Presented By BASKETBALL 21 22 Inside: Gold Standard The Unforgettables: Thirty Years Later©2021 The Coca-Cola Company. Proud partner ofGet Fresh Game Day Faves with FREE Pickup * Shop on our app. Official Grocery Partner of UK Athletics *Free pickup on orders of $35 or more. Restrictions may apply. FRESH FOR EVERYONE ™CONTENTS 2021-22 Wildcats 20 Dontaie Allen 22 Keion Brooks Jr. 24 Brennan Canada 26 Daimion Collins 28 CJ Fredrick 30 Kellan Grady 32 Bryce Hopkins 34 Davion Mintz 36 Zan Payne 38 Jacob Toppin 40 Oscar Tshiebwe 42 Lance Ware 44 TyTy Washington Jr. 46 Kareem Watkins 49 Sahvir Wheeler Coaching Staff 52 Head Coach John Calipari 54 Associate to the Head Coach James “Bruiser” Flint 56 Associate Coach Orlando Antigua 57 Assistant Coach Ronald “Chin” Coleman 58 Assistant Coach/ Recruiting Coordinator Jai Lucas 2021-22 Opponents 60 Duke 62 Robert Morris 64 Mount St. Mary’s/Ohio 67 UAlbany 68 North Florida 69 Central Michigan 70 Southern 71 Notre Dame 72 Ohio State 73 Louisville 74 Missouri 75 High Point 76 LSU 77 Georgia 78 Vanderbilt 79 Tennessee 80 Texas A&M 81 Auburn 82 Mississippi State 84 Kansas 85 Alabama 86 South Carolina 87 Florida 88 Arkansas 89 Ole Miss University & Tradition 92 University of Kentucky 93 President Eli Capilouto 94 Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart 96 Kentucky in the SEC 97 Hall of Fame 98 Rupp Arena 100 Kentucky in the NBA 102 Kentucky in the NBA Draft 103 Kentucky in the NCAA 104 Unparalled Tradition 107 Retired Jerseys 108 All-Americans 110 UK Sports Network 2021-22 Kentucky Basketball Yearbook is published by the University of Kentucky Athletics Department. University of Kentucky Athletics Director: Mitch Barnhart Communications and Public Relations: Eric Lindsey, Deb Moore 546 East Main Street First Floor Lexington, KY 40508 (859) 226-4540 UK Sports Marketing Powered by JMI Sports Brandon Baker, Seth Boyle, Curtis Burch, Randy Carter, Adair Mattingly, Seth Poteat, Kim Ramsay, Lance Reed, Brian Sayre, Kim Shelton, Brad Tucker Design & Publishing Managing Editor Jai Giffin Creative Director Jamie Barker Production Assistance Laura Doolittle, Adam Peterson, Lisa Roberts, Bob Slater On the Cover Top (l-r): Kellen Grady, Bryce Hopkins, Keion Brooks Jr., Lance Ware, Sahvir Wheeler, Zan Payne, Kareem Watkins, Davion Mintz, Brennan Canada, Oscar Tshiebwe, TyTy Washington Jr., Daimion Collins, Dontaie Allen, CJ Fredrick, Jacob Toppin 2021-22 KENTUCKY BASKETBALL Gold Standard A group of youth and veteran players will pursue UK’s ninth NCAA title in 2021-22. 4 “The Unforgettables” A look back 30 years. 8 2 @KentuckyMBBBy Zach Epperson his fall marks 10 years since Ken- tucky Basketball’s 2011-2012 nation- al championship season. A decade ago this month, the Wildcat faithful packed the 2011 Big Blue Madness, watching the eventual national champions kick- start their season. And while that season tip off may still be fresh in the minds of some, the thrill of winning a men’s basketball national champi- onship is a distant memory for others. Since that heralded 38-2 season, the program has continued chasing that elusive ninth NCAA title, nearly capturing it several times. So how, after these past nine seasons, does the program stay hungry and committed to that goal? How do they stay motivated? It might be that for this year’s squad, last year’s finish is all the motivation they need. With its worst finish since the 1988-89 season, and its worst winning percentage in nearly 100 years, fans and staff alike are ready to turn the page, preparing for the season ahead. “It was painful for every one of us to go through. Every one of us,” explained head coach John Calipari in early September. “And I’m not just talking about coaches. Everybody, even stu- dents. It was painful.” Painful is an appropriate word to use when describing the past year and a half. The pan- demic impacted every imaginable aspect of life, including college sports, an escape for some during these difficult times. Though, as poorly as last season went for Kentucky, they weren’t alone in their struggles: many other college bluebloods finished well below their program standards last year. As they say, misery loves company. But for Calipari and his team, he has made it clear that they won’t be dwelling much on the past. “For us, it [made] us appreciate what we have,” Calipari said. “But you know what, it’s time to move on. Let’s go, next year. Thank good- ness that we got through last year.” Standard A mix of youth and veteran players will pursue UK’s ninth NCAA title in 2021-22 4 @KentuckyMBB@UKSportsNetwork 56 @KentuckyMBB For most fanbases, any improvement to a 9-16 finish is a step in the right direction. But this is Kentucky we’re talking about, the gold standard of college basketball. Improvements to the season win total alone aren't enough to satisfy the Big Blue Nation; only a nation- al championship can do that. This year, with a mix of fresh new stars and veteran leader- ship, it seems Coach Cal likes his chances. “If you think about my best teams, we had really good young talent, but there was veteran leadership within the team,” Calipa- ri said. “I had one team [2014] that went to the final game that started five freshmen. That is unusual.” This year’s squad certainly has a healthy mix of new and returning players. Additions like TyTy Washington Jr., Daimion Collins, and Bryce Hopkins look to continue Ken- tucky’s legacy of bringing in and develop- ing high-caliber freshmen. While Kentucky freshmen are almost always the big story heading into each season, the team’s roster is filled with college basketball veterans, 12 non-freshmen to be exact. We’re talking about guys like Keion Brooks Jr. and Davion Mintz, who could have gone on to the NBA Draft, instead choosing to return to campus for an- other run at a title. According to UK Athletics, Calipari will see over 42 percent of the team’s minutes return, as well as nearly 42 percent of its scoring. His only other teams that returned more minutes and scoring from the previous season were the 2012 national champions and the 2015 Final Four team. The team also added veterans from around college basketball, including high-level transfers like Kellen Grady, Oscar Tshiebwe, Sahvir Wheeler and CJ Fredrick, who bring their collective college hoops experiences to the bluegrass. “We dabbled in the transfer market,” Calipari said, “most of it being graduate transfers, and they’ve added something to every team that we had. This year, because of the [eligibility] rule, we also took a cou- ple of undergraduate transfers who are go- ing to add to this team.” The right mix of new stars and solid vet- erans is the key to creating a champion- ship-caliber team, as was done 10 years ago. Having talented players on the roster is one thing, but it’s an entirely different thing alto- gether getting them to mesh and play for each other as we’ve heard Calipari lament before. That was one glaring item missing from last year’s team: cohesion. The pandemic greatly reduced opportunities for teammates to get out and bond. That doesn’t appear to be an issue this season. “They’ve done some really great stuff together the seven, eight weeks this [past] summer,” Calipari said. “They came togeth- er as a team. They did good stuff. They start- ed, since coming back, doing team things. You never see one or two guys. You see six or seven.” The other puzzle piece missing from last season? Efficient shooting. That, according Keion Brooks Jr. chose to return to UK this season for another title run.@UKSportsNetwork 7 to Calipari, should improve as well. “I told the guys, because we have more balance, we do have more shooters,” he said. “I mean, everybody has had spells [in practice] where they’ve made them, wheth- er it be Kellan, Dontaie, Davion, or Keion, they’ve all had spells where it’s just bang, bang. We just have to be more consistent.” The road to a championship isn’t easy; it never has been, and Kentucky will still have to face the usual suspects when it comes to non-conference foes like Duke, Kansas, Lou- isville and Notre Dame. But on its journey to- ward a hopeful championship, the team will have chances to learn and celebrate as well. Take the newly-created Unity Series for instance, which will feature the Wildcats tak- ing on different members of the Southwest- ern Athletic Conference’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities over a five-year period beginning this season with Southern. The series is expected to serve as a way of promoting and raising awareness about the goals and missions of HBCUs. But perhaps one of the most anticipated non-conference games for Kentucky fans might just be the one slated to take place on New Year’s Eve. That day, Kentucky will wel- come back Tubby Smith to Rupp Arena as the head coach of High Point. The reunion is the result of recurring discussions between the UK Hall of Famer and Calipari, with Cal asking Smith to come back and let the fans show him how much he’s loved. “[I’ve] been asking him for the last cou- ple of years,” Calipari explained. “Finally, he and I talked and I said, ‘Tubby, I don’t think Coach Joe B. Hall knew how much these people loved him.’ I remember when we asked him to do the ‘Y’ and people didn’t stop clapping for Coach Hall. And to this day we know, and he knows most importantly, how they feel about him. The same with Tubby.” Much has changed since the nation- al championship-winning coach departed Lexington in 2007. In fact, so much has changed with college sports in just the past year. College athletes can now profit off of their image through the new name, image and likeness rule, an off-the-court change Kentucky is looking to tackle and embrace. As you can imagine, Calipari will have Ken- tucky out in front of the issue, educating and keeping his players best interest in mind. “I want us to be the gold standard,” he said. “Players are not going to come here be- cause of name, image and likeness. They’re not. They’re going to come here because of [what goes on] between the white lines, the culture, and the brand we built in basketball.” “But let me say this to you: it is the rea- son they’ll go somewhere else if you’re not doing it right and they [other teams] do… My belief is, again, let’s be the gold stan- dard. That means let’s teach and educate.” Kentucky found itself in unfamiliar terri- tory just seven short months ago, a historic finish to a historic college basketball sea- son. But now, redemption is on the horizon in Lexington this fall, as another generation of fans stream into Rupp Arena, perhaps un- knowingly watching another championship team take the floor. Jacob Toppin and Davion Mintz will provide veteran leadership for the Wildcats in 2021-22. An elite shooter, Dontaie Allen hit 31 3-point field goals last season (54.5 pct.). Next >