NCAA Basketball rewind: Most impactful coaching hires after 2015 season

By Joey Loose | Jul 2, 2021

DENVER, CO - MARCH 17: Chris Beard, head coach of Arkansas Little Rock Trojans reacts during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Pepsi Center on March 17, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /

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NCAA Basketball Mark Pope Utah Valley Wolverines (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /

10. Mark Pope (Utah Valley)

Everything about Utah Valley was new and inexperienced, at least on the D1 level. The program had been at the D1 level for just about a decade and had only joined the WAC in 2013. The Wolverines had experienced some success but lacked consistency in recent years. Longtime coach Dick Hunsaker stepped aside, leaving the challenge to rebuild this program to the next head coach.

Mark Pope was a former NBA forward who starred at Kentucky back in the mid-90’s. He played for four NBA teams as well as internationally before beginning his coaching career just a few years earlier. Pope spent time on the staffs of Georgia and Wake Forest before a four-year stint under Dave Rose as a BYU assistant. Utah Valley was offering him his first chance to run his own program.

Each of Pope’s four seasons represented a step forward, and by the end of it this Utah Valley program was in fine shape. He led the Wolverines to three CBI Tournament appearances, winning 23 and 25 games respectively in his last two seasons. Pope’s progress led him to take the head coaching job back at BYU in 2019; suffice to say he’s been successful there as well.

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