SAN DIEGO — University of San Diego men's basketball head coach JR Blount and assistant coach Jeremy Pope have been named to the Roots 66 Class of 2026, the organization announced this week.

Roots 66 honors the up-and-coming coaches, administrators and decision-makers making the biggest impact on the game. Blount and Pope land on the list heading into their first season together on the Torero bench.

Blount was named the 15th head coach in program history in March after five seasons on T.J. Otzelberger's staff at Iowa State. The Cyclones went 124-53 over that stretch, won the 2024 Big 12 Tournament title and reached the Sweet 16 in 2022, 2024 and 2026. His player-development work there included Joshua Jefferson's rise to All-America honors.

Before Iowa State, Blount spent three seasons at Colorado State, helping the Rams sign the highest-rated recruiting class in program history. Off the court, he was a leader in the school's Together Initiative, which promoted social justice and racial equality on campus. A Milwaukee native and former three-year captain at Loyola Chicago, Blount also made coaching stops at Saint Leo and Drake.

Pope joined Blount's first USD staff in March after three seasons as an assistant at UT Arlington, where he helped develop four all-conference honorees in 2023-24. His West Coast Conference experience comes from two seasons at Portland, where the Pilots won 19 games in 2021-22 and beat Villanova a year later.

Pope's path runs through nearly every level of the game. The Los Angeles native began his Division I career as a graduate manager at Washington, then coached at prep powers Orangeville Prep in Ontario, Canada, and Arizona Compass Prep. In the summer of 2021, he led Boeheim's Army to The Basketball Tournament title and its $1 million prize.

The Roots 66 honor follows Pope's selection to Silver Waves Media's 75 Rising Stars: Impactful Men's Mid-Major Assistants list ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Roots brings together coaches, administrators, scouts, agents and influencers committed to growing the game, supporting its members with resources, relationships and a platform to succeed on and off the court. The Roots 66 list debuted in 2025.

Blount, Pope, and the Toreros will begin their 2026-2027 season on November 2 against Biola.