Former UK Basketball player, Mark Pope, was introduced as the new head coach at BYU on Wednesday.
Pope replaces Dave Rose who retired at the school after 14 seasons. Pope was actually an assistant on his staff from 2011-’15. After that he got his first head coaching job at Utah Valley State where he went 77-56 in four seasons. The last three year’s his teams played in the CBI Tournament.
Pope played for UK under Coach Rick Pitino and helped win a National Championship back in 1996. He received a ringing endorsement from his former coach at the end of the season.
With all of the job openings, someone should jump to hire Mark Pope. He has done a great job at Utah Valley. 5 star teacher, recruiter, and person. A superstar on the horizon.
— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) March 24, 2019
According to Dave Harmon of the Deseret News, Pope was reportedly also a candidate for head coaching jobs like Cal, UNLV and Georgia.
