Mark Pope is ducking a decisive Game 7 chess match against Collin Chandler

Mark Pope is scared to face Collin Chandler, but it has nothing to do with basketball. Pope is worried he’s going to lose his seven-match chess series against the freshman guard.

Chandler appears to be a man of many talents, as we’ve quickly learned throughout his short time at Kentucky. He’s a pro at solving a Rubik’s Cube and is quite the golfer and bowler. He’s also heralded as someone with a mind for chess. Pope is learning that the hard way.

During the Wildcats’ most recent win, an 81-69 victory over Texas A&M, the SEC Network broadcast took us behind the scenes for a quick segment from Pope’s office inside the Joe Craft Center. In front of him was a UK-themed chess board — one of his favorite pieces of memorabilia. Playing chess against his players is just one of the many ways Pope builds relationships beyond the hardwood, but he’s in a heated battle right now against Chandler.

Coach Pope likes to play chess with the team. pic.twitter.com/2tSGUMvocA

— Rare Rookies #BBN (@rarerookies) January 15, 2025

The two have gone head-to-head six times on the chess board this season, both picking up three wins. A decisive Game 7 awaits as the next winner is crowned the ultimate Wildcat chess champion. Pope says he’s ducking the competition as long as possible. However, he’s willing to make it happen if the match can be turned into an NIL opportunity for Chandler.

“I’m ducking him. I’m terrified,” Pope said during Thursday’s press conference. “Collin is good because he kind of lets you control the board and all of a sudden you’re like ‘Uh oh. This went really, really bad really, really fast.’ I don’t like it at all. So I’m gonna try to juice this thing and eventually do a pay-per-view, some kind of NIL pay-per-view for game seven. But I got to work on the marketing there. We got to figure that out.”

Pope was (we assume, at least) joking about the NIL part. But he might be underestimating the passion Big Blue Nation has for this group of Wildcats. A pay-per-view show where Kentucky fans can watch its head coach and a talented hooper play chess against each other? Sign us up…

But Pope’s willingness to participate with his players, not just Chandler, in what might seem like innocuous board games goes beyond what’s on the surface. Not everything has to be about basketball, all the time. Off-court activities between teammates can create chemistry just as easily as what happens during practice on the court. It’s something Pope’s been preaching since he arrived in Lexington.

“I think it’s massively important,” Pope said. “I think it’s more important that our players are doing non-basketball things with each other.

“I believe that for a team to become everything, to have all the synergy that you can have — and I’m using that word very specifically, the definition of that word matters — to really have the most impact of the synergy of guys together on a team, that comes from a place of love. It does. I know that sounds soft, but it’s real. Like that is a real thing. And love is a two-part word. Love is an affection that you feel for someone, but it’s also a verb. It’s an active endeavor. It’s both. It’s a noun and a verb, and they’re both real. And you kind of flip back and forth between the two.”

This is a subject Pope is clearly passionate about. It’s an aspect of athletics he truly believes impacts winning, and it’s part of why he enjoys his job so much. Not every single day is going to be perfect and filled with pleasure. There will be bumps along the way. But getting past those bumps helps build stronger bonds for everyone involved.

Pope gave a lengthy explanation as to why he buys into this line of thinking.

“Teams function at an elite level when you actually care enough about your teammate that you’re not totally lost, your thoughts aren’t lost on yourself,” Pope continued. “That’s a real thing. It’s why I love team sports. It’s why I love team organizations. It’s why I love a (coaching) staff. It’s why I love looking at companies that actually function at a high level. It’s why I love looking at families. There’s nowhere you see it better than in families. It’s why I love watching my four girls.

“My four girls interact with each other because they get power from each other and they get strength from each other. They’ll yell and scream and fight and punch and claw, and heaven forbid Layla comes to visit, and she goes home to Utah with Shay’s shirt, and then it’s like we’re gonna spend the next three weeks until she comes back, and everybody’s mad at each other, right? But from all of that, this active verb of love and this real love, that’s where all the synergy comes from, right?

“So I think you get that from spending time together, doing stupid things, knowing each other, caring enough to not just sit in your room by yourself, but ‘Hey, I’m gonna, I’m gonna actually extend myself.’ And so I’m a huge believer, and thankfully, because it’s no fun to do this by yourself, right? And so I think those things really matter. That was a long answer, but I care about it. I really care about that. I think it’s important in life.”

If losing another game of chess to Chandler means helping his team grow, Pope will happily take the L.

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