According to reporting by Kentucky Sports Radio, Mark Pope is making a push to hire former NBA player Jamal Crawford as an assistant coach at UK.
KSR’s report says Pope previously offered Crawford, who happens to be an assistant coach for Tyran Stokes’ high school team, a job that he initially turned down.
Now, it appears he is at least reconsidering the opportunity.
Here is an excerpt:
KSR has learned that three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford was officially offered a job on Pope’s staff in recent weeks. Crawford, who is an assistant at Rainier Beach HS where Stokes is a senior, initially turned down the offer before having second thoughts on the decision. The Kentucky head coach, meanwhile, has continued to push, armed with a pitch of full recruiting autonomy and the chance to continue working with the likely No. 1 pick ahead of the 2027 NBA Draft.
We broke the news on KSR+, and Matt Jones talked about it on radio to open Friday’s show — where he acknowledged the dream is still very much alive for the Wildcats.
“Kentucky two weeks ago offered him that final assistant coach position,” Jones said on KSR. “He turned them down, then they came back about a week ago and said, ‘Will you reconsider?’ And now, apparently, he is actually really reconsidering.”
