University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Kenny Paul Geno
January 05, 2017 | Men's Basketball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Kenny Paul Geno can jump out of the building and talk your ears off, which makes him a very entertaining basketball player to watch and cover.
The Georgia senior recently sat down for a quick, pre-practice chat, and not for the first time. The 6-foot-3 forward from Booneville, Miss., also participated in a Q&A a year ago, which you can read here: http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/011216aag.html.
This time around we discussed his close friendship with men's tennis' big man, the 6-7 Paul Oosterbaan, golf, good gifts and more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: Who is somebody on the team, or any other Georgia athlete that you know, that you've come to really admire?
Geno: That would be, of course, Paul, who's from Michigan and plays tennis. We've become really good, basically best friends — we hang out together all the time. I respect him, his hard work; he's coming off an injury right now and he's working hard to get back. He's really good at tennis and I hope he makes it to the big leagues in tennis — that's what he's working for.
Frierson: It's probably rare for you to have a friend that doesn't play basketball that's taller than you. Have you two every gotten out here and shot around a little bit?
Geno: We've shot a few times and of course he can dunk, too. You know his dad was a really good player at Michigan. ... I've actually played tennis with him some, too. But we've come in here and shot a few times and he's not bad.
Frierson: Are you better at tennis than he is at basketball?
Geno: I'd say we're about even. I can't do all the backhands and stuff and of course he can't guard me one-on-one. I can't return one of his serves that's moving at something like 130 miles per hour. I've only returned like two of them and I just hit them back into the net.
Frierson: What's the hardest thing to do in sports?
Geno: Growing up, I always thought it was the three main sports — basketball, football and baseball — and then like two or three years ago I became addicted to golf. Now I respect anybody that plays golf; I think golf, by far, is the hardest sport to play.
In basketball you have to have skill to play at the higher levels, but anybody at any age can go outside with a basketball and shoot a little. They may not have great skills, but in golf you've got to have great skills to hit the ball all those different ways. If not, you can't play very well at all.
Frierson: How's your golf game?
Geno: Umm, not that good — but I'm still learning. Brandon Young, he's played his whole life, and I'll go out with him a lot. He's teaching some things; I know I have to get better with my chipping, but other than that I'm getting better.
Frierson: We're here in the holidays, gift giving time, so what's the best gift you've ever received?
Geno: I would say, being from Mississippi I love deer hunting, so over the last few years at Christmas I've received new rifles, which I go hunting with. Those and just being together with my family when I get to go home, having grown up in a really big family — being with my family is the best gift that I can receive.
After Christmas, it's kind of ritual that if somebody gets a new rifle, we'll have our Christmas dinner and then go out and shoot skeet and stuff like that. That's kind of a family thing that we do together.
Frierson: On the flip-side, what's the best gift you've ever given?
Geno: This is going to be a late Christmas present this year, and I've already told my parents about it, but I'm going to give them what's a late Christmas gift and graduation gift from me to them.
I don't know if you know the guy in Athens that paints with his mouth, with the Sharpies or whatever.
Frierson: Yeah, Michael Davenport.
Geno: I'm going to get a picture from [associate sports communications director Mike Mobley] and I'm going to get him to paint it, and then give it to my parents as a gift.
Frierson: When I was in sixth or seventh grade at Clarke Middle School, it was Mrs. Pitts' art class, and Michael Davenport came in and showed us how he painted, beautifully, despite not have any arms. I'd never seen anything like it.
Geno: He's amazing.
Frierson: What's the best new thing, at least new to you, that has entered your life in 2016?
Geno: I think getting older and maturing, growing from the mistakes I've made in the past and learning from Coach Fox — seeing how he interacts with his family and us, and learning from all of the coaches. I think all of us [seniors], we're about to the real world and that maturity is important, so that you handle things like adversity in a positive way.
Frierson: If you could spend an afternoon with Coach Fox doing anything, what would it be?
Geno: That's a funny question. I think it would be really funny to get Coach Fox in camouflage and take him hunting. I think that would be really interesting, because I feel like he's never done it and it would be really funny to see.
Frierson: What's the most creative thing you do? Or what's something creative you wish you could do?
Geno: Something I wish I could do is what my dad does. He graduated from Mississippi State and is a professional civil engineer, and the stuff he does on his computer, drawing these maps and stuff, and the things he does with his computer and his mind, creating all these different things, it's really unique.
I didn't realize how hard it was until one day in the summer when I went home, my mom was kind of sick so he worked from home for a few days. And just watching him, I couldn't believe all the stuff he was doing.
Frierson: What's something from your childhood that you really miss?
Geno: I miss playing Upward basketball at the First Methodist Church in Booneville. You're growing with all of your friends and Upward basketball was a Christian league at the church, where it's not just about basketball and you're doing things like devotions.
I really miss that because you're with your friends and you're still around basketball, but also there's the religious aspect.
Frierson: Were you always the tallest guy in your group of friends?
Geno: Actually, no. I had a friend that's a little taller than me and he played football in high school and at [Northeast Mississippi Community College]. He's like 6-7, so maybe an inch taller than me.
Frierson: What's the one thing you could eat every single day for the rest of your life?
Geno: I love food, so there's a lot. I would say my mom and grandmom's dirty rice. It's probably my favorite. It's the Mexican dirty rice and my grandmom puts jalapeño in it, but my mom does the grounded up sausage in it. I love it.
We would eat it at the dinner table and then I'd go do something for a little while and come back and heat up some more and eat it. It's my favorite dish.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
