New Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope talks to the media during his introductory press conference at Rupp Arena on Sunday, April 14, 2024. A packed house turned out for Pope’s introduction in Lexington. BY JOHN CLAY| UK ATHLETICS
On the first episode of the “Mark Pope Show” — that title will take some getting used to, eh? — the new Kentucky coach joked that things were a little lonely in the UK basketball offices during his first day on the job.
Pope, who was officially announced as the Wildcats’ head coach Friday, introduced to a capacity crowd of adoring fans in Rupp Arena on Sunday and began settling into his first work week in Lexington on Monday, said things were so quiet that UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart and department deputies Marc Hill and Rock Oliver came by to see him.
“Mitch and Marc and Rock by the end of the day were like, ‘Man, we think he’s lonely in there. Let’s just go congregate around.’ But it’ll get full of life and joy soon,” Pope said.
Indeed, those offices should start filling up rather quickly. There’s a bit more red tape involved with the hiring of assistant coaches and support staff than what comes with the process of bringing a new head coach to campus and letting him to get to work, but Pope should officially have some colleagues over at the Joe Craft Center soon, perhaps before the close of business Friday. “I’m really excited about the possibilities with the staff,” Pope said on the radio Monday night. “I have a couple guys that we’re right at the finish line of trying to finalize.
Hopefully we’ll get that done here in the next several days. And then we’ll kind of go from there. I’d like to put the core together and then kind of build out as we discover the spaces that we need to fill in. And there’s so many people in this business that I admire and trust and have been working with for a long time. “And so I’d like to finish that sooner rather than later, because today was super lonely sitting in the office with nobody there.
” Two of his former assistants at BYU — Cody Fueger and Keegan Brown — were linked to the possibility of following Pope to Lexington shortly after his hiring was made official Friday. Fueger has been an assistant under Pope for all nine of his seasons as a head coach, the first four at Utah Valley before spending the past five years together at BYU. He was also director of basketball operations at BYU while Pope was an assistant coach with the Cougars.
The Utah graduate was a student assistant there under Rick Majerus and has been credited as playing an instrumental role in helping Pope establish his highly efficient and fun-filled offensive approach at BYU in recent years. Fueger is expected to be part of the new Kentucky staff.
Brown held the title of “director of video and analytics strategy” at BYU, his alma mater, and was there, in various capacities, for all five seasons of the Pope era. Brown was responsible for film breakdown of games and practices, forming scouting reports and in-game approaches, as well as recruiting research — plus other duties — for a team that finished No. 14 in offensive efficiency in the KenPom ratings this past season and leaned heavily into analytics to form its exciting, 3-pointer-happy approach on offense.
He could follow Pope to UK, though the BYU grad would also have a spot on the new Cougars’ staff, and he could stay put in Provo. Another longtime Pope assistant is Nick Robinson, who was also on the new Kentucky coach’s staff for all five seasons at BYU. A former Stanford player, Robinson was mentioned among the candidates to replace Pope as BYU head coach, though that position is going to Phoenix Suns associate head coach Kevin Young, who could retain Robinson in Provo next season.
Another longtime Pope assistant is Nick Robinson, who was also on the new Kentucky coach’s staff for all five seasons at BYU. A former Stanford player, Robinson was mentioned among the candidates to replace Pope as BYU head coach, though that position is going to Phoenix Suns associate head coach Kevin Young, who could retain Robinson in Provo next season.
There’s also been a clamor among Kentucky fans — riding the high of nostalgia at the moment — to bring someone aboard with ties to the program. Pope’s college teammates include UMass associate head coach Allen Edwards and Mississippi State assistant Scott Padgett — both of whom have head coaching experience — as well as Oklahoma City Thunder director of team personnel Nazr Mohammed, who’s also the general manager of that club’s G League affiliate.
Former Saint Louis head coach Travis Ford was also one of Pope’s teammates at Kentucky. During his intro in Rupp Arena on Sunday, the new UK coach talked about building a coaching staff for the future amid an ever-changing basketball landscape. “It is so dynamic right now — the portal, NIL. Conference realignment has changed so quickly,” Pope said. “Building a staff now, you are not looking just for the skill sets, for just recruiting, but considering GM positions that navigate a roster. Considering NIL positions.”
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