Kentucky Has Reportedly Found John Calipari Replacement, and It’s a Surprise

The Kentucky Wildcats basketball program has reportedly found its John Calipari replacement.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the team is closing in on hiring former BYU head coach Mark Pope. Thamel says the deal is expected to come together in the near future.

Pope, 51, has been the head coach at Brigham Young University since 2019. Since joining BYU, the program has gone 110-52, good for a winning percentage of .679. They’ve made the NCAA Tournament twice — in 2020-21 and this past season — and they likely would have made it in 2019-20 had the tournament been held (it was cancelled due to COVID-19).

Pope was a part of the Cougars’ move to the Big 12 this past season, where they went 23-11 overall, 10-8 in conference play and made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed. However, they lost to No. 11 Duquesne in upset fashion in the first round.

Before taking over at BYU, Pope was the head coach at Utah Valley from 2015-19. He put together losing seasons in his first two years, before winning 23 and 25 games, respectively, in his final two seasons at the helm.

Pope was born in Omaha, Nebraska and attended Washington and Kentucky for college. He played four seasons of college basketball — two at each school — and was a part of the 1996 National Title-winning Wildcats squad. That year, Pope played just over 20 minutes per game as a senior, and scored 7.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Pope was drafted in the second round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers, and played parts of six seasons in the NBA with the Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets. Across 153 career games, the forward averaged 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.

Assuming he’s hired, Pope would be the 23rd head coach in Kentucky basketball history, and has some pretty big shoes to fill. Calipari, who took a job at fellow SEC school Arkansas, spent the last 15 seasons at Kentucky, where he went 410-123, good for a winning percentage of .769.

With Calipari at the helm, Kentucky made the NCAA Tournament 12 out of 14 times, and made the Sweet 16 eight times. The Wildcats made four Final Fours, two Finals and won one Championship in 2011-12.

Kentucky has struggled the last three tournaments, though, losing in the Round of 64 twice, and the Round of 32 once. This past season, the Wildcats lost to the No. 14-seeded Oakland Golden Grizzlies as a No. 3 seed. In the 2021-22 season, they lost to No. 15 Saint Peters in the first round as a No. 2 seed, before Saint Peters made it all the way to the Elite Eight.

Kentucky is one of the most storied college basketball programs ever, having won the second-most titles in NCAA men’s basketball history with eight. They only trail UCLA, who has won 11.