Mark Pope made Rupp Arena his home in front of crowds of Kentucky fans back in the 90s. In 2024, he will now appear in front of that same crowd in that same arena as they welcome him in as the new head coach of their program.
AD Mitch Barnhart said on KSR on Friday morning that Pope’s introductory press conference would likely be set for Sunday. KSR’s Matt Jones has since confirmed those details with the presser available to the public at the Wildcats’ home court in Lexington on Sunday at 4:30 p.m..
Pope officially became the 23rd head coach of Kentucky on Friday. This comes after a three-year career as a player with the Wildcats from 1993 to 1996, a span in which he won a national title in 1996 as a senior captain on The Untouchables. It also comes after a nine-year coaching career at Utah Valley and BYU.
In that near decade with the Wolverines and Cougars, Pope has an overall record of 187-108 (.634). His teams haven’t won any conference titles nor did BYU win any games in the NCAA Tournament in their pair of appearances under him. As far as the postseason, his teams are a combined 8-9 in the WAC, WCC, and Big 12 Tournaments, 4-3 in the CBI, and 2-1 in the NIT.
Pope’s name reached legitimacy in the Wildcats’ coaching search on Thursday afternoon following denials by Baylor’s Scott Drew and UConn’s Dan Hurley. It then became serious by the night with Barnhart zeroing in on him as the choice to replace John Calipari.
Initial fan reaction to that choice was frustration to say the very least. Still, as Friday has continued, it appears more across the bluegrass are now into the idea of this hire than there seemed to be to begin with.
Now, with that being the case, Big Blue Nation, along with media members, have the chance to welcome one of their own in style at his introduction on Sunday evening.
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