Could Mark Pope go to USC?
On Monday, SMU officially hired former USC men’s basketball coach Andy Enfield to the same post after lengthy speculation that such would happen.
As a result, USC now needs to find Enfield’s replacement, and BYU head coach Mark Pope has been named by multiple national outlets as an early potential candidate.
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander listed Pope alongside Arkansas’ Eric Musselman, Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams, TCU’s Jamie Dixon, Kansas State’s Jerome Tang and Colorado State’s Niko Medved.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, meanwhile, listed Pope along with Musselman, Williams, Dixon and Medved and added San Diego State’s Brian Dutcher, USF’s Amir Abdur-Rahim and former NBA G League Ignite head coach Jason Hart (who, incidentally, played for the Utah Jazz from 2007-2008).
“Has had plenty of success out West, winning 20-plus games at Utah Valley on two occasions before moving to BYU and leading the Cougars to two NCAA tournament appearances,” Borzello wrote of Pope.
In late February before this year’s coaching carousel really ramped up, Borzello identified Pope as a coach who potentially change jobs this spring, and he was particularly seen as a potential candidate at Washington, which ultimately hired former Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle.
Pope, 51, has a record of 187-108 in five seasons at the helm of the BYU program and has led the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament twice, including this season.
