Mark Pope, shown coaching at BYU, has been hired to take over at his alma mater – Kentucky. Pope replaces John Calipari, who resigned earlier this week and was hired by Arkansas. Charlie Riedel/Associated Press
Initially off the radar among Kentucky’s coaching targets, Mark Pope is now entrusted with maintaining the program’s gold standard.
Makes sense, since he helped do so as a player.
Kentucky hired the BYU coach to guide its men’s basketball program, bringing home a captain of the Wildcats’ 1996 national championship team to succeed John Calipari.
The school announced the 51-year-old Pope’s hiring in a release Friday morning but did not mention any contract details. He will be introduced at a Sunday afternoon news conference at Rupp Arena.
Pope replaces Calipari, a Hall of Famer who took Kentucky to its eighth NCAA title in 2012 among four Final Four appearances in 15 years. Kentucky hasn’t returned there since going 38-1 in 2015. Calipari stepped down on Tuesday and was introduced as Arkansas coach the next day.
Pope was 110-52 in five seasons with BYU, which went 23-11 in its first season in the Big 12 Conference and made the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four years.
He was 77-56 before that in four seasons at Utah Valley.
UCONN: Donovan Clingan is leaving college after two seasons and entering the NBA draft, the 7-foot-2 center announced, four days after he helped lead the Huskies to a second straight national title.
Clingan, a sophomore whose late mother, Stacey Porrini Clignan, played for UMaine, posted his decision on social media, saying that playing in the NBA has been a “lifelong dream.”
Projected as a likely top-10 draft picks, Clingan averaged 13 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks this season.
DUKE: Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain, Duke’s top two scorers, are both off to the NBA.
The two announced their decisions on social media.
Filipowski, a 7-foot sophomore from Westtown, New York, was named a second-team AP All-American after averaging a team-high 16.4 points. He also led the Blue Devils in rebounds (8.3 per game) and blocked shots.
McCain, a 6-3 freshman from Sacramento, California, averaged 14.3 points.
“But I’ve always been a dream chaser,” he said. “I’ve always been one to reach my goals and that next one is the NBA.”
Both Filipowski and McCain are projected to mid-first round selections in the NBA draft.
Duke finished 27-9 this season, advancing to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight where it lost to ACC rival North Carolina State.
UCLA: Adem Bona is leaving UCLA after two years to enter the NBA draft.
The sophomore from Lagos, Nigeria, announced his plans on his Instagram account.
Bona averaged 10.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks while starting 65 of 66 games over his two years in Westwood.
The 6-foot-10 forward-center was named All-Pac-12 and was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year this season. Bona earned Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors both seasons and was named the league’s Freshman of the Year in 2023.
He finished with 115 blocks, ranking sixth on UCLA’s career list. He was the first player since Dan Gadzuric in 2001 to have back-to-back seasons with at least 50 blocks.
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