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Rick Pitino shows strong support of Mark Pope as John Calipari’s Kentucky replacement

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Jay Postrado | Last updated 4/12/24

After an impressive NCAA Tournament run with BYU, Mark Pope is inheriting the Kentucky basketball program from John Calipari. A lot of Wildcats fans have raised their eyebrows at this move but the deal is already done. All they can do now is observe if Lexington would go back to their winning ways with their new head honcho. While there is a lot of doubt and vitriol hurled towards the hiring, there are still a large number of individuals who believe. One of them is Coach Rick Pitino.

Mark Pope is relatively one of the least-known candidates when it came to finding John Calipari’s replacement. Rumors suggested the likes of Brad Stevens, Billy Donovan, Bruce Pearl, and even Dan Hurley would take on the job. But, the former BYU head coach has something that all these other schematic masterminds don’t. He knows the ins and outs of the Kentucky basketball program.

So, when Rick Pitino learned about the mutual interest of both parties. He had nothing to but delightful words to say to Mark Pope, via Adam Zagoria of NJ Advance Media.

“I love Mark Pope and his family and he would be an unbelievable choice,” the St. John’s basketball head honcho proclaimed.

Coach Pope has proven that he can run with the best of the NCAA. With BYU, he snagged 23 wins throughout their 34-game season campaign. The cherry on top of this is not just an NCAA Tournament berth but also a victory over the Kansas Jayhawks.

How does he fit into Kentucky basketball?

Mar 21, 2024; Omaha, NE, USA; Brigham Young Cougars head coach Mark Pope keeps an eye on the action in the first half Duquesne Dukes during the first round of the NCAA Tournament at CHI Health Center Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports © Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

To put it simply, the pace and space era in the NBA is the biggest thing that great college basketball players have to adjust to. Teams do not really build their identities around delay actions but rather build their identities off the personnel that they currently possess.

So, how does Coach Pope factor into this? Well, he is one of the few college basketball coaches who run a five-out and zoom offense extremely well. They climbed up all the way to fifth in the Big 12 conference and reached the first round of March Madness. A key part of it is that BYU was able to collectively shoot 34.8% from three-point range because of Pope’s Xs and Os.

His experience in running this type of scheme is very important for two reasons. First, Kentucky wants to retain its reputation in being a factory for future NBA All-Stars. There is no better way to get them prepared than running a motion offense with delay actions. Second, the personnel that the Wildcats have are already used to running actions in the perimeter. Almost everyone in last year’s squad had a stroke from way out.

This added up to Kentucky being the best three-point shooting team in the nation. With John Calipari, they were able to shoot 40.9% from outside. This number is 0.5 better than the second team in the list, national title runner-up Purdue.

Pope has all the tools to get Kentucky back to its winning ways. Will he be able to do it?

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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