LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky has hired BYU’s Mark Pope as men’s basketball coach, bringing home a member of the Wildcats’ 1996 national championship team to succeed John Calipari.
The school announced the hiring of the 51-year-old Pope, but did not mention details of the contract.
Pope replaces Calipari, a Hall of Famer who led Kentucky to its eighth NCAA title in 2012 among four Final Four appearances in 15 years. Kentucky hasn’t been back there since 38-1 in 2015. Calipari stepped down and was introduced as head coach of Arkansas,
Pope was 110-52 in five seasons with the Cougars and 23-11 in his first season in the Big 12 Conference. BYU is also coming off a second NCAA Tournament appearance in four years under Pope.
He was 77-56 before that in four seasons at Utah Valley and guided the Wolverines to back-to-back runners-up finishes in the Western Athletic Conference his final two years. They reached the CBI quarter-finals both times.
