Rick Pitino: Mark Pope would be an 'unbelievable choice' for Kentucky

Mark Pope has Rick Pitino’s endorsement for the Kentucky job. On Thursday, the former Kentucky head coach campaigned for Pope to be the prestigious program’s next head coach.

“I love Mark Pope and his family and he would be an unbelievable choice,” Pitino said, per NJ Advance Media.

CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein first reported Pope as a potential target in Kentucky’s coaching search on Thursday. Kentucky also reportedly reached out to Baylor’s Scott Drew and UConn’s Dan Hurley, who both turned down the opening.

Pope is no stranger to Kentucky fans. After starting his playing career at Washington, he transferred to Kentucky and played a pivotal role on Pitino’s 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. After a string of multiple other jobs, Pope landed the head coaching position at BYU.

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. If it was up to Pitino, Pope would have a chance to lead Kentucky to similar success.

Coach K gives hot take on John Calipari’s decision

While Kentucky is now deep into a heated coaching search, others are still questioning the initial fallout with head coach John Calipari. After a loss to No. 14 seed Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Calipari received significant backlash from Kentucky fans.

The criticism along with a lucrative offer from Arkansas led to Calipari leaving Lexington, Ky. Former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski believes Kentucky fans may have been too quick to give up on Calipari.

“I think he did a great job at Kentucky,” Krzyzewski said on Sirius XM Sports Radio. “You know, the difference — It’s very difficult winning a National Championship. Connecticut seem to make it like it wasn’t these last two years, but a lot of times you’re one play away, or 30 seconds away. And I’ll bet if you could give John a minute — he would have won two more national championships.

“You know, I remember being asked one time, ‘What’s the difference between being a winner and a champion?’ And I said one play. I mean, I can be a winner but not be a champion because you hit the shot that I defended you on. But I’m proud of what John did, and I wish him the best at Arkansas.”

On3’s Barkley Truax also contributed to this article.