• Arkansas got John Calipari, and Kentucky got served humility. UK reportedly plans to hire Mark Pope. His top coaching achievement? A first-round NCAA exit. • Kentucky fans wanted John Calipari gone. They got their wish. What they didn't get was Billy Donovan, Scott Drew or Dan Hurley. • Mark Pope's BYU Cougars lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Duquesne. In the hours and days after Kentucky’s first-round NCAA tournament loss to Oakland, Big Blue Nation unleashed an unrelenting battle cry for athletic director Mitch Barnhart...

BYU head coach Mark Pope calls out a play during the first half of a game against Kansas State, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, in Manhattan, Kan. The news went over like a lead balloon in Lexington and Provo. In Lexington, they aren’t used to having their basketball coaching job turned down a myriad times and be handed to a coach who was one-and-done in the NCAA Tournament in March. In Provo, fans loved Pope, he was their man. He had personality, a dream and he could recruit. They adopted the...

An 8-year-old Kentucky boy believed to have died from an allergic reaction to strawberries last month was actually killed by fentanyl, investigators revealed this week — and his stepdad is now facing criminal charges in his overdose death. Elementary school student Trey Harris died last month of “fentanyl intoxication,” officials announced as his 33-year-old stepfather Antonio Person was charged with manslaughter on Wednesday, according to WFIE. Person and Harris were living under the same roof and it was determined that Person had drugs inside the home, according to a Madisonville...

The Kentucky Wildcats basketball program has reportedly found its John Calipari replacement. According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, the team is closing in on hiring former BYU head coach Mark Pope. Thamel says the deal is expected to come together in the near future. Pope, 51, has been the head coach at Brigham Young University since 2019. Since joining BYU, the program has gone 110-52, good for a winning percentage of .679. They've made the NCAA Tournament twice — in 2020-21 and this past season — and they likely would have...

Kentucky needs to hire a new basketball coach for the first time since 2009, and now, a member of its 1996 national championship team has emerged as leading a candidate to take the spot. The Wildcats are “targeting” BYU coach Mark Pope as their next head coach and a deal is expected to happen soon, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported. This came after CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported earlier on Thursday that Pope could replace John Calipari as the Wildcats’ next head coach. Pope, who had previously coached at Utah Valley...

Mark Pope could be on his way out of Provo. The BYU head coach interviewed with Kentucky and is a serious candidate to replace John Calipari. The two sides are closing in on a deal, according to ESPN. Pope played at Kentucky and won a national championship at the school in 1996. He was a captain under Rick Pitino and the two stayed close throughout Pope’s coaching career. Pope got his first head coaching job at Utah Valley in 2016 and took over at BYU in 2020. He authored six,...

SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns may have to wait another year to view a 43-foot replica of the famous golden spike that was driven in Utah 155 years ago to signal the completion of the transcontinental railroad at its final home. However, when people do see it raised in place — likely in the spring of 2025 — it will be at the site of a brand-new state monument in Brigham City dedicated to celebrating the historic event in state history. The site will include a welcome center that could...

Any hope of Kentucky stealing away national championship-winning coach Dan Hurley from UConn seems all but over. CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reported that there was a “0 percent chance” that Hurley would leave for Kentucky and KSR’s Matt Jones posted that the UConn coach turned down a “massive offer.” Amid all this, Hurley himself put down the idea he would bolt for Lexington on Thursday during an interview on “The Jim Rome Show.” “No,” Hurley told Rome when he was asked if there was any sort of offer that could...

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate leaders introduced legislation to end “judge shopping” — a practice that’s made a federal courthouse in Amarillo with a Trump-appointed judge a destination for conservative litigants challenging Biden administration policies. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced the “End Judge Shopping Act” on Wednesday, which would require judges to be randomly assigned to civil cases that could have state- or nation-wide consequences.

An artist rendering of the future Golden Spike State Monument, which will be located in Brigham City. Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson welcomed Karen and Scott Keller to the Gold Room in the Utah Capitol Thursday for a ceremonial signing of the golden spike resolution. The resolution, sponsored by Sen. Scott D. Sandall, R-Tremonton, and Rep. Thomas W. Peterson, R-Brigham City, approved the creation of the Golden Spike State Monument and indicated that Box Elder County would partner with Brigham City to maintain the property. The monument will become part of...