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Kentucky is set to hire Mark Pope as their head coach, multiple outlets report.
Breaking news: Kentucky has lined up BYU's Mark Pope to be its next coach, sources tell @CBSSports. Nothing is signed at this hour but the sides are quickly working toward a deal and hope to get it done by the end of the night.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) April 12, 2024
Sources: Kentucky is targeting BYU coach Mark Pope to be the school’s next coach. A deal is expected to come together in the near future. pic.twitter.com/xpCnGk34a9
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 12, 2024
Kentucky has focused its search on BYU head coach and former Wildcats player Mark Pope, source told @TheFieldOf68.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 12, 2024
Pope is an alumni of Kentucky and won the national title there in 1996. Sources told me that Rick Pitino and multiple prominent alumni were heavily pushing Kentucky to hire Pope.
Pope leaves BYU after five seasons and a season after which BYU blew out expectations. BYU was picked to finish 13th in the Big 12, but finished in the top half of the league and made the NCAA tournament, which cultimated in a NCAA Tournament loss to Duquense.
Honestly, I have no ill will towards Pope. He is going to his dream job and proved that BYU can compete in the Big 12.
What happens next?
Where does BYU go from here? I’ll publish a piece shortly of who BYU could turn to. For now, every player is a candidate to enter the transfer portal — that’s what happens when a coach leaves. However, sources did tell me that players signed contracts earlier today with the Royal Blue Collective. That doesn’t mean they won’t transfer, but they have money lined up for them to stay at BYU.
Incoming recruit Collin Chandler is also a big question mark. He has been locked into BYU, but a huge reason he chose BYU was because of Pope. BYU’s next hire will play a huge factor into Collin’s decision and every other player.
My first reaction is that Aly Khalifa and Noah Waterman are the two most likely candidates to hit the portal soon. Every other player is a candidate as well, but I think every other player (not excluding Jaxson Robinson) could potentially stay at BYU depending on who the next hire is.
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