Get to know Mark Pope a little better through a rapid fire Q&A with CBS Sports

Mark Pope is certainly an interesting figure (in a good way!), one made even more interesting by serving as the head coach of Kentucky men’s basketball.

With Pope entering year two as the program’s guiding voice, the Big Blue Nation has learned more and more about what makes him go as a head coach, not just as the player he was back in the 90s. The positivity and upbeat attitude we see from him in public is exactly how he acts behind the scenes. We know he loves his family, he loves Kentucky, and he loves basketball. But what are some of the quirkier traits of Pope’s personality?

Thanks to the Eye on College Basketball podcast with Matt Norlander, we have a better idea of what makes Mark Pope act like Mark Pope. To close out a 70-minute interview from last week, Norlander hit Pope with 41 rapid fire questions — an appropriate number, which Pope explained in detail as to why he chose it as his jersey number during his playing days.

Below are some of my favorite responses:

• Sebastian Coe, who won a pair of Olympic gold medals in 1980 and 1984 in the 1500-meter, was Pope’s favorite athlete growing up.
• Pope isn’t going bald and could grow his hair out, but chooses to shave it to create one less thing for him to do every day. He says he shaves every 2-3 weeks.
• Pope is no cook, but he makes a mean salad. If he could add a skill to his repertoire, it would be to sing. He also referred to himself as a “hack pianist”.
• There is a group chat with all 16 SEC head coaches, but Tennessee’s Rick Barnes is the worst at texting in it.
• Outside of basketball, cycling is Pope’s favorite sport to watch. He used to ride back in the day, even embarking on a 206-mile race out West at one point. “I’m a big fan because I just love watching people stretch their capacity to endure suffering.”
• He hates blue cheese. Join the club.
• If he continued on his medical path, he’d be an ER doctor. Or as he said it, a “bad” ER doctor.
• What makes him mad in this world? When he lets other people down.

That’s not even close to half of what Pope had to say, though. If you want to dive even deeper into Pope’s brain, dive into the entire interview with Norlander below.