BYU coach Mark Pope reacts throughout an NIT recreation in opposition to Lengthy Seaside State on the Marriott Heart in Provo on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. Scott G Winterton, Deseret Information
BYU coach Mark Pope celebrates after defeating Northern Iowa in an NIT recreation on the Marriott Heart in Provo on Saturday, March 19, 2022. Mengshin Lin, Deseret Information
There are specific issues in life you may’t unsee. For BYU basketball coach Mark Pope, his first expertise in Istanbul, Turkey, stays a visible for the ages.
Pope, who had simply gained a nationwide championship at Kentucky and was a second-round choose by the Indiana Pacers in 1996, opted to go away the NBA to play abroad in Turkey. In spite of everything, basketball is basketball. How totally different may it actually be?
It didn’t take however his first day abroad to seek out out.
“I land in Turkey and roll in to fulfill the crew,” Pope mentioned Thursday on “BYU SportsNation.” “It was media day, and we have been all in our uniforms.”
“We have been all standing in a circle and the 2 guys slit the ram’s throat and picked up the blood in a bucket.” — Mark Pope after touchdown in Turkey to start his abroad enjoying profession
The crew was taken out right into a courtyard the place two males sporting orange jumpsuits walked in carrying a full-grown ram, a bucket and a machete.
What occurred subsequent appeared extra applicable for an Indiana Jones film and never a meet-the-team occasion.
“We have been all standing in a circle and the 2 guys slit the ram’s throat and picked up the blood in a bucket,” Pope mentioned. “Then they stroll to every of us and dip their fingers within the blood and mentioned one thing in a language I didn’t perceive, they usually wiped the blood throughout our foreheads.”
Welcome to Turkey basketball.
“It was an unimaginable tradition second,” Pope mentioned. “I used to be like, the place am I? However in good and unhealthy methods. I’m pondering how unimaginable that is to be part of, and I’m additionally questioning if I used to be going to get in bother? Day by day after that was simply as a lot of an journey.”
The rebuild
With an absence of animal sacrifice as a “crew constructing” expertise, Pope continues to be in the midst of developing BYU’s roster and retooling its locker room. One other potential switch candidate toured campus Thursday.
“We’ll get the roster accomplished once we discover the precise items,” he mentioned. “It’s extra necessary that we're proper than we're rushed. All the time.”
Alex Barcello and Te’Jon Lucas accomplished their eligibility final season, and 6 others entered the switch portal looking for alternatives elsewhere.
“With change comes unbelievable alternative to reinvent ourselves and get higher,” Pope mentioned. “With this transition into the Massive 12 there's nothing we want greater than to reinvent ourselves and get higher.”
BYU added Coastal Carolina switch guard Rudi Williams from the portal and signed 6-foot-8 highschool ahead Braeden Moore out of Nashville, Tennessee. Guards Dallin Corridor, Richie Saunders and Tanner Toolson be part of the roster as returned missionaries.
The Cougars nonetheless have two scholarships to fill.
“I feel it’s going to be like this yearly,” Pope mentioned. “There's going to be modifications yearly. It provides gamers an opportunity to go and discover out what they suppose they need, and it permits us to rebuild.”
Baxter and Lohner
The Cougars misplaced two huge males when 6-foot-9 senior Gavin Baxter transferred to Utah and 6-8 ahead Caleb Lohner left BYU for future Massive 12 foe Baylor.
“Gavin gave his coronary heart and soul to this place for 3 years, three unbelievably troublesome, emotional years,” Pope mentioned, referring to Baxter’s trio of season-altering accidents. “Who’s been via that? I’m so excited for him to have a contemporary begin. He deserves it.”
Lohner, a junior from Dallas, thought of numerous potential suitors earlier than selecting Baylor.
“His street right here wasn’t at all times simple. The truth that he can go have a contemporary begin is a particular factor,” Pope mentioned. “It’s good for him and it’s actually good for us. I feel the portal is nice. I like the portal. A few of that chaos is an opportunity to reinvent ourselves and that’s what we're within the means of doing.”
Pope and Bryant
Pope and Elijah Bryant are from totally different eras of basketball, however they're immediately linked via three groups — BYU, the Milwaukee Bucks and Anadolu Efes S.Okay.
Bryant was born in 1995, two years after Pope transferred from Washington to Kentucky. He was simply studying to stroll when the Wildcats gained the 1996 nationwide championship.
Pope was an assistant coach at BYU in 2015, however left the Cougars to develop into head coach at Utah Valley simply previous to Bryant transferring to Provo from Elon Faculty.
The 6-5 guard performed two seasons for Dave Rose earlier than opting out of his senior yr for skilled basketball in Israel, the place he led Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Israeli League championship in 2020.
The Milwaukee Bucks, a crew Pope performed for between 2000-02, picked up Bryant to bolster their playoff roster, and went on to win the 2021 NBA championship.
Final month, enjoying for Anadolu Efes S.Okay. in Turkey, the identical membership Pope performed for 3 many years earlier, Bryant gained the Euroleague title.
“It’s unimaginable. There are not any phrases for it,” Pope mentioned. “Groups matter. While you get that status that ‘If you wish to win a championship, go get Elijah Bryant,’ at no matter stage — it’s fairly particular. Not solely that, he's an unbelievable human being and such an incredible consultant of this college.”
Bryant is staging two days of basketball camps in Highland June 22-23, whereas Pope works his roster in Provo for BYU’s ultimate season within the West Coast Convention earlier than becoming a member of the Massive 12.
Thankfully, each actions gained’t embody males in orange jumpsuits, carrying a full-grown ram, a bucket and a machete.
Dave McCann is a contributor to the Deseret Information and is the studio host for “After Additional Overview,” co-host for “Countdown to Kickoff” and the “Postgame Present” and play-by-play announcer for BYUtv.
BYU coach Mark Pope celebrates after defeating Northern Iowa in an NIT recreation on the Marriott Heart in Provo on Saturday, March 19, 2022.
Mengshin Lin, Deseret Information