Mark Edward Pope (born September 11, 1972) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach and former player who is the nineteenth and current head coach of

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

's (BYU) men's basketball team. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

, where he was part of the Wildcats 1996 championship team, and the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac- ...

, where he was the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. He later played professionally in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

for the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

and

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

Career

Pope was a high school star at Newport High School in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as a s ...

and played two years at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

(UW). He earned Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors in 1992 after setting a UW freshman single-season record with 8.1 rebounds per game. He transferred to the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

, where he was a captain of the 1996 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship team. Pope was a second round pick of the Indiana Pacers in the

1996 NBA draft The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th draft in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held on June 26, 1996 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting college basketball play ...

. The 2004-05 season was his last, as he was cut in training camp with the Denver Nuggets the following season. In 2006, Pope enrolled in

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 2009, he left medical school and joined Mark Fox's coaching staff at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. Fox was an assistant coach when both were at UW. The following season (2010–11), Pope moved to

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

to serve as an assistant under

Jeff Bzdelik Jeffrey Joseph Bzdelik () (born December 1, 1952) is an American professional basketball coach who most recently served as associate head coach for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was head coach of the Den ...

. In May 2011, Pope was hired as an assistant to Dave Rose at BYU, when Dave Rice left to become the head coach at

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

. In March 2015, Pope was hired as the new head basketball coach at

Utah Valley University Utah Valley University (UVU) is a public university in Orem, Utah. UVU offers master's, bachelor's, associate degrees, and certificates. Previously called Utah Valley State College, the school attained university status in July 2008. History ...

(UVU), replacing the retiring Dick Hunsaker. In April 2019, Pope was hired to replace Dave Rose as head coach at BYU after Rose retired.

Personal life

Pope and his wife, Lee Anne, a former assistant to talk show host

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...

, have four daughters. Lee Anne is the daughter of the late

Lynn Archibald Lynn J. Archibald (September 27, 1944 – May 28, 1997) was an American college basketball Coach (sport), coach. He served as head basketball coach at Idaho State University and the University of Utah. Early life Born in Logan, Utah, Archibald ...

, who was the head basketball coach at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

from 1983-1989 and was an assistant at BYU in the 1990s. Pope is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

BYU head coach (2019-present)

On April 10, 2019, Pope was hired as BYU's 19th head men’s basketball coach since its inaugural season in 1902-03. Pope came back to BYU after serving as the head coach at Utah Valley the previous four seasons. In his first season as BYU's head coach, Pope led the Cougars to a record of 24-8, the most wins for a first-year coach in program history. He became just the second first-year BYU coach to lead his team into the top 25 and the first to end his debut season ranked. The Cougars entered the top 25 as No. 23 in the AP Poll on Feb. 17 and jumped to as high as No. 14. In league play, Pope guided the Cougars to a record of 13-3, second in the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

(WCC). The 13 wins – which included a 91-78 victory over No. 2 Gonzaga in the

Marriott Center The Marriott Center is a multi-purpose arena in the western United States, located on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. It is home to the BYU Cougars BYU Cougars men's basketball, men's and BYU Cougars women's basketball, wom ...

– are tied for the most by BYU since joining the WCC in 2011. Gonzaga was the highest-ranked team BYU has defeated in the history of the Marriott Center. The Cougars finished the regular season on a nine-game win streak, the team's longest win streak in WCC play. BYU boasted one of the most efficient offenses in the nation in 2019-20, evidenced by top 5 national rankings in several statistical categories. The Cougars finished the season ranked No. 1 in 3-point field goal percentage, No. 2 in assist/turnover ratio, No. 3 in field goal percentage, No. 4 in 3-point field goals per game and No. 5 in assists per game. In addition to the national rankings, BYU set program records for 3-point field goals in a single-game, 3-point field goals in a single season and 3-point field goals per game for a season. In addition to the team success, three players earned All-WCC First Team honors in

Yoeli Childs Yoeli Childs (born January 13, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Saga Ballooners of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the BYU Cougars men's basketball, BYU Cougars. High school career Childs played ...

, T.J. Haws, and

Jake Toolson Jake Toolson (born March 6, 1996) is an American basketball player who last played for BG Göttingen of the easyCredit BBL. He played college basketball for the Utah Valley Wolverines and the BYU Cougars. He was named the 2019 Western Athletic ...

. Childs also earned first-team All-District honors from the USBWA and NABC and was a Senior CLASS Award second-team All-American. Haws earned a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team and Toolson was named the WCC Newcomer of the Year. The team was projected to be a lock for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament, which would have been their first berth since 2015. However, the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the tournament and prematurely ended the successful season. BYU ended the season at No. 18 in the AP Poll and No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Pope gained a reputation for landing transfers in the offseason, including beating out alma mater Kentucky and Texas Tech to get top transfer

Matt Haarms Matt Haarms (born 22 April 1997) is a Dutch professional basketball player for Skyliners Frankfurt of the Basketball Bundesliga. He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers and the BYU Cougars. Haarms also plays for the Netherlands me ...

from Purdue. He also added Nigerian native Gideon George and UVU guard Brandon Averette, who was a former player of Pope while he was coaching the Wolverines. Pope's early success with the Cougars continued in 2020-21, although the team was distinctly different in their styles than the previous season. The 2019-20 team mainly relied on their upperclassmen and three-point shooting. While the 2020-21 team is led by their three seniors Barcello, Averette, and Haarms, the team relies more on physical play due to much more size and has a lot more players off the bench to contribute, adding much depth. The team finished 10-3 in WCC play, highlighted by a big win at No. 18 San Diego State and a sweep of Saint Mary's. The team reached the finals of the West Coast Conference Tournament, losing to Gonzaga 88-78. The team received an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years. They lost their first game to UCLA 73-62. On January 20, 2022, BYU defeated San Diego 79-71, which marked Pope's 60th career win at BYU and made him the fastest BYU head coach ever to reach that benchmark. The win also gave the Cougars a 16-4 record for the season, which was Pope's best start through 20 games as head coach.

BYU assistant coach

From 2011 to 2015, Pope served as an assistant under Dave Rose. In four years, Pope helped the Cougars to four-straight 20-win seasons and four-straight postseason appearances—including three bids to the NCAA Tournament and trip to the semifinals of the 2013 NIT.

Other coaching experience

Prior to coming to BYU as an assistant, Pope was the director of basketball operations for Mark Fox at Georgia (2009-10) and an assistant under

at Wake Forest (2010-11). Following four seasons as a Cougar assistant coach, Pope took over the men's basketball program at UVU. In four years at UVU (2015-19), Pope’s teams made improvements each season, going from 12 wins in 2015-16 to 25 victories in 2018-19. He also led the Wolverines to three-straight postseason appearances (2017, 2018, 2019) and back-to-back 20-win seasons (2017-18, 2018-19)—both are Wolverine records.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

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Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

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, 4 , , 0 , , 6.5 , , .143 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

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, 45 , , 12 , , 9.5 , , .396 , , .160 , , .524 , , 1.6 , , .4 , , .2 , , .2 , , 1.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

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, 9 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .333 , , – , , – , , .9 , , .1 , , .1 , , .2 , , .4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 153 , , 57 , , 10.7 , , .401 , , .179 , , .573 , , 1.7 , , .4 , , .2 , , .3 , , 1.9

Playoffs

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1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

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2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

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Head coaching record

References

External links

Mark Pope Official BYU Bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Mark 1972 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Anadolu Efes S.K. players Basketball coaches from Nebraska Basketball coaches from Washington (state) Basketball players from Nebraska Basketball players from Washington (state) BYU Cougars men's basketball coaches Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Denver Nuggets players Indiana Pacers draft picks Indiana Pacers players Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Latter Day Saints from Washington (state) Milwaukee Bucks players Power forwards (basketball) Small forwards Sportspeople from Omaha, Nebraska Ülker G.S.K. basketball players Utah Valley Wolverines men's basketball coaches Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball coaches Washington Huskies men's basketball players