Mark Pope, the new Kentucky basketball head coach, is in a tough position following in the footsteps of John Calipari. The end of the Calipari era likely left many Wildcats fans bitter, but given Calipari's recruiting ability, expectations may be too high for Pope to meet. However, it appears that the Pope has already hired an overseas candidate: the actual Pope, Pope Francis.
Yahoo Sports' Jeff Eisenberg recently published an article detailing how Pope Francis received (and loved) a Mark Pope Kentucky basketball jersey. As Eisenberg reported, the person to thank is Jim Cichoko, a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Lexington, who was on his way to the Vatican to ask Eli Capilouto, the president of the University of Kentucky. .
“I was scheduled to meet the Pope here,” Sichko told Yahoo Sports. “I thought it would be cool to buy a jersey that says 'Pope' on it.”
When the opportunity arose, Sichko handed Pope Francis a jersey with the number 23, marking Mark Pope's appointment as Kentucky's 23rd men's basketball coach, which apparently “pleased” Pope Francis.
“He was really fascinated by it,” Ms. Sichko said. “Normally he would give the gifts he received to his assistant to put in a plastic container, but this one was folded and placed on his lap. He was very interested in it.”
The Mark Pope era begins in Kentucky.
Mark Pope is a Kentucky graduate who played two seasons and three seasons in Lexington in the mid-1990s. Pope helped the Wildcats to their 1996 national championship season and began his coaching career after a nearly 10-year professional career.
He began his career at the University of Georgia under Mark Fox, then spent a season at Wake Forest before taking an assistant coaching job on Dave Rose's staff at BYU. Pope spent four seasons in Provo before getting his first opportunity as a head coach. Utah Valley gave him that chance, and although he didn't make the NCAA Tournament in his four seasons with the Wolverines, Pope ensured each season was better than the previous.
Utah Valley went 12-18 in Pope's first season, improved to 17-17 in his second year, 23-11 in his third year and 25-10 in his fourth year. Pope led Utah Valley to the College Basketball Invitational Tournament in each season. In his final three seasons, he became the first coach since the program moved to Division I and made three postseason appearances.
In addition to his experience as an assistant coach at BYU, his work at Utah Valley helped Rose get the job with the Cougars when he retired in 2019. In five seasons at BYU, Pope led the team to four 20-win seasons and two NCAA Tournament appearances. exterior. However, the Cougars failed to win a tournament game during Pope's tenure, and many fans paused when news broke of Pope's hiring at Kentucky.
Since taking over, Pope has been trying to build a roster that was decimated by the NBA Draft and John Calpari's departure to SEC foe Arkansas. Pope replaces the likes of Zvonimir Ivicic, Adu Tierro, DJ Wagner, Rob Dillingham and Reed Shepard, while Pope replaces the likes of West Virginia's Ker Kriisa, Drexel's Amari Williams and San Diego State's Lamont Butler. won the contract.
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