Utah Valley University Athletics

After wrapping his fourth season as the head coach of the Utah Valley University men's basketball team, head coach Mark Pope has taken the program to historic, record-breaking heights and is continuing to build on that success in what was another record-breaking 2018-19 campaign.

Under Pope's direction, the 2018-19 Wolverines wrapped up non-conference play with an 11-4 record, which is the best non-league record in school history. The 11-4 record was capped off with a 68-64 road win at Fresno State on Dec. 29. Fresno State was ranked No. 66 by KenPom.com, which is one of the best non-conference wins in school history.

Pope's team owned the nation's second-longest active home win streak in the nation at 22 games during the 2018-19 season. It marks the longest home win streak in school history. The team won 16 straight at home during the 2017-18 season and then won eight straight games at home before an 83-78 loss to eventual WAC champion New Mexico State on Jan. 19.

During the 2018-19 season, Pope's team won its first-ever preseason tournament as the team claimed the middleweight championship belt at the MGM Main Event in Las Vegas with wins over Hartford and Long Beach State. UVU also picked up its first-ever road win against Weber State in Ogden, defeating the Wildcats, 75-63.

Pope led his 2018-19 team to a school-record 25 wins and a third-straight appearance at the College Basketball Invitational. With the 25 wins, UVU secured back-to-back 20-plus win seasons for the first time in UVU history. His team also picked up a win over CSUN in the first round of the CBI, marking the third-straight season that the Wolverines have won a game in a national postseason tournament.

Under his guidance, Jake Toolson became the first UVU player in school history to earn WAC Player of the Year honors, while Wyatt Lowell became the first-ever player to received WAC Freshman of the Year honors. Conner Toolson was named to the WAC All-Tournament team as the Wolverines made a third-straight appearance in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament.

Pope led the 2017-18 team to numerous school records, including the most home wins in a season (16), best home record in school history (16-1), and best end-of-season ranking in school history (91 KenPom, 91 RPI). He also led the Wolverines to their first-ever back-to-back national postseason appearances in school history (2017, 2018). Pope also secured UVU its first-ever home game in a national post season tournament as the Wolverines defeated Eastern Washington, 89-65, in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational

The head coach helped create and organize #Toughest24 as his team opened the 2017-18 season with what is likely the toughest 24 hours in college basketball history. UVU opened the season on the road at No. 4 Kentucky and at No. 1 Duke on back-to-back nights. The campaign put the Wolverines in the national spotlight as ESPN embedded a film crew and a writer to showcase Utah Valley on its #Toughest24 trip. Pope offered media on the trip complete behind-the-scenes access.

Pope's squad went 17-17 overall during the 2016-17 season and earned a bid to play in the College Basketball Invitational where the team picked up its first-ever postseason national tournament victories. UVU went 2-1 in the CBI with a 74-49 win at Georgia Southern in the first round and an 85-79 quarterfinal win at Rice. The Wolverines were the only team in the 2017 CBI to win a pair of road wins en route to the team's CBI Final Four setback at Wyoming.

Utah Valley placed fifth in the WAC in 2016-17 and earned the No. 4 seed in the WAC Tournament where the Wolverines defeated fifth-seeded Seattle U, 65-53, before dropping a historic 81-80 quadruple overtime decision to top-seeded CSU Bakersfield in the semifinals. The game is the first-ever quadruple overtime game in WAC Tournament history.

The 2016-17 season included one of the biggest comebacks in NCAA history as the Wolverines overcame a 27-point deficit to defeat Denver 88-85 on Nov. 23, 2016 at Magness Arena in Denver. The win marks the biggest comeback in UVU history and was just five points shy of breaking the all-time NCAA record for biggest deficit overcome to win a game set by Duke, which came back from 32 points down to defeat Tulane in 1950.

Under Pope's guidance, Utah Valley picked up two of its biggest road wins in program history as the Wolverines defeated crosstown rival BYU, 114-101, at the Marriott Center in Provo. UVU knocked down a school-record 18 three-point field goals en route its 114-point performance which is the second most points ever scored by a UVU team. The 114 points are also the most points ever scored by a BYU opponent in the Marriott Center, while the 18 threes are the most ever recorded in the arena. Brandon Randolph picked up 14 assists in the win over BYU which are the most ever recorded in a single game in UVU history, breaking the previous record of 12 set in 2012.

The Wolverines became the first team in WAC history to sweep the New Mexico State/UT Rio Grande Valley road trip. The Wolverines defeated New Mexico State 84-72 before downing UTRGV, 88-68. The win over New Mexico State was historic on numerous levels as the Wolverines snapped NM State's 39-game conference home win streak and ended the nation's third-longest home win streak at 23 games. UVU was the only team to defeat NM State at home in 2016-17 as the Aggies finished the season with a 16-1 record at the Pan American Center. NMSU's last WAC home loss dated back to a 68-60 loss to Nevada in 2012.

Pope's UVU team was one of the fastest teams in the country according to KenPom.com. The Wolverines scored more points than any other UVU team in its history this past season. The 2016-17 UVU team scored 2,615 points, breaking the previous record of 2,305 set by the 2011-12 UVU team. Utah Valley also averaged a program record 76.91 points per game, the highest scoring average in the program's history. The 2016-17 Wolverines also knocked down a school-record 300 shots from beyond the arc during the season, breaking the previous record of 256.

The success and excitement of the 2016-17 UVU team translated into fans in the seats as the Wolverines welcomed a single season record 38,218 fans into the UCCU Center. The 2016-17 season produced four of the top-10 crowds in UVU history at the UCCU Center, including second-biggest crowd in the team's history as 6,792 fans packed the arena for the 80-79 overtime setback to Utah State.

Pope picked up his first WAC postseason awards individual player honor as Isaac Neilson earned WAC All-Defensive team honors. The junior forward tallied the second-most blocks in a single season in UVU history with 54 and ranked second in the WAC in rebounding, pulling down 9.1 boards a game. He also had an impressive 10 double-doubles on the year.

Despite a handful of key injuries, Pope guided Utah Valley to a 12-18 overall record in his first season with the Wolverines. He helped UVU secure the fourth seed at the WAC Tournament after finishing the year with a 6-8 WAC record. Pope's 2015-16 squad rewrote the UVU record books as the team's new fast-paced offense knocked down a single season school record 256 shots from beyond the arc. His team made 10 or more three-pointers in nine games during the 2015-16 campaign.

One of the many highlights of Pope's debut seasons with UVU included a thrilling 84-81 double-overtime win over in-state rival and eventual Big Sky champion Weber State at the UCCU Center. In his first year with the team, Pope guided guard Marcel Davis to a record-breaking season as he became the all-time UVU career leader in assists per game (4.5). Davis also broke the single season UVU assists record with 144 helpers and earned second team All-WAC honors for his play during the 2015-16 season.

Since taking over the UVU men's basketball program, Pope's players have a 100 percent pass rate. He has not had a single active player fail a class. All six of his seniors graduated in 2016 and his team finished the year with a 3.34 cumulative GPA.

The NBA veteran and former NCAA national champion is just the second coach in UVU's 13-year Division I era and eighth coach in the program's 43-year history.
 
Pope served as an assistant coach at Brigham Young University for four seasons. In 2014-15, he helped BYU to a 25-10 record and an at-large bid into this year's NCAA Tournament in Dayton. He spent four seasons with the Cougars, helping the team to a 98-43 record with three NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the semifinals of the NIT. 
 
Pope spent the 2010-11 season as an assistant coach at Wake Forest under Jeff Bzdelik. He has also previously served as the director of basketball operations at Georgia under Mark Fox during the 2009-10 season.
 
As a player, Pope helped Kentucky claim the 1996 NCAA National Championship and enjoyed a nine-year professional career that included seven seasons in the NBA and two in Turkey. Pope was drafted in the second round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers. Following the draft, Pope played a season as a professional in Turkey for Efes Pilsen. He then joined the Indiana Pacers where he played for two seasons under head coach Larry Bird and helped the team to the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals.
 
He enjoyed a brief stint with the CBA's La Crosse Bobcats under Hall of Famer Dennis Johnson in 2000-01 before finishing the season in Turkey. Pope returned to the NBA the following year and spent two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks under head coach George Karl. Pope started 45 games and helped the Bucks reach the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001. After two seasons with the Bucks, Pope spent the 2002-03 season on injured reserve with the New York Knicks. He wrapped up his NBA career playing two seasons from 2003-05 with the Denver Nuggets.
 
Pope began his collegiate career playing for the University of Washington. He earned Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors in 1992 after setting a freshman single-season record, averaging 8.1 rebounds per game. He was named to the Pac-10's All-Academic team as a sophomore in 1992-93. Following his sophomore campaign, Pope transferred to Kentucky where he played for Rick Pitino. After redshirting in 1993-94, Pope helped the Wildcats win back-to-back SEC titles, advance to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1995 and win the NCAA National title in 1996. Pope earned Academic All-SEC honors in 1995 and graduated from Kentucky with a degree in English in 1996.
 
Before joining the basketball staff at Georgia, Pope spent three years in medical school at Columbia University in New York. He did much of his pre-med course work while playing in the NBA. Pope and his wife Lee Anne have four daughters: Ella (17), Avery (15), Layla (13) and Shay (10). Lee Anne worked at ESPN before serving as David Letterman's personal assistant for four years.

What they are saying about coach Pope

"Mark is a tireless worker and will be an outstanding head coach. I loved coaching him every second of his career."
 Rick Pitino – Head Coach, Louisville
 
"Mark Pope's appointment might be the best hire in the country. I coached him over 20 years ago and he later served as part of my staff. He and Lee Anne are wonderful people and will be great additions to the Utah Valley family. He has an infectious spirit that will immediately energize the program. Mark was able to play for great coaches during his terrific playing career. His knowledge of the game and the skill set he brings to the job will make him a huge success."
Mark Fox
 
"Utah Valley is getting a great coach in Mark Pope. He will bring great energy and a love for the game to that program. Mark is a great recruiter and has all the tools to be a successful head coach. This is a great opportunity for him and his family. I wish him nothing but the best."
Dave Rose – Head Coach, Brigham Young University