Mark Pope, former captain of the Wildcats’ 1996 national championship team, has been announced as the new head coach of the Kentucky basketball program, replacing John Calipari.
Mark Pope is returning to Kentucky. The former college basketball player, who was the captain of the Wildcats ‘ 1996 national championship team, has been named the basketball program’s new head coach . Pope replaces John Calipari , who recently departed Lexington to take the head coach ing job at Arkansas. The school announced Pope’s hiring in a release Friday morning but stopped short of revealing the terms of his contract.
Calipari guided Kentucky to its eighth NCAA championship in 2012. He also coached the Wildcats to four Final Four appearances in 15 years. But Kentucky hasn’t returned there since going 38-1 in 2015. Calipari said he had decided to step down once he had realized that the basketball program was in need of ‘another voice.