Power Naps and Kenny G: Mark Pope Shares his Pregame Ritual

Athletes are creatures of habit who can become incredibly superstitious. Mark Pope is not hiding from black cats, but since his days as a player, he has stuck to a regular pregame routine.

On Monday night’s Mark Pope Show, a member of the audience asked how he prepares for each game. The Kentucky head coach revealed he no longer feels that superstitious. He doesn’t even have a pregame hype song, but that was not always the case.

During his playing days, Pope listened to the dulcet tones of Kenny G to prepare to hit the hardwood.

“Because there’s only a few people listening right now, I’ll share some really humiliating, embarrassing things. There was a time where I used to have hype songs. Actually, it was not. It was like relax songs. It was songs to get me to just relax, because sometimes I can be a little bit hyper. So in high school, I went through this span… There was actually a time where my pregame music was a Kenny G soundtrack. How embarrassing is that?”

Some people need to get hyped. Others need to calm down. I can’t think of a better way to calm down than by listening to this curly-haired man playing soprano sax from a seaplane.

Mark Pope Shares his Kentucky Pregame Routine

Pope is no longer blaring Kenny G to get ready for games. He has a different way of calming down before the Kentucky Wildcats take the court at Rupp Arena.

“We’re pretty consistent. It involves a bunch of prep for shoot-around, a bunch of meetings with staff, and then a step away. We’ll all take an hour and kind of just do something non-basketball completely, and then a pregame meal. I still try and squeeze in a power nap, a 27-minute NASA power nap,” Pope said.

The Kentucky head coach is referring to a 1995 NASA study that explored sleep benefits while on the job. A 26-minute power nap maximizes alertness and job performance, without leaving an individual groggy.

Once Pope relaxes, he’s revving his engines up and going through what plays he’ll be calling during the upcoming game. It’s a routine that’s replayed before every single Kentucky basketball game.

“I have a pretty extensive play sheet review that I’ll do leading up to tip. We have two team meetings. The guys come in at the 40 (minute mark), and the guys come in again at 12, and we’ll have two meetings where we do exactly the same thing, prep every single time. I spend a little bit of time gathering myself and then it’s off, walk into that brilliant arena, and let’s go play.”