This BYU basketball assistant will be taking a head coaching job elsewhere

Mark Pope may not be leaving BYU this offseason, but one of his top assistant coaches will be.

Kahil Fennell has been hired by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to fill the program’s head coaching vacancy, Jeff Borzello of ESPN reported Friday afternoon.

Fennell was part of Pope’s staff for the past two seasons, serving as BYU’s de facto defensive coordinator and helping guide the Cougars to a top-60 finish in KenPom defensive efficiency.

“I’m so excited for Kahil and the opportunity he has as the head coach at UTRGV,” Pope said in a statement released Friday. “His fingerprints are all over the success that we have had as a program over the past two seasons. Kahil, Sarah, Ezra and Koa were instrumental in our wildly successful journey into Big 12 where we finished fifth in the toughest men’s basketball conference in the country and returned to the NCAA Tournament. This is a great opportunity for him and I look forward to his future success.”

Prior to arriving in Provo, Fennell served as an assistant at Louisville, Portland State and UT Permian Basin.

This will be the first head coaching opportunity for the Redlands alum, who interviewed in the past for such openings but never got the chance to lead his own program — until now.

Fennell will take over a UTRGV squad that finished last in the WAC last year with a 6-25 record.

BYU basketball still has assistants Cody Fueger, Nick Robinson and Collin Terry.