in the NBA and also spent time playing professionally in Turkey.

1996 Kentucky national championship roster

Pope was a captain of Rick Pitino's 1996 Kentucky championship team which featured nine future NBA players, including himself.

Player Class Position
Tony Delk* SR G
Antoine Walker* SO F
Walter McCarty* SR F
Derek Anderson* JR F
Ron Mercer* FR F
Mark Pope* SR C
Anthony Epps JR G
Jeff Sheppard* JR G
Wayne Turner* FR G
Allen Edwards SO F
Nazr Mohammed* FR C
Oliver Simmons FR F
Jared Prickett SR F
Cameron Mills SO G
Jason Lathrem FR F

*Indicates future NBA player

Kyle Irving

Kyle Irving Photo

You read that wrong – not Kyrie Irving. From Boston, graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Sixth season as a content producer for NBA.com's Global editions. Covering the NBA Draft has become his annual "dream come true" moment on the job. Irving has a soft spot for pass-first point guards, with Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash being two of his favorite players of all time.