Another Kentucky basketball coach signs a new deal with the Wildcats
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky basketball assistant coach Mark Fox has agreed to a new contract with UK.
- Fox was previously the head coach at Nevada, Georgia and California.
- Fox will make $500,000 for the 2025-26 season at Kentucky.
Another key member of Mark Pope’s coaching staff has signed a new contract to remain with the University of Kentucky, and it comes with a big raise.
Mark Fox, who came to UK last spring with nearly two decades of experience as a Division I head coach, has agreed to a one-year extension that will keep him with the Wildcats through the upcoming season.
Fox, who turned 56 years old in January, had the title of associate coach on Pope’s first Kentucky basketball staff during the 2024-25 season. He was a trusted adviser for the new UK head coach and the most experienced member of his initial staff.
From the beginning of the season, Pope praised Fox for his work with transfer guard Otega Oweh, who emerged as the Wildcats’ leading scorer, a second-team All-SEC selection and a potential NBA draft pick — all of which were surprises, based on preseason projections.
“Coach Fox has done an unbelievable job mentoring Otega,” Pope said after the first game of the season. “He spends a lot of time with Otega, and Otega has done an unbelievable job trusting and being receptive, and so he’s just simplified his game just a little bit in just a couple very specific areas, and he’s become a brilliant decision-maker.”
Pope’s praise extended through the 2024-25 campaign, shouting out Fox again for preparing the game plan ahead of Kentucky’s upset victory at Missouri on the final day of the regular season.
Fox, who came to UK on a one-year deal with a $200,000 salary for the 2024-25 season, will make $500,000 for the 2025-26 season, according to the terms of his new contract.
Fellow associate coach Mikhail McLean also signed a new deal with the Wildcats in the spring.
McLean, who is the youngest member of Pope’s coaching staff at 33 years old, made $150,000 in base salary last season and received a substantial raise along with his two-year extension. He’ll make $400,000 in the 2025-26 season and $425,000 for the 2026-27 season.
The three other coaches on UK’s staff — Alvin Brooks III, Cody Fueger and Jason Hart — all signed two-year deals with the university in 2024. Brooks, who has the title of associate head coach, is set to make $825,000 for the upcoming season, while Fueger and Hart — both listed as assistant coaches and active in the team’s recruiting efforts, along with their on-court duties — will have a salary of $525,000 for the upcoming season.
All five of Pope’s assistant coaches can also earn bonuses based on the Wildcats’ success.
The staff members received a bonus of $20,000 each for the team’s advancement to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 this past season. That bonus structure, which will remain in effect for the 2025-26 season, would increase to $30,000 for a trip to the Elite Eight, $50,000 if the team makes it to the Final Four or $100,000 for an NCAA title.
There are also bonuses for an SEC regular-season championship ($30,000) and an SEC Tournament title ($20,000).
Fox is the only member of Pope’s staff with experience as a college head coach.
His career began as an assistant at Washington, and he was in his first season there when Pope arrived on campus as a college freshman. (Pope transferred to Kentucky two years later, after Washington fired Lynn Nance as the Huskies’ head coach.)
Fox spent a total of 13 seasons as an assistant — at Washington, Kansas State and Nevada — before taking over as the Nevada head coach in 2004, spending five years in that position. He was then the head coach at Georgia for nine seasons and the head coach at California for four years, amassing a 324-263 record with five NCAA Tournament appearances.
Fox was also at Georgia when he hired Pope for his first job on a college basketball staff, giving the former UK captain his start in the coaching profession. Pope spent one year as a member of the Bulldogs’ support staff and five seasons as an assistant coach — one at Wake Forest and four at BYU — before getting his first head coaching job at Utah Valley in 2015.
Pope took over at Kentucky last April, agreeing to a contract with the school through the end of the 2028-29 season, with an average annual salary of $5.5 million per year.
This story was originally published August 13, 2025 at 5:53 PM.
