"She sneaks into practice and watches from a distance": Mark Pope once shared wholesome story about how wife Lee Anne Pope helped in coaching BYU

Mark Pope has been heading the BYU Cougars basketball team since 2019, and helping him in this is his wife Lee Anne Pope. Both on the court and off it, Lee Anne actively involves herself in maintaining working relationships with the players and the alumni.

During a 2020 interview with Deseret News, coach Pope shared the efforts that his wife puts in, saying:

“She’s so locked in with our guys. In some ways, she can see some things in them before I can see them. She sneaks into practice and watches from a distance. She’s really observant.

"She’s my best coach at being observant of the bench during a game. I get more feedback from her about our bench than I do from any of my coaches, which is understandable."

Lee Anne Pope credits this knowledge to her father Lynn Archibald, who was a coach at Idaho State and Utah before finishing his coaching career at BYU. Through all of her father's job changes, Lee Anne and her family followed along.

“I don’t know any other life. We were so immersed in it. It was such a great way to grow up,” she said.

"My dad made me a part of it. There are a lot of ways you could handle it and maybe not all daughters are as interested in it as I was. It was a way to spend time together. We had quality time, maybe not quantity. Those daddy-daughter trips, I can just float through them.”

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How did Mark Pope and Lee Anne meet?

The couple met through her brother Damon Archibald, who connected with Pope at a basketball camp. At the time, Lee Anne was working in New York as a personal assistant to David Letterman after graduating from BYU in journalism.

“When my brother met Mark, he was like, ‘I just met the male version of you. He’s you, but he’s a dude. And he’s going to call you for ‘Letterman’ tickets,’” Lee Anne said.

For a few weeks, Mark Pope and Lee Anne communicated via phone and email before meeting in Indiana where he was playing for the Pacers. They got married in August 1999 and have four daughters.

“First and foremost, she’s my No. 1 counselor. I’ve been really blessed in this game and I’ve been really fortunate as a coach. A lot of that has to do with that Lee Anne knows this game and the business and she loves these players deeply," Mark Pope said.

"She understands the ridiculous sacrifices that we make. My teams and the success my players have had so far and the progress we’ve made so far, it just doesn’t happen without her. She’s such a key player in this deal.”

It looks like the Popes will be traveling once again after reports suggest that Mark Pope could take up the vacant head coach position at Kentucky. This will be a homecoming for him as he played two seasons with the Wildcats and won the 1996 NCAA championship.

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