When Mark Pope became the new head coach of Kentucky basketball, he had to not only build a roster from scratch, but he had to hire a coaching staff as well. He wound up putting together a terrific one.
On Sunday, he added one more member with a familiar name. Austin Pope will be joining the team as a graduate assistant, as posted by him on the social platform X where his profile now says “graduate assistant @kentuckymbb.”
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Pope played college basketball for Chaminade, where he was a point guard. In his final season there, in 2017-18, he was All-Pacific West, and averaged 14.8 points and 4.5 assists per game.
After college, Pope played internationally, but ultimately entered the coaching ranks. He has been a high school coach and also the coach of BTI Basketball Club on the AAU circuit.
Kentucky will be his first college experience, but he is highly regarded. By all appearances, it’s another solid move by the other Wildcat Pope in Lexington.