BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TIPOFF MEDIA DAY

October 18, 2023

Mark Pope

BYU Cougars

Media Day Press Conference

MARK POPE: I could not be more excited to be here. This has been 100 years in the making for BYU athletics and men's basketball to have a chance to be in the best league in all of college basketball, and we're incredibly humbled and excited and also bringing some confidence in our work into this league, and we can't wait to get going.

Q. Mark, what do you feel like this conference can do to lift up the BYU basketball brand?

MARK POPE: Well, listen, everybody that plays in this conference has the opportunity to go against the best teams in the country every single night, for 18 straight games. You're given the opportunity, and it's just a matter of taking advantage of it.

You don't have to go hunt for Quad 1 games or great opponents or great venues or exposure. It's all here, ever present for you, and you just have to perform. That's a real blessing for every program in this conference.

Q. For those of us who are getting to know you, what is BYU basketball? What is the Cougars' calling card?

MARK POPE: So we are a team that's going to play with tremendous pace. We're going to try and make teams guard us, not 22 by 50 by 27, 28 by 50. We're going to try and be really disruptive defensively.

We're blessed to play in an incredible environment at home at the Marriott Center, which is going to be a wonderful addition to the Big 12, which is the best attended conference in the country. A bunch of guys that play together and play for each other and play really tough.

Q. Any update on Kansas transfer Marcus Adams and his status with your team?

MARK POPE: Yeah, so Marcus is doing an unbelievable job. He's working really hard, kind of finding his way academically and getting healthy, and we're really excited to have him.

We won't know about his eligibility this season for a while. That's in process. But we're certainly hopeful.

Q. For those that have not been out to Provo for a game, what is that environment like and what can fans of opposing teams expect from BYU?

MARK POPE: I'm happy for every team in the Big 12 and every player and every fan base because, like so many venues in the Big 12, Provo, and the Marriott Center in particular, are incredible places.

Playing a much different schedule, a much less nationwide league in the WCC, a great basketball league. We're still 16,000 strong every single game, and we expect that to bump up to 18 or 19 a game this year. Just as an example, season tickets sold out before they were ever available to the public.

We have an unbelievable student section in The Rock that is legendary. The Marriott Center is an incredible venue to watch a game, and we have passionate fans.

Q. You're going from a conference where you were annually picked second or third to a conference now where you've been picked 13th. Much harder conference, obviously. But in a way, does that kind of take some pressure off you guys? Does it allow you to get your footing a little bit?

MARK POPE: You know, I mentioned this earlier, but I was super excited about the 13th pick. I have four daughters, and we managed to make it to a couple of the Taylor Swift concerts this year, and her favorite number is 13, and I think that bodes well for BYU basketball this season. We're really excited about that.

I think the pressure is always there. If you're running from pressure, you shouldn't be in athletics. Actually we love it.

I think you're pressure picked at 13 and pressure picked at 1 and pressure picked everywhere, but certainly we are very humble moving in this league, but we're very confident, also, and we're coming in here to compete and grow into winning, and we're really excited to do that.

I don't know if anybody puts a lot of stock in the preseason picks, but we're excited to come compete.