Mark Pope: Passing the Improbable

Mark Pope was never supposed to be here. He was never supposed to be anywhere close. As the 2020 season heats up in the West Coast Conference, BYU’s head coach continues to defy improbability. 

In a career spanning across the continental U.S., conventional wisdom would say that Pope should have broken down at any number of pit stops. A born country-boy out of Nebraska is not supposed to become a star varsity basketball player in Washington. A lanky “6-10” forward should never win freshman of the year in a loaded PAC 12, or heavily contribute to a National Champion at Kentucky. If naysayers were to be believed, that same player should not have heard his name called at the 1996 NBA draft. Mark’s Pope’s critics were rarely correct about his playing career. Somehow, his coaching years have been at least as surprising.

Appearing on the coaching staff of a struggling Wake Forest team, many careers would have been derailed by a middling product. Instead, in a league with the country’s best young players, Pope took what he had and coached big man Travis McKie to an ACC All-Freshman award. When he gained his first opportunity as a head coach at Utah Valley University, a program with less than a decade of full Division I membership, Mark Pope made it work. He “made it work” to the tune of the first consecutive 20-win seasons in program history, and multiple front court all-conference awards.

This is Mark Pope’s business: He deals in improbabilities, and he makes them work.

When he came to BYU without the expectation of initial success, Coach Pope knew it was just another improbability. It was improbable to convince all-time great BYU big man Yoeli Childs to return for a senior season. It was improbable to bring in star Arizona recruit Alex Barcello, an athlete with few program ties. After a significant suspension to Childs, followed by a mid-season injury, there was little faith that the Cougars would accrue a tournament-worthy resume in his absence. 

Even accounting for so many hurdles, Coach Pope sat before the media in May 2019 and boldly declared, “We are going to win, or I get fired.” It didn’t stop there. He added, “I am just dumb enough to think that we can accomplish everything that you dream about accomplishing in college basketball. I believe we can do it right here.”

Entering the final three games of conference season, Mark Pope appears anything but dumb. BYU Hoops began the week ranked as the 23rd best team in the country, their highest ranking in nine years. They have made it there despite injuries, a top schedule, and Yoeli’s suspension. According to Coach, he’s not done exceeding expectations this season. His vision for the Cougars is higher than a ranked team and potential tournament berth. When he mentioned his aspirations before stepping on the floor as head coach, few would have imagined that those visions were for his first season. Yet, the Cougars’ ringmaster continues to assert that the time is now.

“We’re chasing lofty goals,” Pope recently stated. “We’re chasing things that we don’t even like to say out loud because they’re so scary.”

Only his assistant Chris Burgess was willing to clarify. Burgess explained, “We’re trying to be in the second to third week of the tournament.”

That’s just another place Coach Pope isn’t supposed to be. Throughout an illustrious playing and coaching career, Mark Pope has rarely fallen short of his own expectations. The current season has been no exception. Don’t count him out just yet.