LeeAnne Pope and two daughters had to leave the UK-Oklahoma game early to make sure they were at the airport on time to greet Avery Pope on her return home. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Any parent — or grandparent — certainly could understand why Kentucky coach Mark Pope was in a rush to leave Rupp Arena after his team beat Oklahoma Wednesday.
He skipped his postgame radio show and only gave a few brief remarks at his postgame press conference before heading to the airport to greet his daughter, Avery, who was returning from a mission trip to El Salvador. She had been gone since the fall of 2024.
Pope joked at his press conference Friday to preview tonight’s game with Tennessee that he got help “from our friends in the police and airport security” since he only had about 20 minutes to get from Rupp Arena to the airport before his daughter’s arrival.
“It was magical and awesome and brilliant,” Pope said. “I’m so grateful there were so many people that just helped us make that happen. It was really special for our family.”
Pope’s wife, Lee Anne, and her other two daughters left Rupp Arena early to make sure they were there in time to greet Avery just in case the UK coach ran late.
Another daughter, Ella, had previously been on a mission trip which prepared them for Avery’s absence. They also had phone calls and letters to ease not seeing her.
“I don’t know if it’s the greatest blessing in the world, but one of the greatest blessings in the world is watching your children inspire you,” Pope said. “You think about the tangible commitment. She walked away from college. She walked away from her tennis career to go spend — I guess it’s almost 17 months now — to just consecrate that time. That’s a big word, and that really means something.
“It actually means something to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to step away from my life for 17, give or take, months, and I’m going to give it to God, and I’m going to try and go serve people, and that’s the only agenda I’m going to have.’”
Not many of us could do what she did and I cannot imagine how stressful that must be for parents no matter how proud they are of what their child is doing. To have a loved one that young so far from home for that long has to be brutal no matter how strong your faith is.
“We were blessed that we could talk to her one time a week. It was limited. We get these phone calls back, and she’s sending us these letters that have changed my life and the way I look at life,” the Kentucky coach said Friday. “They actually changed the way I look at life.
“She had a chance to serve all the people around her and have this incredible experience in El Salvador, which is a place that’s incredibly different than where we are. All people essentially are the same, but people that come from a very different space.
“I mean, what a blessing to watch our children become the people that we admire the most in the world. It just is everything good about what a family is.”
Having her back will be an adjustment for the entire Pope family but what a great adjustment it is.
“This is a big change for her too, right? But it’s been really special. It was really sweet to just meet her at the airport and then coming home … I don’t know what time it was, two o’clock in the morning? We’re just sitting there — Layla couldn’t be there (she’s in Utah), but everybody else was there, and you don’t want to go to bed because you just want to stare at each other. It’s the best.”
