Get to Know Your Lobos: Dane Kuiper

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Ever wish you could sit down with a Lobo men’s basketball coach or player, learn what makes him tick, what his favorite food is or if he has a secret hidden talent? Well here’s your chance! The UNM Athletic Department is rolling out a new men’s basketball series, Get to Know Your Lobos, where we ask your favorite Lobos questions just like that – and more!

GoLobos.com will be rolling through the men’s basketball roster throughout the off season, asking the really tough questions to your Lobos. Fans – feel free to chime in as well! Fans with questions can direct message @UNMLoboMBB on Twitter with questions for future player or coach interviews.

First up – we start with senior Dane Kuiper. Kuiper talks about growing up in Wasilla, Alaska, raising his pet snake, Cane, what he wants to do when he “grows up,” and his favorite part of New Mexico.

Get to Know Your Lobos: Dane Kuiper

QUESTION: Where are you from?
ANSWER: Wasilla, Alaska

QUESTION: Tell us about Wasilla, Alaska.
ANSWER: Wasilla, Alaska is a different place, I really enjoyed growing up there. There’s a lot to do outside. There’s not a lot in town to do, but I think it’s definitely a really good experience for a young kid growing up in such a wild place

QUESTION: What do you mean by wild?
ANSWER: I could go out my back door of my house and there would be hundreds of miles of just wilderness that you can go and explore. 

QUESTION: What is your favorite thing about Wasilla, Alaska?
ANSWER: All the places to go fishing.

QUESTION: What is your favorite food?
ANSWER: Smoked salmon.

QUESTION: Tell us about the best smoked salmon you’ve ever had.
ANSWER: The best smoked salmon I’ve ever had was made in my uncle’s back yard, in his little smoker, like a 3-foot by 2-foot smoker. 

QUESTION: What is your favorite color?
ANSWER: Olive green.

QUESTION: What is your major?
ANSWER: Communications with a minor in psychology

QUESTION: What do you want to be when you “grow up?”
ANSWER: I want to be a professional basketball player, and then a wildlife and park officer.

QUESTION: Tell us about your family.
ANSWER: I have one older brother, Braden, who played college basketball at Colorado State Pueblo, now he’s back in Alaska. I have a mother and father, my dad is an electrician and my mother owned a coffee shop for six or seven years and now she’s a stay-at-home mom, takes care of me here. *smiles and chuckles*

QUESTION: What was your favorite birthday or Christmas gift?
ANSWER: My grandpa bought me a new (fishing) rod from Cabela’s when I was 12.

QUESTION: What makes you tick?
ANSWER: Anything outdoorsy really makes me super happy to go do. I just love being outside, so anything like that.

QUESTION: What was your favorite class here at UNM?
ANSWER: I had a non-verbal communications class, and the professor was more of a hands-on teacher, which I really liked. That’s how I engage in things, when people are kind of in my face showing me how to do things. He was just a really good teacher and I had a really good time.

QUESTION: Red or green chile?
ANSWER: Green

QUESTION: What’s your favorite part about New Mexico?
ANSWER: The Pit.

QUESTION: What’s your favorite thing to do outside of playing basketball?
ANSWER: Go fishing.

QUESTION: Shorts or jeans?
ANSWER: I really like wearing jeans, but it’s kind of hot here, so I wear shorts a lot.

QUESTION: What is something that most people don’t know about you?
ANSWER: I have a piece of cactus stuck in my hand. I fell onto an agave – so not really a cactus I guess – and the point on the front went in, broke off, and I didn’t know about it for about a month. Then I felt it, and now it’s just in my hand. It’s been there two years. 

QUESTION: Do you have any special, hidden talents?
ANSWER: I can talk to snakes *laughs*

QUESTION: Anything else people might like to know about you?
ANSWER: Something people might not know about me is that I have a pet snake.

QUESTION: A snake! Tell us about your snake – and what do you do with him when you’re on the road during the season?
ANSWER: His name is Cane, and my girlfriend usually takes care of him by spraying him with water and making sure he has water in his dish. I named him Cane because (former Lobo) Connor (MacDougall) bought him with me and it was Connor – Dane so we named it a combination of our names – Cane.  

QUESTION: What are you most looking forward to heading into your senior season?
ANSWER: I’m excited to get started with my new team. I’ve always liked to play with new teammates and see how it will go!