Austin Pope named GA under Mark Pope at Kentucky

Mark Pope has already built a standout coaching staff at Kentucky with Alvin Brooks III, Cody Fueger, Jason Hart, Mikhail McLean and Mark Fox making up his assistants, Nick Robinson hired as Director of Men’s Basketball Operations and Randy Towner named Head Strength Coach. That’s a group featuring high-major playing and coaching experience, time in the NBA and some serious recruiting chops, a mix of up-and-comers and established vets.

He’s been calculated across the board, including his decision to bring Leander Ridgeway with him from BYU as a graduate assistant. The Lexington native was a First Team All-RSCS player at Asbury from 2019-21 and is seen as a rising star in the coaching ranks, a trusted resource Pope prioritized early when building his staff at Kentucky. And he’s added yet another grad assistant with similar promise as a coach.

Former Chaminade University of Honolulu point guard Austin Pope, a First Team All-Pacific West honoree, has joined Pope’s staff in Lexington going into the 2024-25 season.

Pope, a native of Burbank, California, announced the news on his social media pages.

The 6-6 guard was a star for the Silverswords as a senior, averaging 14.8 points, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 35.0 minutes per contest while leading the PacWest in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.7. He was also named Pacific West Newcomer of the Year and made the PacWest All-Tournament Team as a junior. Finishing his career ranked 14th all-time in total rebounds (418), Pope went on to play professionally in Denmark before joining the coaching ranks.

pic.twitter.com/FLlkaqaff9

— Austin Pope (@AustinPope_) June 5, 2023

A coach with BTI Basketball Club on the Puma Pro16 Circuit with other high school experience, Pope is ready to make the jump to college — and he’s doing it at the highest level with Kentucky.

The Pope movement is strong in Lexington going into the 2024-25 college basketball season.