Somewhat lost amid the rapid roster rebuilding job that Mark Pope engineered over his first few weeks in Kentucky was the fact that he put together the bulk of his first Wildcats’ coaching staff in a speedy manner, too.
The actual players on the basketball court — there are 11 of them, so far — have predictably received the most attention over the past few weeks, but Pope obviously can’t lead them on his own.
He needed assistant coaches, and he had nearly all of them in place before the majority of those new UK recruits actually committed to the program.
Pope also made hires for all three coaching positions that will be allowed to accompany him during off-campus recruiting activities, putting together that trio in time to hit the road in full force for last week’s major shoe company events — the only such evaluation period of the spring cycle. With the players for Pope’s first UK team already arriving in Lexington, attention will soon turn to the practice court.
What can the new Wildcats expect when they get in the Joe Craft Center this summer? At the NBA Combine in Chicago this month, the Herald-Leader spoke to several draft hopefuls who were coached last season by new UK assistants Alvin Brooks III, Cody Fueger and Jason Hart, and all gave a glowing endorsement of each Pope hire — both on and off the court.
The first Kentucky staff will also include associate coach Mark Fox, who brings 18 years of NCAA head coaching experience, and one other full-time assistant. That fifth and final spot on Pope’s staff has not yet been filled, with a hire expected in the coming weeks.
Read more at: https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-men/article288611336.html#storylink=cpy
