BYU psychologists changed Mark Pope’s approach to team bonding activities on the road [Video]

For most of his basketball life, Mark Pope only knew one speed: as fast as possible, all the time.

If he wasn’t always hype-focused on basketball and making it his one and only priority, he didn’t feel like he would be as prepared as he needed to be. “I wonder where I got that from?” He joked during his Wednesday press conference, a clear nod to Rick Pitino, his former college head coach at Kentucky.

“Throughout my whole basketball career as a player and then the first half of my coaching career,” Pope said. “I was about like, ‘How long can you sustain a level 10 intensity and focus?’ I would spend 24 hours a day pacing and criticizing and yelling and being in game mode, full-on intensity, never stop.”

That version of Pope can be tough to envision for Kentucky fans, who have seen nothing but the calm, cool, and collected version of Pope since he took …