BYU’s Mark Pope Committed To ‘Building And Growing’ Off Memorable First Year

PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball head coach Mark Pope and his first year with the Cougars went better than anyone could have predicted. But we should have seen that coming when he told everyone a little over a year ago this month that he didn’t live in realistic expectations when he inherited a program that had not been to the NCAA Tournament in five years.

Because of that vision paired with a seasoned and battled-tested roster, Pope’s first year was a smashing success leading BYU to a 24-8 record and No. 18 ranking in the final AP Top 25 poll. Records for a first-year head coach in the BYU basketball program.

One year ago today, Mark Pope was introduced as @BYUbasketball head coach.

He went on to set the school record for most wins by a coach in his first season, with 24 (old record: Stan Watts, 22, in 1949-50). pic.twitter.com/UQYa4tlnZg

— Greg Wrubell (@gregwrubell) April 10, 2020

Not everything was perfect for Mark Pope and his team. From suspensions, injuries, personnel movement, big wins, close losses, this past 12 months has had everything you could imagine in one college basketball season.

“It does seem like it absolutely flew by so fast,” Pope said to KSL Sports. “And then when you start to recount everything that happened, it seems like it was 10 years of coaching. It’s been remarkable and it certainly hasn’t been short on drama, which is great. That’s what we love in athletics. What a ride for year one.”

It truly was a memorable ride for BYU hoops. For the first time in five years, BYU was headed to the NCAA Tournament before the COVID-19 Pandemic canceled the big dance.

“Hopefully we can keep building and growing,” Pope said. “We’re pretty committed [as a staff] to doing that.”

BYU Hoops in Year Two under Mark Pope

One of the biggest tasks Pope and his staff will try to accomplish is replacing the contributions from the seven seniors that depart BYU headlined by Yoeli Childs, Jake Toolson, and TJ Haws. But there are talented players ready to step up in bigger roles, including guard Alex Barcello.

“If you think about it, we got that news before the season started that he was going to be eligible – that he got a waiver – it changed the whole trajectory of our season. Like it changed everything,” said Pope. “As good as we were last year and as good as TJ and Jake and Yo and Dalton and Zac were last year, if you take AB off this roster we don’t even have a chance to function the way we functioned this year.

“With that said, he has so much more to give to this game. It’s going to be really excited to see what he can be and he’s got a ton of pressure on his shoulders, which is what he wants. He’s really excited about that. He’s going to have to do more for us in different ways this year. We don’t have the veteran roster that we had last year so he’s going to have to really, really bring it in a huge way in terms of his leadership and I think he’s fully capable of doing all those things. We’re excited to watch him.”

Along with Barcello, Connor Harding, Gavin Baxter, Kolby Lee all return with a ton of experience under their belt. BYU also adds UVU transfers Wyatt Lowell and Richard Harward who Pope says fans are going to love Harward because of the way he plays the game.

“These guys are hungry and I think they’ve tasted some big-time success. I think this group is committed to try and do even more,” said Pope. “So the only way to do that is by working harder than anybody else and I think our guys understand that.”

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 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.