After one season as a graduate assistant under Mark Pope, Austin Pope joins the Lakers’ G League staff.
chrisbeasmore A sports writer for A Sea of Blue. Beasmore helps to cover Kentucky football and basketball recruiting and the big games coming up for Kentucky sports.
After just one season in Lexington, Austin Pope is heading to the NBA. The former Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball graduate assistant has accepted a role as the new Video Coordinator for the South Bay Lakers, the G League affiliate of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Pope joined Mark Pope’s first staff at Kentucky this past spring, and even though his time with the Wildcats was short, Pope made a strong impression behind the scenes in the film room and during summer practices.
Before stepping into coaching, Pope had a decorated playing career. He earned First-Team All-Pacific West honors in 2018 after averaging 14.8 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while posting an elite 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio. He went on to play professionally in Europe and the NBA G League, gaining valuable experience that helped prepare him for his transition into coaching.
In addition to his graduate assistant role at UK, Pope spent time coaching high school basketball at Viewpoint and Burroughs High Schools and worked on the grassroots circuit with BTI Hoops in California.
Now, after one season with welcoming in the Mark Pope era at Kentucky, he’s taking his next step into professional basketball, and returning home to his native California.
The move is another sign of how Kentucky’s coaching tree continues to grow, even in just a year under Mark Pope.
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