Kentucky has hired BYU coach Mark Pope as its next men's basketball coach, the school announced Friday. Pope and Kentucky got engaged quickly on Thursday Hours after Baylor University's Scott Drew and UW's Dan Hurley rejected Kentucky's offers.
According to sources, Pope was offered a five-year contract averaging $5.5 million per season, excluding incentives. Pope replaces John Calipari, who officially left for Arkansas on Tuesday after 15 years in Lexington.
The nomination was neither obvious nor expected given Kentucky's historic status in the sport.
But Pope is a Kentucky graduate. He played on the prestigious 1995-96 championship team and had long coveted the opportunity to one day return to his alma mater. He has nine years of head coaching experience in his DI, four of which were at Utah Valley and his past five at BYU. His career record is 187-108, including a 110-52 mark at BYU. Pope is 0-2 overall in the NCAA Tournament. He led the Cougars to a No. 6 seed in this year's NCAA Tournament, but lost to Duquesne in the first round.
Pope had wins over other notable players such as Billy Donovan and Rick Pitino. Sources told CBS Sports that although Pitino and Donovan have been talked about as potential candidates in Kentucky, UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart is actively pursuing both. He says he didn't. The event that completely cleared the way for Pope was when Hurley showed conclusively that he had no choice.
Pope, 51, is a dynamic addition to being a favorite on Barnhart's second-choice list, as well as the backing and support of some former players. Pope runs a fun system on the floor. His BYU teams finished in the top 20 in three of his five seasons in KenPom. He also overhauled his roster strategy and offensive philosophy last season, leading to 23 wins and a top-15 offense in college basketball.
Pope joins Joe B. Hall as the only men's basketball coaches dating back to 1930 Hall of Famer Adolph Rupp to play at Kentucky and will continue to coach the program. For Pope, it's a dream job situation. A formal announcement is expected to be made Friday after Barnhart signs the contract.