When 6-foot-5, 330-pound Mitchell Pope steps into the shot put circle, people begin to take notice.

The junior with the body of John Steinbeck’s Lennie digs in to the circle facing away from his target. His legs push off from the dirt, his hips twist and his body follows as he spins around to create enough force to hurl the 16-pound shot put out from his shoulder.

The stone sails through the air before thudding to the ground and leaving its mark 61 feet away from where Pope still stands.

His shot put surpasses the NCAA regional qualifying mark for the third time this season, as Pope continues his rise to the top of the ACC and NCAA in his dominating year.

But the dominance isn’t surprising for someone with the size and agility of Pope.

“Coach [Tom] Wood says I’m a rare breed, because I’m a big guy and I can move pretty quick,” Pope said. “I can still dunk even though I’m 330-pounds.”

Pope was a multi-sport athlete growing up, never really being able to settle on a particular sport until he gripped a shot put for the first time in his sophomore year of high school.

Pope’s mother, Teena Pope, was going to make her son get a job after basketball season that year, but Mitchell had other ideas.

Pope asked his mother if he could try out for the track team, a request that came as a surprise to Teena.

“I didn’t think there were any more sports that he hadn’t done already,” Teena said. “He took it on himself to look into track and became very good at it.”

Pope went full steam ahead into track, first giving the jumping events a try before settling on throwing.

“I started out as a high jumper and a long jumper and I broke a few poles,” Pope said. “My first practice after that they told me I would be a thrower from then on.”

Pope broke his school’s shot put record in only his second meet and decided to devote himself to the sport.

The constant in Pope’s life besides his mother has been his grandfather, who assumed a father-figure role for his grandson after Mitchell’s dad left the family early on.

“My dad has never been around and I actually just met him when I was 18,” Pope said. “My father-figure has been my grandpa and he comes to every college track meet we have.”

While Pope’s mother worked two jobs to support herself and her son, it was

Mitchell’s grandfather who would lend a helping hand at practices and who would travel to the meets.

“He was there when I couldn’t be and he was that extra support and male figure that Mitchell needed,” Teena said of her father. “Mitchell respects what my father thinks and wants to perform well to gain his [grandfather’s] approval, even though it’s always there.”

Pope gave a gift back to his family with scholarship offers from both State and North Carolina, but after making trips to both schools, he realized Raleigh was the right fit.

“I really liked [State’s] coach, he’s a good down-to-earth guy,” Pope said. “I went on a recruiting trip to Carolina and I just didn’t fit in, it wasn’t me.”

As most shot putters do their freshmen year, Pope redshirted as he adjusted to a heavier ball and refined his technique.

“I never really had any good coaching and my senior year of high school I was actually coaching our school’s throwers,” Pope said. “I learned the spin technique [freshman year] and the ball is heavier in college, going from 12 to 16-pounds.”

Pope said he was disappointed by last season despite a 12th-place finish in NCAA Regionals. But this season, he has already hit the provisional qualifying mark three times and is second in the ACC in shot put distance with a 61-foot, 7-inches mark.

“This is starting off as a much better year for me,” Pope said. “Last year was the kind of year you just want to forget about.”

According to Pope’s coach, the difference is maturity and his ability to learn the appropriate style.

“He’s very talented, but he’s gotten older now and his confidence is rising,” Wood said. “He’s found some things technique-wise that have really helped him.”

The new technique is dependency on the legs as the main tool for getting off a strong throw and not letting other parts of his body take over.

“I’m not running without the body anymore,” Pope explained. “I’ve learned to lead to throw with my legs this year.”

Pope had originally hoped to just finish well at ACC’s, but after his early season success he has become more specific in his plans for his junior season.

“My original goal starting out was just to get on the podium for conference, but as it’s turning out I’m throwing a lot farther now than I thought I would be,” Pope said. “So now I’m shooting for at least a silver in conference and hoping to be an All-American in NCAA’s.”

For someone with the enormous frame and obvious skill that Pope possesses, it isn’t a lofty goal, and in fact may even be too modest.

“The sky’s the limit for him,” Wood said. “He’s a young man who’s built to throw and is very gifted, so we’ll see what he can do.”