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Mark Pope reveals how he has changed as a coach since his final game at BYU

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh05/01/25griffin_mcveigh
Mar 20, 2025; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks on during NCAA Tournament First Round Practice at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
Mar 20, 2025; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks on during NCAA Tournament First Round Practice at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

BYU‘s last game with Mark Pope as the head coach came in the NCAA Tournament, losing as a six-seed in the NCAA Tournament. A lot has changed since then, specifically for Pope. He is now back in Lexington, the place where his college days wrapped up, coaching Kentucky.

Pope was asked to dive into what exactly has changed over the past year, his first with the Wildcats. As most are today, his answer was about the bigger picture of college basketball and where the sport is heading. The goal for Pope is to make sure he and his staff are taking full advantage of the opportunity ahead of them.

“I hope that we’re all growing at an amazing clip,” Pope told Jon Rothstein. “I think my reverence for this game and what we’re experiencing in college basketball right now — we’re in the most dynamic period ever in the history of college basketball and in some ways, the path to continue forward gets murkier and murkier. I think, where we are, is we’re getting bolder and bolder as we push forward. You see all these changes. It’s just this field that’s ripe, full of opportunity, and we’re trying to seize on it every single moment.”

Kentucky certainly seized some of the moments Pope was able to produce during the 2024-2025 season. Beating Duke early on was an easy way to get Big Blue Nation to buy into the program. Wrapping things up with a Sweet Sixteen appearance is not too shabby either, even if rival Tennessee was on the winning end of the matchup.

Moving forward, the Wildcats already have some exciting pieces locked in for the upcoming season. Two top-30 high school prospects have signed with UK, headlined by point guard Jasper Johnson. Pope has been able to find an immense amount of success in the NCAA transfer portal too, having five commitments as of May 1. That’s maybe the area where Kentucky has been “bolder” in recent weeks to build up the roster.

If Pope were to have another conversation with Rothstein in late April 2026, who knows how the landscape of college basketball will look. Kentucky is just looking to take advantage of areas where they can at this point of the offseason. It worked out well in Pope’s first campaign and now, expectations are only going to grow for the Wildcats heading into the 2025-2026 season.