BYU Basketball Hires Kahil Fennell To Join Mark Pope’s Staff
May 26, 2022, 3:01 PM | Updated: 3:14 pm
BYU basketball head coach Mark Pope hired former Louisville assistant Kahill Fennell. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
(Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball made it official announcing Kahil Fennell as the new assistant coach on Mark Pope’s staff.
Fennell comes to BYU via Louisville where he was a full-time assistant coach for one season. Before his one year as an assistant, Fennell was the Director of Basketball Operations for the Cardinals for three seasons.
Welcome to the Family @KahilFennell ❕❕ pic.twitter.com/JuDeiQ8Ax9
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) May 26, 2022
As BYU prepares for the Big 12 Conference, Fennell brings valuable Power Six experience to the bench. He steps in for Chris Burgess who left to take an assistant coach role at the University of Utah.
Fennell joins fourth-year assistants Cody Fueger and Nick Robinson to round out BYU’s assistant coaching staff.
“With our last year in the WCC and our subsequent move into the Big 12, it’s an incredible time for BYU basketball,” BYU basketball coach Mark Pope said. “We have had a historic three-year run and we are determined to get better. Kahil Fennell makes us so much better. He is an excellent communicator, elite level recruiter and has an insatiable work ethic. Cougar Nation is going to fall in love with Kahil, his wife Sarah, and their two boys, Ezra and Koa. Let’s go!”
The task now for Fennell and BYU hoops is to fill the two remaining scholarships available for the 2022-23 roster. BYU has already signed Coastal Carolina transfer Rudi Williams and Donda Academy’s Braeden Moore this spring.
Heralded Farmington guard Collin Chandler signed last November but he will serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before enrolling at BYU.
Kahil Fennell Bio 📝
2022-Present: #BYU – Asst.
2021-22: Louisville – Asst.
2018-21: Louisville – DBO
2017-18: Portland St. – Asst.
2015-17: University of Texas of the Permian Basin (D2) – Associate/Asst Coach
2014-15: Alameda (Calif.) H.S. – JV Coach/Assistant Varsity Coach pic.twitter.com/KmFxL4MnvJ— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) May 26, 2022
Fennell got into coaching basketball in 2014, ten years after he concluded his playing career at the University of Redlands in California. Before getting into basketball again, Fennell was selling medical devices in Oakland, California.
Fennell started out at Alameda High School in California and then quickly became a college coach after one season in the prep ranks. He joined Division II University of Texas of the Permian Basin.
Then five years ago, Fennell became an assistant on Barrett Peery’s first staff at Portland State.
After a season with Peery at Portland State, Fennell joined the Louisville Cardinals program. At the time of Fennell’s hiring in 2018, former Louisville head coach Chris Mack called Fennell “a fast riser in college basketball.”
Last season, BYU finished 24-11 with an exit in the quarterfinals of the NIT. The Cougars will play the 2022-23 season in the West Coast Conference before moving into the Big 12 for the 2023-24 season.
Kahil Fennell Resume
2022-Present: BYU – Assistant Coach
2021-22: Louisville – Assistant Coach
2018-21: Louisville – Director of Basketball Operations
2017-18: Portland State – Assistant Coach
2016-17: University of Texas of the Permian Basin (D2) – Associate Coach
2015-16: University of Texas of the Permian Basin (D2) – Assistant Coach
2014-15: Alameda (Calif.) High School – Junior Varsity Coach/Assistant Varsity Coach
Playing Experience
2001-04: University of Redlands (Calif.)
2000-01: Penn State New Kensington (Pa.)
1996-00: Thousand Oaks (Calif.) High School
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
