Mark Pope ready to conquer 2024-25 college basketball season with his "most eclectic staff" 

Kentucky coach Mark Pope believes he has assembled the most eclectic coaching staff ever.

After being hired as Wildcats coach, Pope looked for the best staff he could ever hire. He acquired an excellent bunch of individuals that he expects to help the team become a contender in the 2024-25 college basketball season.

The former Kentucky captain, who previously called the shots for BYU before getting hired by UK, brought Cougars assistant coach Cody Fueger with him. Fueger had a well-experienced career on the sidelines, mixing his time as director of basketball operations for four schools from 2007-2015 and serving as an assistant for Utah Valley and BYU from 2015-2024.

Pope also hired the services of former NBA G League Ignite coach Jason Hart, California bench tactician Mark Fox, Baylor associate coach Alvin Brooks III and Lamar and Bahamas national team assistant Mikhail McLean. Brooks and Fox will serve as associate coaches while Fueger, Hart and McLean hold court as assistant coaches.

“I think we have a chance to grow into the best staff in all of college basketball. I love this staff,” Pope said via YourSportsEdge.com.

“This is the most eclectic staff ever put together, the most talented staff by far, the most experienced staff by far and the most diverse by basketball experience you can find," he added.

The former Kentucky forward will employ a strategy that relies primarily on proper spacing and cutting. He hopes the approach would propel the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament and possibly win their first national title since 2012.

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Mark Pope pays tribute to former Georgetown Hoyas star and NBA great Dikembe Mutombo

Kentucky coach Mark Pope paid tribute to arguably the most iconic African basketball player to ever set foot in the NCAA and NBA — Dikembe Mutombo.

Mutombo died on Monday at the age of 58 due to brain cancer and Pope, who played against him in the NBA, wrote on social media about the former Georgetown Hoyas center and four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

Mutombo, who attended Georgetown on a USAID scholarship, was recruited by legendary Hoyas coach John Thompson to play basketball. He and Alonzo Mourning formed a twin-tower combination in Georgetown and shared the Big East Defensive Player of the Year in 1990.

The 7-foot-2 giant won another Big East Defensive Player of the Year award in 1991 before placing his name in the NBA draft, where he was picked No. 4 overall by the Denver Nuggets. Mutombo, known for his iconic finger wag after making a block, played for 18 seasons with Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York and Houston.

The eight-time NBA All-Star was also a humanitarian, helping his country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), improve its living conditions. His efforts earned him various awards, including the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2001 and 2009.