Mark Pope picks up career win No. 200. Looking back at the Kentucky coach’s top victories.
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Mark Pope just earned his 200th win as a college basketball head coach.
Pope — whose head coaching gigs to date include leading the programs at Utah Valley, BYU and Kentucky, his alma mater — picked up career coaching win No. 200 on Saturday night with UK’s impressive 95-90 triumph at No. 14 Mississippi State.
Pope owns a career college head coaching record of 200-111, which is good for a 64.3% winning percentage. Unlike Pope’s predecessor at Kentucky — current Arkansas head coach John Calipari — the NCAA hasn’t vacated any of Pope’s coaching victories.
The 52-year-old Pope began his college coaching career at Georgia, famously leaving medical school at Columbia University in New York City for the opportunity to follow his passion for basketball. Pope spent time on the bench at Georgia, Wake Forest and BYU before setting off on his own and landing the Utah Valley head coaching job in March 2015.
The rest, as they say, is history.
There is plenty still to be written in Pope’s coaching story, as well as that of his first Kentucky squad, which now owns a 13-3 overall record and a 2-1 mark in SEC games this season.
But with Pope hitting a major milestone with his 200th coaching win Saturday, it’s worth taking a look back at some of the other major coaching wins that the 1996 UK national champion has enjoyed along the way.
Broken down by school, Pope’s career college coaching record is as follows: A 77-56 (57.9%) record at Utah Valley, a 110-52 (67.9%) record at BYU and a 13-3 (81.3%) record at Kentucky.
History of Mark Pope’s college coaching wins
▪ First college win (Nov. 14, 2015): Pope’s first career college coaching victory came in his second game leading a school. After Utah Valley suffered a 31-point loss at BYU to begin the 2015-16 season, the Wolverines bounced back with an 89-60 home triumph over the University of Great Falls — a Montana school that is now known as the University of Providence — to deliver Pope his first win as a college head man.
The victory came in front of 2,254 fans at the UCCU Center in Orem, Utah.
▪ First postseason win (March 9, 2017): Utah Valley went one-and-done in the postseason in Pope’s first year as the Wolverines’ coach, losing in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas.
But in his second season at Utah Valley, Pope and his UVU squad made some noise in both the conference tournament and in the national postseason.
This started with a 65-53 victory against Seattle in the WAC Tournament quarterfinals, which counted as Pope’s first postseason win. While the Wolverines lost in the semifinals of the conference tournament, Utah Valley went on to play in the 2017 College Basketball Invitational.
Utah Valley won two games in that event — against Georgia Southern and Rice — before losing in the CBI semifinals to Wyoming.
▪ First win at BYU (Nov. 5, 2019): Following four seasons at Utah Valley, Pope was hired as the head coach at BYU in April 2019. His first game in charge of the Cougars yielded a 76-58 home win against Cal State Fullerton.
At BYU, Pope succeeded Dave Rose, whom Pope had worked under as an assistant at BYU for four seasons.
▪ First ranked win (Feb. 22, 2020): Pope lost the first six games he coached against opponents that were ranked in the AP Top 25 poll. He lost all four games that he coached against ranked teams over his four seasons at Utah Valley, as well as the first two games against ranked teams — Kansas and Gonzaga — that he faced in his debut season at BYU.
But Pope finally broke through in a big way against ranked opposition on Feb. 22, 2020. On that day, Pope’s Cougars toppled No. 2 Gonzaga in Provo by a 91-78 final score on the school’s senior night.
This game also marked Pope’s 100th career victory as a college basketball coach.
“A lot of times you do all that stuff and you don’t get that senior night, but these guys did tonight and it’s extraordinary and I am so happy for them. It’s actually really humbling because it just doesn’t work like this a lot, but it worked for this crew,” Pope said after the nationally televised win.
Currently, Pope owns a 12-22 (35.3%) record against AP Top 25-ranked teams, with four of those wins coming this season at UK.
▪ First win at Kentucky (Nov. 4, 2024): Pope’s return to Lexington — where he played two college seasons from 1994 to 1996 — was officially completed in early November, when he led the Wildcats to a 103-62 season-opening win at Rupp Arena over Wright State.
UK remains undefeated at home in Pope’s first season as the head coach: The Wildcats own a 10-0 home mark at Rupp Arena, with signature wins against Louisville and a top-10 Florida team.
▪ Career victory No. 200 (Jan. 11, 2025): Pope’s 200th career head coaching win came Saturday night as Kentucky scored a top-15 victory with a five-point triumph at Mississippi State. Fifth-year guard Jaxson Robinson — who played two seasons for Pope at BYU — led the way with 27 points and seven made 3-pointers.
“That was a huge celebration for the whole team,” Robinson said of the postgame scene in UK’s locker room for Pope’s 200th coaching win. “We can’t be more proud (or) thankful for Coach Pope and all the work and hours he puts in.”
The win marked UK’s 19th consecutive regular-season victory over Mississippi State. This was also Pope’s first “true” road win as the Kentucky coach.
This story was originally published January 11, 2025 at 10:54 PM.
