Mikhail McLean joins Kentucky men’s basketball staff

LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) – It was announced Friday that Mikhail McLean would be joining Mark Pope and the Kentucky men’s basketball staff as an assistant coach. McLean is a native of The Bahamas and serves as the associate head coach on the Bahamian National Team staff. He has been a part of the program since 2021 and is the squad’s defensive coordinator.

McLean is coming to Kentucky from Lamar, where he was an assistant coach for three seasons.

McLean played collegiately for Houston, before joining the Cougars’ staff. He was part of Houston’s staff for six seasons, helping the Cougars to American Athletic Conference titles in back-to-back seasons in 2019 and 2020. Houston advanced to the Sweet 16 in each of his final two seasons with the program and made a run to the 2021 Final Four.

“Mikhail played and coached under Kelvin Sampson who is one of the best, toughest and smartest coaches in the game,” Pope said. “Mikhail’s work with The Bahamian National Team along with his college coaching experience has allowed him to become one of the hardest-working, detail-oriented and top skill development coaches in the country. I’m so excited to have him and his family join our staff, and for him to get to work with our team because he is going to make a massive impact on this program.”