Mark Pope, a captain of the University of Kentucky’s 1996 national championship team, returned to Lexington in April 2024 as the 23rd head coach of the Wildcats’ storied men’s basketball program. His first two seasons brought NCAA Tournament appearances, victories over highly ranked teams and an offense built around ball movement, balanced scoring, and 3-point shooting.
Kentucky finished 24-12 in Pope’s inaugural season and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Working with an entirely new roster, he guided the Wildcats to the tournament’s second weekend despite injuries that repeatedly disrupted the lineup. Kentucky became the first team in more than 20 years with no returning points from the previous season to reach that stage.
Mark Pope.
2024 Men’s Basketball Staff Headshots.
Photo by Eddie Justice | UK Athletics
The Wildcats recorded eight victories over Associated Press Top 15 teams, matching the highest single-season total in college basketball history. Five wins came against top 10 teams, setting a Kentucky record. The Wildcats remained in the AP Top 25 throughout the season and finished ranked No. 12.
Pope’s offensive approach produced results across several measures. Kentucky finished among the nation’s top 10 teams in offensive efficiency, ranked seventh in scoring, and set a school record with 341 made 3-pointers. For the first time in program history, six Wildcats averaged double figures, underscoring the depth and balance of the attack.
In his second season, Kentucky went 22-14 and reached the NCAA Tournament’s second round. Injuries again limited the roster for much of the year, but the Wildcats continued to compete successfully against top competition. They earned five victories over AP Top 25 teams and were among just five teams nationally with at least five wins over teams in KenPom’s top 20, with only one loss to a team ranked 40th or lower. Kentucky also went 7-3 in games decided by two possessions or fewer.
Before returning to his alma mater, Pope spent five seasons at BYU, compiling a 110-52 record and earning two NCAA Tournament appearances. He guided the program through its first season in the Big 12 Conference, maintaining the productive offense and emphasis on passing and perimeter shooting that became hallmarks of his teams.
His head coaching career began at Utah Valley University, where the team improved its win total in each of his four seasons, culminating in a school-record 25 victories in his final year. Across 11 total seasons as a head coach, Pope has compiled a 233-134 record, with at least 20 wins in eight of the last nine seasons.
Pope began his collegiate playing career at the University of Washington before transferring to Kentucky. Selected in the second round of the1996 NBA Draft, Pope played professionally through 2005. He completed two years of medical school at Columbia before assistant coaching stints at Georgia, Wake Forest and BYU, before becoming a head coach.
A 1996 Kentucky graduate with an English degree, Pope and his wife, Lee Anne, have four daughters.
Rotary in Review
Coach Pope Talks Talent, Tradition, and Teamwork
Continuing a tradition started in 1971 when he introduced Adolph Rupp to the Rotary Club of Lexington, Rotarian Jim Host welcomed University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope to a sold-out meeting on October 8. Host, who has known Pope since his UK playing days, described him as a man of integrity and a devoted family man whose only fault is caring too much about Kentucky basketball. Host turned the meeting over to Tom Leach, the Voice of the Wildcats, who led the question-and-answer session.
Pope, captain of Kentucky’s 1996 NCAA championship team, played for Rick Pitino, who often said, “You are never as good as you think you are, and you are never as bad as you think you are.” Pope quipped that he and his teammates never heard the second half of that saying. He credited Pitino with resurrecting UK basketball with “The Unforgettables,” who passed the winning tradition on to the 1996 team.
When asked about his most memorable moment at this year’s Big Blue Madness, Pope didn’t mention the smoke, fireworks, player introductions, three-point shooting, or dunk contests. Instead, he recalled standing on a two-foot-by-two-foot disc and being raised 20 feet into the air. He joked that UK’s new athletic director was trying to kill him!
Pope noted that virtually every NBA team was represented at this year’s Pro Day. He described this season’s roster as heavy on guards who can create scoring opportunities, adding that “length is our strength.” He said this year’s team will be hard to defend with elite shooters like Milan Momcilovic on the roster. He praised Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins, and Justin McBride for their play at Pro Day.
Pope highlighted several other players to watch. He described Senegalese native Ousmane N’Diaye as both a sweet and gentle individual and a ferocious rebounder but warned the audience against saying anything critical to him about soccer. He singled out Lexington native Jerone Morton, who previously played at Washington State University and earned his way to UK without NIL money. Despite an injury, Pope said, Morton will be a force to contend with. Pope also praised Kentuckian Trent Noah and teammates Mason Williams, Malachi Moreno, and Frank Kepnang as special players.
Asked about artificial intelligence, Pope said the program uses analytics extensively, although using them in greater depth yields diminishing returns. He closed the Q&A session with a tease: A rematch with Pitino’s St. John’s team is in the works at a spectacular venue he cannot yet announce. And finally, he also reminded Rotarians and guests to bet on the horse named Coach Pope in the Breeders’ Cup at the end of October.
Our money is on Coach Mark Pope, the man, for a successful 2026-27 season!
— Paul B. Chewning | Photo by Bill Straus