Per reports, Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart has zeroed in on BYU head coach Mark Pope to fill the vacant men’s basketball coaching position left by John Calipari.
Pope, a former Kentucky player, led the Cougars to an NCAA Tournament appearance this season in the team’s first year in the Big 12 conference before being unceremoniously dumped in the first round by A10 automatic bid winner Duquesne.
Pope took over BYU in 2019 when the team was in the West Coast Conference (WCC) and led the team to a 24-8 season, finishing No. 14 in the country but missing out on the WCC title, which was won by Gonzaga.