Mark Pope receives automatic one-year contract extension, $250,000 raise for Sweet 16 berth

Big Blue Nation is happy to have Mark Pope as their basketball team’s head coach, especially after his first season back with the program. That finish has now earned him another season in Lexington.

Per team officials at UK, Pope has earned a one-year extension at Kentucky with the Wildcats having reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. With that will come a raise of $250,000 on that additional season.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported on that news this morning per team officials at the school. KSR’s Jack Pilgrim also noted that following their win in the Round of 32 based on his public contract’s details.

’24-’25 couldn’t have gone much better for Pope in his debut season as head coach. Kentucky went 24-12 overall, with a 10-8 record against a historic edition of the SEC, with eight wins against the Top-15 in the AP Poll, which tied a record in the NCAA. They posted that with wins over teams like Duke and Gonzaga, as well as Louisville in the non-conference, plus victories over Florida, Tennessee twice, Texas A&M, Missouri, and Mississippi State in league play.

The Wildcats then had their most postseason success in six seasons. They, after finishing sixth in the conference, won a game in the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2022 before winning two more against No. 14 Troy and No. 6 Illinois, to reach the second weekend of March Madness for the first time since 2019. They’d then lose to the Volunteers in a third matchup against them of the season in the Sweet 16.

That’s all even more notable considering the circumstances before and during the season for UK. With the departure of John Calipari and their hire of Pope, Kentucky had to put together an all-new staff and roster, with nine transfers and three freshman, from nothing. They then dealt with several notable injuries throughout, namely season-ending ones for Jaxson Robinson and Kerr Kriisa and a lingering issue for Lamont Butler.

Still, they managed to achieve all that with the Wildcats now looking to their future, which will now extend an additional season, under Pope. That’ll start with year two for him that already has a big expectations based on the expected returns of five players, specifically the like of Otega Oweh, Brandon Garrison, and Collin Chandler, a Top-10 recruiting class with three, four-star signees, and what’s currently the No. 1 class in the transfer portal per On3 with four commitments for now.

This report will be updated further

The post Mark Pope receives automatic one-year contract extension, $250,000 raise for Sweet 16 berth appeared first on On3.