Mark Pope is taking his sweet time with Kentucky's last assistant coaching spot

In addition to most of the 2025-26 team leaving in the transfer portal this offseason, Kentucky also lost a handful of their assistant coaching staff. This didn't exactly frustrate Cats fans, especially after last season's general disappointment, but the pressure was on Mark Pope to not only build a better roster, but to replace the departed coaches with new, more impactful hires.

I believe he's managed the first task, and comfortably so, and is now well on his way to accomplishing the second. Any evidence you need for the latter can be derived from Mo Williams' success on the recruiting trail.

Williams, a former NBA All-Star, has already been praised as Kentucky's apparent "closer" when it comes to heavy hitters, with five-star Ryan Hampton being the latest example of the assistant coach's prowess when it comes to recruiting.

Now, after hiring Williams, Kentucky has one more assistant coach position remaining to be filled. But, according to an interview with UK Sports Network, Pope is not at all rushing to fill it.

Coach Pope is in No Rush

"We're taking our time with this last assistant coaching position," Pope began in the video - I'm still not used to the beard. "the staff is working at a really good level right now..."

"We'll fill that position moving forward, and we also have some other places we can build out the staff." It's good to know that Pope and his current staff are on the case here, as, with the roster itself being essentially built out, most of the BBN have turned to this coaching spot as the next bit of pending news.

As far as any potential prospects go, the only one with any remote credibility at this point is former NBA mainstay Jamal Crawford, in a similar vein as the aforementioned Williams. And, per KSR as of late May, a standing offer for the assistant job still exists and is being mulled over by Crawford.

Mulling an Existing Offer

Crawford, who is currently commentating NBA games and coaching Seattle's Rainier Beach High School, recently posted on X that he "knows for a fact" that he can coach in the NBA. You gotta start somewhere, right?

Like Williams, Crawford would likely bring a unique recruiting edge to Kentucky's staff. With two professional veterans on both the sideline and the recruiting trail, these recent, positive recruiting trends could continue, if not further improve.

Hires like these can put a team over the top behind the scenes. Williams has already begun to prove that calling him was the right move and, for Kentucky's final assistant opening, Crawford would now appear to be the natural pick.

It's just a matter of waiting things out.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow