Mark Pope has never won more than 25 games in a single season, is that going to change in 2025?
When Kentucky hired Mark Pope, critics didn’t hold back. His résumé was solid but hardly elite: a 211–120 career record, no prior NCAA Tournament wins, and stops at Utah Valley and BYU. Yet by the end of Year 1 in Lexington — a 24–12 season capped by a Sweet 16 run — those doubts had largely evaporated. Especially when you consider everything that Pope went through.
Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa, and Jaxson Robinson all missed significant time with injuries. Kerr never played after January, Butler played injured the second half of the season; and Robinson had to be shut down for the year due to a wrist injury. During that time Kentucky also had to play in the SEC which was the best conference in the history of the sport, and produced the National Champion. A team that Kentucky beat when mostly healthy.
Pope's statistical high point though? Utah Valley’s 2018–19 season: 25–10, 12–4 in conference play, and a second-place WAC finish. But context matters. That roster wasn’t loaded with McDonald’s All-Americans or five-star recruits. Pope built it from the ground up. He then moved on to BYU.
At BYU, he hit 24 wins in 2019–20 (no postseason due to COVID-19) and took the Cougars dancing in 2021. Then came the SEC leap — and a Kentucky debut season that produced big wins over elite opponents and the program's first Sweet 16 since COVID.
Now, with a roster that could start the year inside the Top 15 and a schedule full of statement opportunities, there’s a real chance Pope’s “best year” is coming right now. If history is any indicator, he’s always been at his most dangerous once he knows the roster inside and out.