By Braydn Johnson, Staff Writer
The Big Blue Nation was shocked when former University of Kentucky men’s basketball head coach John Calipari decided to move on, becoming the head coach of the University of Arkansas on April 10. John Calipari had a very successful tenure at the University of Kentucky. He served the college for 15 years, and he was all that many young Kentucky Basketball fans knew.
The University of Kentucky announced the hire of former player Mark Pope as Calipari’s replacement on April 12. At first, some members of the Kentucky fan base were a bit disappointed. Rumors of the potential hire of Dan Hurley, Nate Oats, Scott Drew, Billy Donovan and many more had circulated the college basketball community. However, the Kentucky fan base quickly rallied behind the new head coach, as evidenced by his introductory press conference.
The press conference for Mark Pope was held on April 14, and it was open to the public. Within hours of the start time, the lines outside of Rupp Arena spread far and wide. It took very little time for the stadium to fill up. For context, Rupp Arena has a capacity of 23,500. Unfortunately, Rupp Arena staff had to turn away over 5,000 fans hoping to see the new head coach live.
When Mark Pope finally entered the arena, the entire building rocked. Pope entered Rupp Arena the same way he did in 1996 when he captained the Kentucky Wildcats to the NCAA Championship: he held up the championship trophy. In the press conference, Pope specified his “assignment,” which is to win championships and hang banners. Kentucky fans breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing a promise for championship wins after fearing that Calipari had become more concerned with developing NBA players than with winning.
Mark Pope was an accomplished college basketball player himself. He spent his first two years at the University of Washington, where he won Pac-10 Freshman of The Year. He eventually transferred to the University of Kentucky, where he served as a captain for the Wildcats and helped them win the 1996 NCAA championship. Pope later played professionally in the NBA for the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets.
In terms of coaching, Pope was a head coach for nine years at two different schools. He went 77-56 at Utah Valley and 110-52 at Brigham Young University for a career record of 187-108 (63.4%). He posted six winning seasons in the past seven years, and he made the NCAA Tournament twice, but he lost in the first round both times.
Although some fans may be skeptical after reading Pope’s coaching statistics, it is important to remember the context. Pope has not coached very highly ranked programs, but he has still managed to post a better record every single year. Mark Pope has also received praise from several analysts and coaches, including legendary Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, who gave Pope his full endorsement. Pitino supports Pope so much that he said he would be willing to help fund his NIL budget to get his own program up and running at Kentucky.
Mark Pope signed a five-year contract with the University of Kentucky that will pay him five million dollars a year. At Kentucky, Pope had to completely start from scratch in regard to the roster, but he has already hit the recruitment and transfer portals very hard since becoming head coach.
Overall, Mark Pope loves Kentucky Basketball through and through. He will try to build a team that is a balance of top recruits and veteran offensive players. Pope’s bread and butter comes at the offensive end, and his teams have always been known for being high scoring with efficient ball movement. If Mark Pope can combine his successful offensive strategy with successful recruitment, he could end up being a truly special coach for years to come.
Categories: Sports
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