Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
Kentucky

Emotional Mark Pope reunited with daughter, Avery, following 15-month mission trip

Danby: Daniel Hager02/07/26DanielHagerOn3

Following a 15-month mission trip in El Savador, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope reunited with his daughter, Avery, Wednesday night.

Pope departed Rupp Arena following Kentucky‘s 94-78 win over Oklahoma and headed straight for Bluegrass Airport, where she landed. Footage of the Pope family’s embrace was released Friday night ahead of Kentucky‘s clash against No. 25 Tennessee Saturday night.

Pope has four daughters; Avery, Ella, Layla, and Shay.

“It was magical and awesome and brilliant,” Pope said during Friday’s press conference. “I’m so grateful there were so many people that just helped us make that happen. It was really special for our family.”

Mark Pope usually sticks around for the ‘Wildcat Wrap-Up’ with long-time host Tom Leach following Kentucky games, but he handed off duties to assistant coach Jason Hart Wednesday night. After a few brief words postgame, it was off to the airport for the Popes.

“It’s 22 minutes ’til Avery lands,” he said. “I’m out, guys.”

Kentucky has won seven of its last eight games heading into Tennessee clash

Kentucky opened the season with a disappointing 9-6 record, but has since won seven of its last eight games in SEC play. This includes resume-building victories over No. 24 Tennessee in Knoxville and No. 15 Arkansas in Fayetteville. It won its fourth consecutive home game against Oklahoma on Wednesday night and will look to turn that into a five-game win streak on Saturday against the Volunteers.

“I’m super proud of our guys,” Pope said following the win over Oklahoma on Wednesday. “Really proud of the effort. Really proud of (Brandon Garrison) for stepping up and being great. Otega (Oweh) continues to play at an elite level. We got contributions from everybody.”

Following the Wildcats’ disastrous 94-59 loss to Gonzaga on Dec. 5, it appeared as if all hope for a successful season would be lost. Mark Pope‘s team, however, kept on fighting and has put itself in a solid spot to earn a bye in the SEC Tournament with eight games to go. Along with this, the ‘Cats have completely jumped off the bubble and sit as a projected No. 7 seed in On3’s latest Bracketology.