Mark Pope Reaches Coaching Milestone After BYU Wins First Big 12 Game
Jan 13, 2024, 5:09 PM | Updated: Jan 16, 2024, 10:50 am
ORLANDO, Fla. – BYU basketball taking down UCF on Saturday gave Mark Pope a milestone as the head coach of the Cougars.
Pope reached win number 100 in his BYU head coaching career after BYU took down UCF 63-58.
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The victory also served as BYU’s first Big 12 victory.
After the game, BYU players presented Pope with a jersey commemorating the 100th win that they had ready since last Saturday’s Cincinnati game.
#BYU’s Aly Khalifa said the team gave Mark Pope a jersey to celebrate his 100th victory at BYU.#BYUHoops #Big12 pic.twitter.com/5u6lMw6g1V
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 14, 2024
“We celebrated coach’s 100th win, obviously. We gave him a jersey,” said BYU center Aly Khalifa who scored a team-high 17 points against UCF. “It was great to get that first win in the Big 12, but we’re thirsty to play Iowa State already on Tuesday.”
BYU players didn’t have to wait any longer to give their coach the commemorative jersey.
Pope becomes the ninth BYU basketball coach to reach 100 wins.
The former National Champion player at Kentucky and NBA player, Pope has been a head coach in college basketball since 2015 when he became the headman at Utah Valley.
Pope’s all-time head coaching record is 177-100 after Saturday night’s win over UCF.
The opportunity for win number 101 for Pope and his program comes up on Tuesday when BYU hosts Iowa State in the Marriott Center.
Winningest coaches in BYU Basketball history
- Stan Watts | 371-254 | 23 years
- Dave Rose | 301-133 | 14 years
- Roger Reid | 152-77 | Eight years
- G. Ott Romney | 139-71 | Eight years
- Steve Cleveland | 138-108 | Eight years
- Frank Arnold | 137-94 | Eight years
- LaDell Andersen | 114-71 | Six years
- Floyd Millet | 104-77 | Eight years
- Mark Pope | 100-45 | Five years* (Active coach)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X and Threads: @Mitch_Harper.
