The Wildcats seem set to bring in a Cougar.
Kentucky reportedly is closing in on the hire of BYU's Mark Pope as its next men's basketball coach, multiple reports said Thursday.
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Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports first broke Pope's candidacy for the Kentucky role earlier on Thursday prior to the current development.
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The 51-year-old Pope would replace John Calipari, who served as Kentucky's head coach for 15 seasons but recently left for Arkansas.
After playing collegiately at Washington from 1991-93, Pope joined Kentucky from 1994-96. He was a two-year starter and team captain who played a role in the Wildcats' 1996 national championship.
Pope has been BYU's head coach since 2019, owning a 110-52 (67.9%) win-loss record. The 2023-24 season was BYU's first in the Big 12 conference, and the Cougars went 23-11.
BYU, which entered the 2024 men's NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed, was upset in the first round by No. 11 Duquesne.
Pope previously worked as an assistant coach with Georgia (2009-10), Wake Forest (2010-11) and BYU (2011-15) before getting his first head-coaching gig with Utah Valley.
Pope also played in the NBA after being a No. 52 overall pick by the Indiana Pacers in the 1996 draft. Along with a few overseas stints, he played for the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets.
