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<\/p>\nYou may have seen a job posting earlier this week about an assistant coach job opening for Kentucky basketball. Well, Kentucky has just made a hire separate from that assistant coach position. According to KSR, Mark Pope has brought on former Kentucky Wildcat John Pelphrey to become the program’s new Director of Player Development. <\/p>\n
Pelphrey was a part of Kentucky’s 1992 team and since then has made a career in coaching college basketball. The former Wildcat began his coaching career with South Alabama back in 2002, where he spent five seasons before heading to Arkansas as an assistant and finally earning a head coaching opportunity with Tennessee Tech, where he has spent the last seven seasons. During his time with the Eagles, he went 79-138 and now holds a 228-264 overall coaching record. Now, he’s getting a new opportunity in a different role at his former school.<\/p>\n
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Nov 26, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles head coach John Pelphrey looks on during the first half against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
Last season, the former Wildcat brought his Tennessee Tech squad into Rupp Arena for a regular season game as part of a game where Kentucky honored The Unforgettables, who were the heart and soul of Kentucky’s 1992 squad. Pelphrey, Richie Farmer, Sean Woods and Deron Feldhaus were all honored last season during that game. In his time as a Wildcat, Pelphrey totaled 1,257 points, 469 rebounds and 327 assists. <\/p>\n
In addition to that staff position, Kentucky’s open assistant coach position is a new opening. On Monday, before the job opening was officially posted, Mark Pope was asked about if he was planning to hire someone to fill that position. <\/p>\n
“Certainly we have the potential to kind of grow the staff, strengthen the staff, change the staff right now, and that could happen, but right now it\u2019s actually by far the best I’ve felt with how our staff is functioning together.”<\/p>\n
The Director of Player Development position is very crucial to a team’s staff as an off-court role and now Pelphrey gets to show what he can do.<\/p>\n
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