Mark Pope ‘couldn’t be more excited’ about Kentucky roster that ‘fits brilliantly’
Mark Pope has been in the Kentucky head coaching seat for just a month, but since then, he’s put together a roster that can not only compete, but also one that win.
Pope took over the Kentucky program and lost every player on the roster. That included transfers out, players putting their names in the NBA Draft and also all but one 2024 signee. Pope entered week one with no single player on his roster.
Then, he landed seven transfer commits in a week span and put Kentucky on the forefront of the recuriting trail.
“You’re working in a really condensed window where everything happened so fast,” Pope told Field of 68 co-founder Jeff Goodman. ” … We’ve been really blessed to put together a roster that I think fits brilliantly what we’re trying to do … the pieces are incredible with how they fit together and how they fit us.”
Mark Pope’s BYU rosters have been some of the most efficient and effective offenses in the country. Last year it ranked 14th in KenPom’s offensive efficiency. In 2020, they were ranked 7th and in 2021 that ranking was 23rd.
So while it was about putting together a roster, Pope wanted to make sure those guys he was going to add, fit his style.
It didn’t start that way, however. As Pope describes himself as more of an offensive mind, his first three transfer commits were all more defensive-minded players — Amari Williams, Lamont Butler and Otega Oweh.
Then, with a backbone and foundation, Pope then landed guys that fit well around them and were ideal offensive players for his system.
“We kind of backed our way into what I think is a really, really intriguing roster for us, that fits us,” Pope said. “I think these guys fit together. I think every single one of these guys has elite-level character.”
That includes players like Kerr Kriisa, Koby Brea, Andrew Carr and more.
“Andrew Carr was born to play for us and Koby Brea, look it up, he’s the most efficient, high-mid, high-major player in the last decade offensively,” Pope said. “He’s a 1.33 points for possession guy last year. The next closest guy at 1.31. I’ve never seen numbers like what he did last year ever. He is like exactly us.”
