SEC Basketball

Kentucky men's basketball head coach Mark Pope says he understands what is expected at him as he steps into the shoes of Hall of Famer John Calipari.

That's to lead the Wildcats to wins not just in the NCAA Tournament but the SEC Tournament as well, Pope said during Sunday's official introduction at Rupp Arena.

"I understand the assignment," Pope said, per ESPN's Myron Medcalf. "We are here to win banners. As we go through this journey, we're here to win banners in Nashville, because you guys turn out in Nashville like nobody else and that matters. And our job here and our assignment is here to win banners in the Final Four, national championships. That's our job."

Kentucky last won the SEC Tournament in 2018.

The program most recently made it to the NCAA Tournament Final Four in 2015, and last claimed the national title in 2012.

Kentucky announced Pope's hiring Friday. He joins the Wildcats on a five-year deal worth $5.5 million per season, according to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports.

Pope, who won the 1996 NCAA title with Kentucky, previously coached BYU for five seasons. The Cougars made the NCAA Tournament last season during their first campaign in the Big 12.

He will now replace Calipari, who is leaving the program for Arkansas after 15 seasons.

Calipari led the Wildcats to seven Elite Eight appearances, four Final Four bids and the 2012 NCAA title during his tenure, but had not made it past the first round of the NCAA Tournament since 2019.

He said in a farewell post on X that Kentucky "probably needs to hear another voice" to make another championship run.

If the attendance at Sunday's introduction is any indication, fans believe Pope could be that voice. The arena, which seats more than 20,000, had to turn away 5,000 fans from the press conference, according to On3's Zack Geoghegan.

New Kentucky men's basketball head coach Mark Pope is returning to the school where he once captained the 1995-96 national championship winners.

On Sunday, UK introduced him as coach to the public in grand fashion by having the rest of the team return to Rupp Arena and walk out of a bus, with Pope hoisting that squad's trophy.

That legendary Wildcats team went 34-2 (16-0 in SEC) en route to winning its six NCAA tournament games by 21.5 points per outing. Pope, a 6'10" center, averaged 7.6 points and 5.2 rebounds on that squad.

Pope played professional basketball (mainly overseas) from 1996-2005 before joining the coaching ranks in 2009 as an assistant with Georgia. He got his first head coaching gig with Utah Valley in 2015 before leaving for BYU in 2019. His teams have finished 187-108 over nine seasons.

Now he's tasked with leading a UK program that was in search for a new leader following the end of the John Calipari era. Bringing in a champion in Pope certainly generates some goodwill as Kentucky looks for brighter days.

Before landing Mark Pope as John Calipari's replacement, the University of Kentucky reportedly attempted to contact Billy Donovan about becoming its head basketball coach.

Per The Athletic's Kyle Tucker and CBS Sports' Matt Norlander, the Wildcats got in touch with either Donovan or his representatives but the Chicago Bulls head coach decided not to pursue the job.

ESPN's Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello reported on Thursday that Pope was finalizing a five-year deal with Kentucky.

Donovan was one of several high-profile candidates linked to the Kentucky job in the wake of Calipari's decision to take the same position at Arkansas.

Other candidates who were expected to be contacted by Kentucky officials included Connecticut's Dan Hurley and Baylor's Scott Drew.

Hurley made it clear right away he wasn't interested in leaving the Huskies after winning back-to-back national titles.

CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein reported on Wednesday that Drew was going to meet with Kentucky at some point in the near future. The Baylor head coach was reportedly the top choice for Wildcats athletic director Mitch Barnhart.

Drew issued a statement on Thursday announcing he decided to remain with Baylor.

It's unclear how much interest Donovan would have had in the position. Norlander noted Kentucky didn't want to wait until the Bulls' season ended to potentially hire him.

The 58-year-old Donovan has ties to Kentucky. His first coaching job as an assistant on Rick Pitino's staff with the Wildcats from 1989 to '94.

Donovan has been coaching in the NBA since the 2015-16 season when he was hired by the Oklahoma City Thunder. He left the team after five seasons and was hired by the Bulls in September 2020.

Chicago has a 155-161 record with one playoff appearance and two play-in tournament berths in four seasons under Donovan. The Bulls will host the Atlanta Hawks in the play-in tournament on April 17.

Calipari left Kentucky after 15 seasons in the wake of an 80-76 loss to Oakland in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Pope, who played two seasons at Kentucky from 1994 to '96, went 23-11 at BYU during the 2023-24 season. He has a 187-101 record in nine seasons as a college head coach.

BYU's Mark Pope is reportedly on the verge of landing one of the most high-profile jobs in all of college sports.

According to ESPN's Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello, Kentucky is finalizing a five-year deal to hire Pope as the school's next men's basketball coach.

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports previously reported the Wildcats were "set to hire" Pope.

The Kentucky job was open because John Calipari shockingly left to take over as the head coach of Arkansas in early April. It was the biggest domino in a chain of events that saw Andy Enfield leave USC for SMU, Eric Musselman leave Arkansas for USC and Calipari take over the Razorbacks.

Thamel and Borzello reported on April 7 that Calipari's base salary was expected to be slightly less than the $8.5 million he made at Kentucky, although it would feature incentives that would allow him to surpass that mark at Arkansas.

While Arkansas is not on the same level as Kentucky when it comes to a history of men's basketball success, things had grown somewhat stale between Calipari and the program.

Kentucky hasn't been to a Sweet 16 since the 2018-19 campaign and lost to 15th-seeded Saint Peter's in the first round of the 2022 NCAA tournament and 14th-seeded Oakland in the first round of the 2024 Big Dance.

The Wildcats also haven't won an SEC regular-season crown since 2019-20 and haven't won the conference tournament since the 2017-18 season.

That may not be an especially long stretch for most programs, but Kentucky is different. This is one of the gold standards of the sport and played accordingly early in Calipari's tenure when he reached four Final Fours and won a national championship during his first six seasons.

He also won the SEC regular-season title in five of his first eight years and the SEC tournament crown in six of his first nine years.

Returning to that standard is the goal for Pope, and Kentucky fans will surely accept nothing less.

Fortunately for the Wildcats, he knows what it takes to succeed at this program better than most. He was a senior center for the 1995-96 Wildcats team that won the national championship.

He has also found some success as a coach and went 110-52 the past five seasons leading BYU. The Cougars made two NCAA tournaments during his tenure and would have made a third if the 2020 edition wasn't canceled because of COVID-19, although they struggled in the Big Dance.

They lost in the first round in 2021 to 11th-seeded UCLA and the first round again this past season to 11th-seeded Duquesne.

That won't cut it at Kentucky, but he will have no shortage of resources and the ability to attract the nation's best prospects at his alma mater. That should help him keep the program near the top of the sport even with a head-turning coaching change.

BYU men's basketball head coach Mark Pope has emerged as a candidate to possibly fill Kentucky's current vacancy, according to CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein.

Pope has nine years of head coaching experience at the collegiate level and has been with BYU since the 2019-20 season. He owns a career record of 187-108.

The Wildcats' head coaching job opened after former coach John Calipari surprisingly left to join Arkansas. Calipari had served as Kentucky's head coach since he was hired in 2009.

Pope's relationship with Kentucky goes back to his playing days, as he spent three years with the school from 1993 through 1996 which included a redshirt season. He was a member of the Wildcats' title-winning team in 1996, appearing in 69 total games and making 14 starts under former head coach Rick Pitino.

Pope has fond memories of his Kentucky days, explaining that "any year you get to spend there is a gift" in a 2020 interview (h/t On3.com).

"If I could have had two redshirt years I would have taken them," Pope added. "But for me also, the fervor around that program, the noise around it is just so fantastic."

Following an impressive head coaching stint at Utah Valley University, the former Wildcat has experienced similar levels of success at BYU since he was hired in 2019. The Cougars have made NCAA tournament appearances in two of the past four years, including one in a 2023-24 season that also represented their first year in the Big 12.

Although BYU's March Madness run ended early with a first-round loss to a No. 11 seed Duquesne team, Pope's résumé still speaks for itself.

Kentucky will likely focus on Pope with UConn's Dan Hurley, Alabama's Nate Oats, and Baylor head coach Scott Drew seemingly no longer in the running for the job.

UConn men's basketball head coach Dan Hurley doesn't appear to be interested in Kentucky's current vacancy.

There is a "0 percent chance" that Hurley will leave the Huskies and join the Wildcats, according to CBS Sports' Matt Norlander. That stance likely won't change regardless of Kentucky's possible contract offer.

"They could offer $20 million a year and he wouldn't go," an anonymous source said regarding Hurley joining Kentucky, via Norlander.

The Wildcats' vacancy began when longtime head coach John Calipari left the school and joined Arkansas.

As for Hurley, he's coming off UConn's second consecutive national championship. The Huskies became the first team to win two straight national titles since Florida in 2006 and 2007. UConn was dominant during the entire year and especially throughout March Madness, winning each one of its NCAA tournament games by a double-digit margin.

In fact, the Huskies suffered just three total losses during their 2023-24 campaign. Given the program's immense success since Hurley took over, it's easy to see why Kentucky would covet the decorated coach.

It appears that he's more focused on potentially bringing a third straight title to Stamford rather than joining an opponent, telling Kyle Tucker of The Athletic that there's "no way" he would entertain the Kentucky job.

UConn athletic director David Benedict also didn't seem worried about Hurley joining the Wildcats.

"The market is the market and Kentucky is obviously Kentucky, but last time I checked, we won the last two national championships and we've got six of them," Benedict said, via Tucker. "So I think UConn is a pretty good job and Dan's doing an unbelievable job."

With Hurley seemingly out of the running, Kentucky will look elsewhere for Calipari's replacement. Alabama head coach Nate Oats and Baylor's Scott Drew also turned down the opportunity to coach the Wildcats in 2024.

As for Hurley, he'll focus on helping the Huskies as they attempt to maintain their status as one of college basketball's modern dynasties.

The Kentucky program is one of the gold standards in all of men's college basketball, but its coaching search is not exactly going according to plan after John Calipari departed for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Basketball insider Adam Zagoria relayed a text message from another college basketball coach on Thursday, which said, "It's getting embarrassing, Danny no, Nate no, Scott no !!! People understand how difficult that job is and they don't want to follow CAL !!!!"

The text referenced UConn's Dan Hurley, Alabama's Nate Oats and Baylor's Scott Drew all turning down the job. It also came after Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported Drew elected to stay with the Bears.

Hurley seemed like the best candidate after leading UConn to back-to-back national titles, but he told Colin Cowherd of FS1 he was solely focused on going for a three-peat:

"I've come a long way since being a high school coach 15 years ago," he also said. "I've got a long career of turning down jobs or more money to stay in places where I was happy or fit me."

As for Oats, he said he is "fully committed" to Alabama and has no plans on leaving:

Drew was the latest domino and now leaves the Wildcats in something of an uncomfortable position as they search for their next head coach.

While things didn't go particularly well for Calipari during the latter portion of his tenure at Kentucky with first-round NCAA tournament losses to 15th-seeded Saint Peter's in 2022 and 14th-seeded Oakland in 2024, he still found plenty of success as a national champion who reached four Final Fours and won six SEC regular-season titles and six SEC tournament crowns.

This is also a Kentucky program with eight national championships and 17 Final Four appearances that consistently sends players to the NBA.

It would seemingly be a dream job for many coaches, but the high-profile ones the Wildcats have targeted have not jumped at the opportunity.

It is still early in the process with seemingly other candidates to sort through, but at least one college basketball coach believes the process has already turned into a problem for the SEC powerhouse.

Baylor's Scott Drew declined Kentucky's offer to replace John Calipari as the Wildcats men's basketball coach and will remain with the Bears.

Drew issued a statement on Thursday confirming he will continue at Baylor:

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports first reported Drew became the latest candidate to rebuff Kentucky's interest. UConn coach Dan Hurley, former Villanova coach Jay Wright and Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan have all publicly declined interest in the opening this week.

Drew was seen as not only a top target but also a realistic one. He has a friendship with Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart, and Drew and his family visited Lexington on Wednesday. Ultimately, Drew decided to stay at Baylor, a program he's built in his image since taking the job in his mid-30s.

Drew has only been to the Final Four once in 21 seasons at Baylor but made the most of the opportunity, winning the 2021 national championship. He has a 446-244 overall record during his tenure.

Calipari left Kentucky this week to take the head coaching job at Arkansas, a move that rocked the college basketball world. Calipari reached the Final Four four times and won the 2012 national championship at Kentucky, finishing his tenure with the second-most wins for a coach in program history (410).

Kentucky will now go back to the drawing board with a job that ranks among the most coveted in college basketball but also has massive shoes to fill. The yearly churn of Kentucky's recruitment style requires a quick search to help salvage some of the 2024 recruiting class.

Jayden Quaintance, a 5-star forward, already reopened his recruitment, as did 4-star center Somto Cyril.

Recruit rankings via 247Sports.

Let the John Calipari era at Arkansas begin.

The Razorbacks' new men's basketball head coach was introduced to his new school during a Wednesday press conference, and he didn't hold back. Notably, he stressed that he accepted the position to build a team with "a dream and a burning desire to compete for championships."

Calipari also said he became "excited" thinking about building the program into a consistent winner:

Arkansas fans are surely excited as well.

While Calipari's tenure at Kentucky grew somewhat stale of late with stunning first-round NCAA tournament losses to 15th-seeded Saint Peter's in 2022 and 14th-seeded Oakland in 2024, he still has quite the history of winning.

He won a national championship, six SEC regular-season titles and six SEC tournament championships while reaching four Final Fours during his time with the Wildcats. Prior to that, he won seven Conference USA regular-season titles and four conference tournament crowns at Memphis, as well as five Atlantic 10 regular-season titles and five conference tournament championships at UMass.

Calipari also reached a Final Four at UMass and Memphis, underscoring his ability to win at programs that aren't on the same level as Kentucky.

Arkansas isn't on the same level as Kentucky historically, but Calipari said it is still an elite job:

The Razorbacks position was open because Eric Musselman left for USC this offseason. While he didn't win any SEC titles during his five seasons, he did guide the team to back-to-back Elite Eights in 2021 and 2022 and a Sweet 16 in 2023.

Arkansas has enjoyed some recent success, but Calipari said he still has plenty of work to do before the focus shifts to winning on the court.

"I gotta put a roster together," he said. "You're laughing—it's not funny. I just met with the team. There were three guys in there, and they were in the portal. So, we got work to do."

He will focus on culture as he is putting that roster together:

Arkansas will now be firmly under the spotlight at the start of the 2024-25 season, as Calipari is one of the biggest names in the sport and just switched schools inside the SEC. Kentucky fans surely won't be so welcoming when the Razorbacks face the Wildcats on the road, but fans of his new program embraced him during Wednesday's press conference.

Five-star center Jayden Quaintance, ranked eighth overall on the 247Sports composite list of class of 2024 high school men's basketball players, has requested his release from his letter of intent to Kentucky.

Quaintance's father revealed the news to 247Sports Director of Basketball Eric Bossi.

The request comes in the wake of ex-Kentucky head coach John Calipari leading the Wildcats for Arkansas. Per Brandon Jenkins of 247Sports, "the expectation is for Quaintance to follow Calipari to Fayetteville and commit to the Razorbacks."

Quaintance initially committed to UK last November and said that Calipari's influence played a key factor.

"They've had guard success, but they've had good success with bigs, a lot more than other colleges. Coach (John) Calipari has been showing a lot of love, and Coach Chin (Coleman), too," Quaintance told On3's Joe Tipton. "Coach Cal has already come to Word of God twice to see me. We've been able to build a good relationship."

Naturally, with Calipari now gone, Quaintance is looking to head elsewhere. He visited Missouri, Florida, Ohio State and USF before getting his list down to UK or Missouri.

The Tigers could certainly be in play again, but it won't be a shock whatsoever to see Quaintance follow Coach Cal to Arkansas, especially given his previous comments.

Quaintance is a 6'9", 230-pound center who played ball at Word Of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina. He reclassified from the class of 2025 and doesn't turn 18 until July 2025.

In other words, he'll need to play two years post-high school before heading to the pros, so the potentially NBA-bound star could be a huge addition for any program that lands him given that he could be around for two seasons instead of perhaps just one.