On Thursday night, Kentucky agreed to terms on a deal that’ll make Mark Pope its next head coach.
Kentucky was linked to Billy Donovan and Scott Drew before completely turning its attention over to Pope.
According to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, Kentucky sent Pope a five-year deal that’ll pay him an average of $5.5 million per season. That salary doesn’t include incentives.
For comparison’s sake, John Calipari made $8.5 million during the 2023-24 season. To be fair, he has accomplished a lot more so far as a head coach.
Although some people thought Kentucky hiring Pope was a rash decision, it turns out the program showed interest in him a few days ago.
“Mitch Barnhart ID’d Mark Pope as a candidate for the UK job three days ago, per a source,” Norlander wrote. “This was not an impromptu decision on Thursday. Pope had a previously arranged meeting with UK for earlier today that was set days ago in the event higher-tier candidates fell through.”
Pope, a Kentucky graduate, coached at BYU from 2019-2024. He made the NCAA Tournament twice during that span.
There’ll be a lot of pressure on Pope next season. It doesn’t matter that it’ll be his first year with the Wildcats. The fans in Lexington want to celebrate another championship right this second.