Mark Pope, the new Kentucky head coach, has brought his top assistant from BYU with him to Lexington.
Kentucky formally announced on Monday that Cody Fueger, a BYU assistant coach, would join Pope’s debut Kentucky staff.
“Cody Fueger and I have been together for 11 years now,” Pope stated in a news release. “I’ll never forget taking the job together at Utah Valley and trying to figure out how we were going to create a team that had only recently gotten into Division I. If you had told us we’d be walking into the Joe Craft Center and coaching at Rupp Arena, neither of us would have believed it.
“Cody is one of the most innovative offensive minds in college basketball.” He has a grounded yet wild inventiveness that is pushing the boundaries of how this game is evolving. He has been the most devoted friend, delivering massively for our team. Cody develops tremendous relationships with our players, and nothing makes me happier than welcoming him, Danielle, and their family to the Big Blue Nation.”
“I am extremely excited to be joining the storied Kentucky men’s basketball program,” he said. “I’d want to thank Mitch Barnhart, Mark Pope, and the entire UK crew for the chance. I’d also like to thank my family for their continuing love and support. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with Coach Pope as we chase banners and carry on the history at this outstanding program. Helping players flourish on and off the court has always been a priority of mine, and I’m honored to be able to pursue that passion alongside the best fan base in the country.”
Fueger, a University of Utah alum, began his coaching career as a video coordinator and student assistant for the Utes under Rick Majerus, who led Utah to the 1998 National Championship Game before falling to Kentucky, and Ray Giacoletti.
In 2007, Fueger was appointed as Louisiana Tech’s director of basketball operations, where he worked for four seasons under head coach Kerry Rupp.
Fueger was the director of baseball operations at UC Riverside under Jim Wooldridge in 2011-12, then in 2012-13, he was Utah State’s director of basketball operations under Stew Morrill.
Before the 2013-14 season, he joined Pope and then-head coach Dave Rose at BYU, where he served as director of basketball operations for two seasons.
When Pope was named head coach at Utah Valley for the 2015-16 season, Fueger joined as an assistant coach. He remained at Orem for Pope’s entire four-year term as head coach of the Wolverines before returning to BYU to serve as an assistant coach for the Cougars for the last five seasons.
He is well-known as a top young offensive mind in the sport, and Silver Waves Media named him one of the most influential mid major assistant coaches in Division I men’s basketball in 2022 and 2023. In 2023, he was one of 50 assistant coaches from around the country to attend the TopConnect Basketball Symposium.
Fueger worked for the Utah Jazz in the summers from 2014 to 2017, assisting with the organization’s pre-draft workouts and free agent minicamps.
He received a Bachelor’s degree in economics from Utah and a Master’s degree in parks, recreation, and tourism-sports management.
Fueger will be the first member of Pope’s debut coaching staff at Kentucky, which can comprise up to five full-time assistants, three of whom can recruit with the head coach.
Former Georgia head coach Mark Fox and former G League Ignite head coach Jason Hart are anticipated to officially join Pope’s staff later this week.
