OREM, Utah – NBA veteran and former NCAA national champion Mark Pope has been named the Utah Valley University men's basketball head coach, it was announced Tuesday at a press conference. Pope becomes just the second coach in UVU's 12-year Division I era and eighth coach in the program's 42-year history.
"I could not be more excited to be the new head coach at Utah Valley University," Pope said at Tuesday's press conference. "This is going to be a really special run. UVU is an extraordinary place. I've played and coached at universities all across the country, and I've never seen a place like this that offers the innovative, academic, cultural experience that is available here. It is unbelievable. I am excited to be part of it."
Pope, 42, served as an assistant coach at Brigham Young for the past four seasons. This past season, he helped BYU to a 25-10 record and an at-large bid into this year's NCAA Tournament in Dayton. He helped the team to a 98-43 record with three NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the semifinals of the NIT.
"Today is a great day to be a Wolverine," Utah Valley Athletic Director Vince Otoupal said. "We are getting the whole package with coach Pope. We couldn't be more excited to have him join the Wolverine family."
Pope spent the 2010-11 season as an assistant coach at Wake Forest under Jeff Bzdelik. He has also previously served as the director of basketball operations at Georgia under Mark Fox during the 2009-10 season.
As a player, Pope helped Kentucky claim the 1996 NCAA National Championship and enjoyed a nine-year professional career that included seven seasons in the NBA and two in Turkey. Pope was drafted in the second round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers. Following the draft, Pope played a season as a professional in Turkey for Efes Pilsen. He then joined the Indiana Pacers where he played for two seasons under head coach Larry Bird and helped the team to the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals.
He enjoyed a brief stint with the CBA's La Crosse Bobcats under Hall of Famer Dennis Johnson in 2000-01 before finishing the season in Turkey. Pope returned to the NBA the following year and spent two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks under head coach George Karl. Pope started 45 games and helped the Bucks reach the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001. After two seasons with the Bucks, Pope spent the 2002-03 season on injured reserve with the New York Knicks. He wrapped up his NBA career playing two seasons from 2003-05 with the Denver Nuggets.
Pope began his collegiate career playing for the University of Washington. He earned Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors in 1992 after setting a freshman single-season record, averaging 8.1 rebounds per game. He was named to the Pac-10's All-Academic team as a sophomore in 1992-93.
Following his sophomore campaign, Pope transferred to Kentucky where he played for Rick Pitino. After redshirting in 1993-94, Pope helped the Wildcats win back-to-back SEC titles, advance to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1995 and win the NCAA National title in 1996. Pope earned Academic All-SEC honors in 1995 and graduated from Kentucky with a degree in English in 1996.
Before joining the basketball staff at Georgia, Pope spent three years in medical school at Columbia University in New York. He did much of his pre-med course work while playing in the NBA. Pope and his wife Lee Anne have four daughters: Ella (14), Avery (12), Layla (9) and Shay (6).