Report: BYU coach Mark Pope emerges as candidate for Kentucky head coaching job

BYU head coach Mark Pope is a “candidate” for the open Kentucky head coach position, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported. The report comes after multiple high-profile coaches took their names out of consideration.

Pope is no stranger to Kentucky fans. After starting his playing career at Washington, he was on the 1996 team that won the national championship. After becoming a second-round pick in the NBA Draft and playing professionally for nine years, he turned to coaching as an assistant at Georgia in 2006.

BYU is coming off a 23-11 overall record this past season, including a 10-8 mark in its first Big 12 season. All told, the Cougars have a 110-52 record since Pope took over the program in 2019.

Kentucky’s search is taking some new turns as the quest to find John Calipari’s replacement continues. Baylor head coach Scott Drew was an early favorite for the role, but announced his plans to stay in Waco. That meant Dan Hurley was the next call, according to KSR’s Matt Jones, but he made his desire to stay at UConn quite clear after winning back-to-back titles.

Now, UK could turn to the NBA for a former assistant who also won back-to-back national championships. Billy Donovan could be next in line, although he’s currently coaching the Chicago Bulls, who have three games left in the season before a play-in game against the Atlanta Hawks next week. That means Kentucky would have to wait to make a hire.

Donovan previously indicated he was happy in the NBA and reaffirmed his commitment to the Bulls last week. But according to The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman, the chances of a college return could be getting higher. He put the number at 25% now and said roster construction is a big reason why.

“What [the people close to Donovan] say is the one reason why he might do it is because what you don’t have in the NBA is control of your roster,” Goodman shared. “What you do have in college is control of the roster. And his roster obviously hasn’t been good enough the last few years.

“The other thing is, you’re not going to get another shot at a job like Kentucky. This is it for you, because whoever gets the job now is going to be there at least five years, maybe more. So this is your only shot if you’re going to do it.”

The Bulls were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference in January 2022 when point guard Lonzo Ball went down with an injury. Since then, it’s been a rough go, and Chicago lost in the first round of the playoffs that year. The Bulls also never found a true answer at point guard after Ball’s injury kept him out for more than two years.

While they’ve still been able to make back-to-back play-in tournaments, 2022 remains Donovan’s only playoff appearance in Chicago. Still, he received an extension prior to last season.