Mark Pope receives automatic one-year contract extension, $250,000 raise for Sweet 16 berth

Big Blue Nation is happy to have Mark Pope as their basketball team’s head coach, especially after his first season back with the program. That finish has now earned him another season in Lexington.

Per team officials at UK, Pope has earned a one-year extension at Kentucky with the Wildcats having reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. With that will come a raise of $250,000 on that additional season.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported on that news this morning per team officials at the school. KSR’s Jack Pilgrim also noted that following their win in the Round of 32 based on his public contract’s details.

The 2024-25 season couldn’t have gone much better for Pope in his debut season as head coach. Kentucky went 24-12 overall and 10-8 in the historic edition of the SEC, with eight of those wins against the Top 15 in the AP Poll, tying a record in the NCAA. The Wildcats posted that with wins over teams like Duke and Gonzaga, as well as Louisville in the non-conference, plus victories over Florida, Tennessee twice, Texas A&M, Missouri, and Mississippi State in league play.

The Wildcats then had their most postseason success in six seasons. After finishing sixth in the conference, they won a game in the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2022, and then won two more against No. 14 Troy and No. 6 Illinois, to reach the second weekend of March Madness for the first time since 2019. Kentucky then lost to Tennessee in a third matchup of the season in the Sweet 16.

That’s all even more notable considering the circumstances before and during the season for UK. With the departure of John Calipari and the hire of Pope, Kentucky had to put together an all-new staff and roster, with nine transfers and three freshmen, from nothing. They then dealt with several notable injuries throughout, namely season-ending ones for Jaxson Robinson and Kerr Kriisa and a lingering issue for Lamont Butler.

Still, the Wildcats managed to achieve all that and now look to their future, which now is extended an additional season, under Pope. That’ll start with Year Two for Pope having big expectations based on the expected returns of five players, specifically the like of Otega Oweh, Brandon Garrison, and Collin Chandler, a Top 10 recruiting class with three, four-star signees, and what’s currently the No. 1 class in the transfer portal per On3 with four commitments for now.

Considering all things, Pope had about as great of a first season as he could have, now back in the bluegrass. He, as well as the fanbase, is expecting that to be just the start for the Pope tenure, though, with him set to be there through the remainder of this decade with this extension.