Kentucky basketball assistant coach leaves the Wildcats for SMU
This offseason figures to be a very busy one for Mark Pope and the Kentucky basketball program. A new athletic director is coming, roster turnover is inevitable, and there are assistant coaches with expiring contracts. One of those, Jason Hart, is the first of those dominoes to fall.
Hart was brought in by Pope, and expected to be a connection with top recruits. His time coaching NBA G League Ignite was thought to be an advantage, but it didn’t really work out that way. Players who had relationships with Hart ended up elsewhere, and so far, Kentucky doesn’t have a single recruit for 2026.
The blame for that doesn’t all fall to Hart, with Pope having earned a fair share of that. Still, things didn’t quite work out, and on Tuesday, Hart decided to move on, taking a job at SMU as an assistant. He’ll work for Andy Enfield, who he has previous experience with.
The Wildcats and Pope will have some work to do this offseason, including replacing Hart. There’s a lot of work to be done, and Big Blue Nation will be watching closely. Things have to go well, or it might be Mark Pope’s last offseason.
