Mark Pope
Mark Pope (born September 11, 1972)
Current position: Head men’s basketball coach
Current team: Kentucky Wildcats
Current conference: Southeastern Conference (SEC)
Utah Valley record: 77-56 (.579)
BYU record: 110-52 (.679)
Kentucky record: 0-0 (.000)
Overall record: 187-108 (.634)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 2 (2021, 2024)
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 1 (2022)
- CBI Appearances: 3 (2017, 2018, 2019)
- SEC Regular Season Champion: 0
- SEC Tournament Champion: 0
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2024-present | Kentucky |
| 2019-2024 | BYU |
| 2015-2019 | Utah Valley |
| 2011-2015 | BYU (asst) |
| 2010-2011 | Wake Forest (asst) |
| 2009-2010 | Georgia (asst) |
Mark Pope Facts
- Mark Edward Pope
- Born September 11, 1972
- Hometown: Bellevue, Washington
- Alma Mater: University of Kentucky (BA, 1996)
- Started playing career at Washington, playing two seasons for head coach Lynn Nance, before transferring to Kentucky in 1993
- After sitting out a year, Pope played his final two seasons under Rick Pitino; was captain of the 1996 NCAA title team
- Drafted in second round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers; played in six seasons in the NBA as well in Turkey
- Played in the NBA for the Pacers (1997-99), Bucks (2000-02) and Nuggets (2003-05) with the Bucks and Denver Nuggets
- Started medical school at Columbia in 2006 after retiring from playing, but left in 2009 to start his coaching career
- Spent one year as an assistant under Mark Fox at Georgia and then one year under Jeff Bzdelik at Wake Forest
- Joined Dave Rose‘s staff at BYU in 2011, working an as assistant with the Cougars for four seasons
- Hired in March 2015 to be the new head coach at Utah Valley
- Led the Wolverines to the CBI three times in his four years at UVU
- Left in April 2018 to return to BYU as the Cougars’ new head coach
- Won 20+ games in each of his first three seasons, leading the program back to the NCAA Tournament in 2021
- Returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2024 after the team’s first season in the Big 12
- In April 2024, Pope was hired as the new head coach at alma mater Kentucky on a five-year deal
- Along with his wife, Lee Anne, has four daughters; wife’s father was the late Lynn Archibald, head coach at Utah for six seasons
Mark Pope Coaching Tree
- Kahil Fennell (UTRGV)
