Mark Pope Says His Players Will Know What Putting On A Kentucky Jersey Means

Thursday began with speculation regarding former Kentucky assistants Orlando Antigua and Kenny Payne. There was buzz that new Kentucky head coach Mark Pope could retain Antigua or bring Payne back to Lexington. Neither happened.

Thursday ended with two more names.

One day after news leaked that BYU assistant Cody Fueger is expected to follow Pope to Lexington, two other names were reported on Thursday. Each has a previous relationship with Pope.

The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker reports that Georgetown support staffer Mark Fox and NBA G League Ignite head coach Jason Hart are expected to join the Kentucky staff.

Mark Fox would be joining the staff in an off-court role. The 55-year-old would bring 18 years of head coaching staff to Lexington. Fox spent four seasons at Nevada, nine seasons at Georgia, and four seasons at California before taking a job at Georgetown in the first season under Ed Cooley. Fox took the Bulldogs to two NCAA Tournament appearances during his stay in Athens. While in the SEC, Fox gave Pope his start in coaching in 2009 when the Kentucky head coach was named the director of basketball operations on Fox’s first UGA staff. The two spent time together when Pope was a player at Washington and Fox was an assistant.

Jason Hart played at Syracuse from 1996-00 before becoming a second-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. The guard would spend a decade as a player in professional basketball becoming an NBA journeyman. During his playing career, Hart and Mark Pope were on the Milwaukee Bucks together during the 2000-01 season under head coach George Karl. That Bucks squad made it to the Eastern Conference Finals that season before bowing out in seven games vs. the Philadelphia 76ers.

After his playing career ended in 2010, Hart got his coaching start in the high school ranks before spending one season at Pepperdine (2012-13). After that, Hart would spend eight seasons as an assistant at USC working under Andy Enfield. During his time at Southern Cal, Hart was a member of three NCAA Tournament teams and an Elite Eight squad in 2021. The Los Angeles native then made the jump to the professional ranks serving as the head coach of the NBA G League Ignite for the last three seasons. During his time in the development league, Hart worked with a handful of draft picks highlighted by No. 2 overall selection Scoot Henderson. The addition of the 45-year-old with deep West Coast ties would be for a normal on-court assistant position.

Mark Pope is set to add extensive college experience to his staff. Hart’s tenure in the G League could bring Kentucky an interesting twist since that team set up by the NBA has had to go out and recruit players while offering a real salary. All three new hires have a working or playing relationship with Pope.

The staffing moves are starting to come together.