LEXINGTON — Mark Pope will give the man who gave him his first college coaching job a spot on Kentucky's first basketball staff.
Former Georgia coach Mark Fox, who hired Pope as the program's director of basketball operations in 2009, will join the Wildcats' staff as an associate coach. Fox served as program director for student-athlete relations and NIL partnerships last season on Ed Cooley's first-year staff at Georgetown University.
UK announced Fox's hiring on Wednesday.
“This opportunity is especially special because I not only get to work for one of the most traditional basketball powers in the country, but I also get to work with former players and staff,” Fox said in a statement. He's like family to me. ”
Pope worked with the Bulldogs for one season (2009-2010) before leaving to become an assistant coach at Wake Forest.
Georgia was Fox's longest stint as head coach in 18 years, coaching the Bulldogs for nine seasons (2009-10 to 2017-18). He finished his time at UGA with a 163-133 (.551) record, but made it to the NCAA Tournament only twice during his tenure and exited the program in March 2018.
“I can't believe I get to work with Mark Fox,” Pope said. “Our relationship began at the University of Washington when I was a freshman, and he has continued to be a great mentor to me over the years ever since.”
Fox then took over Cal's program in 2019, but struggled during his four seasons in Berkeley, California. The Golden Bears were 38-87 (.304), and the Foxes did not have a winning season. Peaking at 3-29 in the 2022-23 season, the team finished 2-18 in the Pac-12, setting a single-season program record for losses and lowest winning percentage (.094). California fired Fox the day after a season-cap loss to Washington State in the Pac-12 Tournament.
Fox's other head coaching job was at the University of Nevada, where he compiled a 123-43 (.741) record in five seasons (2004-05 to 2008-09). During his time in Reno, Nevada, he led the Wolfpack to three NCAA Tournament championships, four consecutive Western Athletic Conference regular season titles (2005-2008) and a WAC Tournament championship (2006).
Prior to becoming the head coach at the University of Nevada, Fox served as an assistant on Trent Johnson's staff from 2000 to 2004. Fox also held assistant coaching roles at Kansas State (where he worked under then-coach Tom Asbury from 1994 to 2000) and the University of Washington (where he was coached by Lin). He worked on Nance's staff from 1991 until 1993).
Fox, a native of Garden City, Kansas, played at Garden City Community College before transferring to Eastern New Mexico.
“He's one of the brightest and most detail-oriented coaches in college basketball,” Pope said. “Mark has coached NBA draft picks, coached teams in the NCAA Tournament, recruited the best players in the country and kept up with all the changes in college basketball over the past 25 years.
“Coach Fox will be a cornerstone in everything we do at the University of Kentucky.”
Contact Kentucky men's basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow @RyanABlack on X.