New Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope has a fan in Rick Pitino.
Pitino, the St. John’s head coach, declared Friday in a video posted on X that Pope will “go into greatness” and lead the Wildcats to a national title after he was hired to replace longtime coach John Calipari, who departed for Arkansas.
“What a special day for the University of Kentucky, the leader the captains of the untouchables is coming home to lead the wildcats,” Pitino said in the video, naming other coaches, past and present. “A lot of people out there talk about Jay Wright [former Villanova], Danny Hurley [UConn], Billy Donovan [Bulls], they all had their trials and tribulations early on, but Mark Pope went into the Big 12 this year and beat Kansas [76-68 on Feb. 27] as Kansas beat Baylor at home, and in his first year made it to the NCAA.
“Mark Pope offensively, no one does it better. The way his teams move, the way his teams shoot the three. The ball movement, the player movement is outstanding. What you don’t realize is it took Jay Wright 11 years to finally get an NCAA win. Billy Donovan was at Marshall for two years, didn’t have an NCAA appearance — he went on to greatness.
“Mark Pope will go onto greatness, you can put it down.”
Pitino, 71, was the head coach of Kentucky’s 1996 national championship team that included Pope, now 51, as a captain.
Pitino went on to praise Pope — who spent five years at BYU before returning to his alma mater — for his incredible basketball mind and recruiting abilities.
“Well I can guarantee one thing, nobody epitomizes the name Kentucky on the front of the jersey more than Mark Pope,” Pitino continued. “What some of you don’t realize is what good of a basketball mind he has and how much of a relentless recruiter he will be.
“Now, recruiting is different today. We’re now coaching all pros. The NIL has taken away amateur basketball and has made them professional athletes. I’m sure Kentucky is going to have a strong NIL. You have one of the premiere young coaches in the league, relish it because he will do you proud.
“I know I sit here today at St. John’s and I couldn’t be any more prouder than to see Mark Pope lead the Kentucky Wildcats to another championship. He’ll get it done. He’s got the right stock, he’s got a beautiful family and he absolutely loves Kentucky across his chest. Get it done, Mark, I love ya. You’re going to do a fabulous job.”
Kentucky announced Pope as its new head coach on Friday and acknowledged both his history with the Wildcats and recruiting prowess.
“He fully embraces our high expectations and standards and I know that as our fans get reacquainted with Mark, they will be eager to join him on what promises to be an exciting ride,” UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said, in part.
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Pope is coming off a 23-11 campaign this season, which marked BYU’s first season in the Big 12 Conference, and a second NCAA Tournament appearance, where the Cougars lost to Duquesne in the first round.
In five seasons at BYU, Pope tallied a 110-51 record.
“The University of Kentucky is the pinnacle of coaching in college basketball. It’s the definition of blueblood program where hanging a banner is the expectation every year,” Pope said. “Equally as important, UK changed my life forever as a human being. The love and passion I have for this program, this University and the people of the Commonwealth goes to the depth of my soul.”
Calipari, who spent 15 years as head coach of the Wildcats, left for SEC rival Arkansas earlier this week — saying in a farewell video that it was time Kentucky had a “new voice” as head coach.
Prior to the Pope hire, Kentucky had interest in Baylor coach Scott Drew, who turned them down Thursday to stay put with the Bears.
A second-round pick by the Pacers in the 1996 NBA Draft, Pope went on to play six seasons that featured stints with the Bucks, Knicks and Nuggets.
Pope started 45 games for Milwaukee in 2000-01 and helped the Bucks reach the Eastern Conference finals that year.
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