New Addition Alert: Mark Pope and Lee Anne Thrilled to Introduce Baby Boy to Their Family!….

Mark Pope, the new Kentucky Wildcats basketball coach, is married to Lee Anne Pope. Lee Anne is the daughter of Lynn Archibald, a former men’s basketball coach for Utah. She is a graduate of Brigham Young University with a degree in journalism and has worked as a personal assistant for David Letterman in New York City.

Because he did very well at BYU, especially this past season in the Big 12 with a win over Baylor, a win at Kansas, a win against Iowa State, and a chance to beat Houston in the final minute in Provo.

It is far easier for Pope to recruit at Kentucky than at BYU with its honor code, entrance requirements and academics.

Pope recruited and signed four-star Collin Chandler from Farmington High in Utah, who is expected to return from his two-year church mission in a few weeks. Chandler is the highest-ranked recruit in school history at a school with two Naismith Award Winners in Danny Ainge and Jimmer Fredette and a Hall of Famer in Kresimir Cosic.

At Kentucky, Pope can get 10 Chandlers. Oh, they may be one-and-done players, but he will get in the homes, sell Kentucky and get his share of top talent — he is that good of a salesman when his heart is set on the product he’s peddling. And Pope’s heart is set on his Wildcat blood and roots.

As good as John Calipari and Rick Pitino are with media interviews and press rooms, Kentucky fans will find that Pope is more entertaining. He is articulate, sometimes over the top in his enthusiasm, and extremely insightful in how he breaks down challenges, players and games. It will be refreshing for them, and they really don’t know much about this right now.

Mark Pope put one of the most entertaining teams in the country on the floor this past season, a squad that ranked near the top in 3-point shooting in attempts and makes. They played hard, Pitino-style defense and they put relentless effort into rebounding.

Pope creates, expects and demands what he calls “the best locker room in America” in that he expects his players to leave their personal agendas aside and focus on what is best for the team. This year Jaxson Robinson was BYU’s best player, and leading scorer and he CAME OFF THE BENCH.

Robinson was the Big 12′s Sixth Man Award winner.

Who gets a superstar to do that?

Pope did.

Pope should be credited for his work at BYU and the players he brought in, be it Robinson, a four-star transfer from Arkansas, or Aly Khalifa, a native of Egypt who was the best 7-foot passer in the NCAA this past year.

Pope has a vision and his enthusiasm for his job stands out at a wattage level that’s rare in the coaching profession.

Wildcat fans aren’t familiar with this, but they will be.

They’ll also learn that in Pope’s wife Lee Anne, they’ll have an astute team mother and coach’s wife who is involved and beloved. She used to work for David Letterman behind the scenes. She will do magic in the hallways of Rupp Arena.

The Pope Era in Provo will be remembered extremely positively, but way too short.

BYU fans should be grateful he made this stop on his way to Kentucky.

There are probably four or five jobs in the country that could lure Pope from BYU. Kentucky was at the top.

This is what happens when your coach is considered at the top.

Utah State averages one of these kinds of poaching losses every three years and this past year it was one season.

That the folks who made the decision in Lexington tapped Pope on the shoulder and called his name should be taken as an honor — your man was recruited and picked — he is considered that good.

In coming days, Kentucky faithful will see that a returning player, one of their beloved alums, will be far more to their liking than initial knee-jerk reactions.

If Pope had had Kentucky’s roster this year, they would have been in the Elite Eight instead of losing to Oakland.

There is no doubt in my mind.