Kentucky hires BYU’s Pope to replace Calipari

LEXINGTON, KY. » Initially off the radar among Kentucky’s coaching targets, Mark Pope is now entrusted with maintaining the program’s gold standard.

Makes sense, since he helped do so as a player. Kentucky hired the BYU coach to guide its men’s basketball program, bringing home a captain of the Wildcats’ 1996 national championship team to succeed John Calipari.

The school announced the 51-year-old Pope’s hiring in a release Friday morning but did not mention any contract details. He will be introduced at a Sunday afternoon news conference at Rupp Arena.

Pope replaces Calipari, a Hall of Famer who took Kentucky to its eighth NCAA title in 2012 among four Final Four appearances in 15 years. Kentucky hasn’t returned there since going 38-1 in 2015.

Pope was 110-52 in five seasons with the Cougars and went 23-11 in their first season in the Big 12 Conference. BYU is also coming off a second NCAA Tournament appearance in four years under Pope.

He was 77-56 before that in four seasons at Utah Valley and guided the Wolverines to consecutive runner-up finishes in the Western Athletic Conference his final two years. They reached the CBI quarterfinals both times.

Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart

cited Pope’s impressive 187-108 career record as a head coach and keen knowledge of the program’s meaning to the state.

Clingan is leaving UConn

STORRS, CONN. » Donovan Clingan is leaving UConn after two seasons and entering the NBA draft, the 7-foot-2 center announced, four days after he helped lead the Huskies to a second straight national title.

Clingan, a sophomore from Bristol, Conn., posted his decision on social media, saying playing in the NBA has been a “lifelong dream.”

His decision did not come as a surprise. Huskies coach Dan Hurley has consistently referred to both Clingan and freshman guard Stephon Castle as NBA lottery picks. Castle has yet to announce his future plans.

Duke’s top scorers declare for draft

DURHAM, N .C. » Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain, Duke’s top two scorers, are both off the NBA. The two announced their decisions on social media.

Filipowski, a 7-foot sophomore from Westtown, N.Y., was a second-team AP AllAmerican after averaging a team-high 16.4 points. He also led the team in rebounds (8.3 per game) and blocked shots with 54.

McCain, a 6-3 freshman from Sacramento, Calif., averaged 14.3 points.