< PreviousKENTUCKY 52 @KentuckyMBB 2021-22 Unanimous National Player of the Year (Sporting News, Associated Press, United States Basketball Writer’s Association, Na- tional Association of Basketball Coaches, Na- ismith Trophy, Wooden Award) … First player in program history to win all six NCAA-rec- ognized awards … First player in SEC history to win all six in the same season … Unani- mous All-America First-Team honoree by the AP, Sporting News, USBWA and NABC … Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award winner for the nation’s best center … NABC’s Pete Newell Big Man of the Year … SEC Player of the Year … First-Team All-SEC by both the league’s coaches and media … Naismith Defensive Player of the Year finalist … All-SEC Defen- sive Team as selected by the league’s coach- es … Led the country in rebounding (15.1), offensive rebounds per game (5.3) and de- fensive rebounding percentage (34.6%), also ranked second in offensive rebounding percentage (19.4%) … Snared 515 rebounds on the season, topping any other Division I collegiate player … The mark ranks as the third-most in program history and is one of just three players to tally 500 or more … Be- came a 1,000-point collegiate scorer in the final game of the season … Set a UK sin- gle-season record with 28 double-doubles … Was the first player to average at least 15 points and at least 15 rebounds per game since Drake’s Lewis Lloyd and Alcorn State’s Larry Smith did so in 1979-80 … First ma- jor-conference player to average 15-15 since UCLA’s Bill Walton in 1972-73 … First UK player to tally those numbers since Bob Bur- row in 1954-55 … Finished the season as the only major-conference player averaging at least 1.6 blocks and 1.6 steals per game … Corralled 10 or more rebounds in all but two games … Finished the season with program records of 21 straight double-figure rebound- ing efforts and 16 straight double-doubles … One of only two players (Anthony Davis) in program history since 1978-79 to lead the team in points per game (17.4), rebounds per game (15.1), steals per game (1.8), blocks per game (1.6) and field-goal percentage (60.6%) with a minimum of 130 attempts … Set a Rupp Arena record with 28 rebounds against Western Kentucky … Had more rebounds than the Hilltoppers entire team … It tied for the sixth-most rebounds in UK history and the most for a Wildcat in a regulation-length game in more than 52 years … It was the most in Division I basketball since Kendall Gray from Delaware State had 30 in 2015 … Finished the season responsible for 37.8% of the team’s total rebounds, taking away team rebounds that number jumped to 41.2% … Had 80 rebounds through the first five games OSCAR TSHIEBWE 6-9 n 260 n Sr. n Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic #34 n F Follow OSCAR on Social Media n @Oscartshiebwe34 on Twitter n @oscar_tshiebwe on Instagram of the Congo Click Here for More Information on OscarKENTUCKY 54 @KentuckyMBB High School A consensus five-star prospect … Ranked as the No. 7 overall player by Rivals … Ranked No. 8 overall by 247Sports and 20th by ESPN … Averaged 19.9 points, 7.4 boards and 6.1 assists per game as a senior at Richardson … 2022 Texas Gatorade Player of the Year and The Dallas Morning News’ Player of the Year … Repeated as the District’s MVP … Was a McDonald’s All American and a selection to the Jordan Brand Classic … Averaged 15.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals in the 2021 Nike EYBL … Shot 51.2% from the field and 37% from 3-point range and was tabbed the Circuit’s Most Valuable Player of Nike EYBL Session I … Also earned All-Peach Jam honors … Led the NBPA Top 100 Camp in assists (5.0) and steals (3.0) per game while posting 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds … Topped 1,000 career points during his junior season … Earned District Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore … Tabbed the Newcomer of the Year as a freshman … Graduated with honors … Was a member of the Student-Athlete Leadership Team … Volunteered locally as a youth tutor and basketball coach … Also competed in football, soccer, basketball and track. Personal Born Nov. 7 … Parents are Kimberly and Mike Wallace … Has a brother, Keaton who played college basketball at UT Arlington … He lists his brother as his life’s greatest influence … Major is communication/exploratory studies ... Away from the court he likes to watch Net- flix … SpongeBob SquarePants is his favorite TV show … Dunked for the first time in eighth grade … Lists Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as his favorite former Wildcat and LeBron James as his all-time favorite player … Superpower he would most like to have is teleportation … Likes chicken and shrimp alfredo … Can play the saxophone and piano … Picked Kentucky over Tennessee, Texas and UT Arlington. 6-4 n 193 n Fr. n Dallas #22 n G CASON WALLACE Follow CASON on Social Media n @wallace_cason on Twitter n @cason.wallace on Instagram Click Here for More Information on CasonKENTUCKY 2021-22 Named to the 2021-22 SEC Community Ser- vice Team … Appeared in 28 games in his second season with the Wildcats … Missed three due to injury … Registered career highs in points (42), blocks (11) and field- goal percentage (66.7%) … Led the team in blocks in four games … Played a season-high 16 minutes and snared six rebounds in the SEC Tournament semifinals vs. Tennessee … Tied his career high with a pair of steals, while also adding three rebounds in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals against Vanderbilt … Had four points and a season-high seven rebounds in the home win over Florida … Tallied four points and four rebounds in 10 highly effective minutes at Kansas … Had two points and four boards in the overtime win over Mississippi State … Scored two points and snatched five boards in the win over High Point … Had five points and three boards in the SEC opener against Missouri … Scored four points against North Florida. 2020-21 Key reserve for the Wildcats who added physicality and quality rebounding … Ap- peared in 21 games and made three starts … Scored 41 points, hauled in 63 rebounds, totaled 11 blocks, corralled six steals and dished out eight assists … Led the team in rebounds in two games and in blocks twice … Also paced the team in steals once … Produced a pair of double-figure rebound- ing efforts … Grabbed four rebounds in the Southeastern Conference Tournament game against Mississippi State … Played 29 minutes and recorded a career-high eight points, 10 rebounds and a career-high three blocks at No. 18/17 Missouri … To- taled seven points and a pair of rebounds in the win over LSU … Scored four points, had four rebounds and logged a block, a steal and an assist in the loss at Auburn … Notched four points, a career-high 13 re- bounds and a career-best four assists in the double-overtime win at Mississippi State … Posted four points, four rebounds and a blocked shot at Louisville … Breakout game came against No. 22/21 North Carolina with four points, seven rebounds and two steals in 21 minutes of action … Scored his first career point with a free throw against Georgia Tech … Had five rebounds, two blocks and a steal in his collegiate debut against Morehead State. High School Led high school team to a 29-1 record his se- nior season … Averaged 11.8 points, 7.9 re- bounds, 1.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks for a team that won its final 25 games … LANCE WARE 6-9 n 235 n Jr. n Camden, N.J. #55 n F Follow LANCE on Social Media n @lanceware12 on Twitter n @lance.ware on Instagram Click Here for More Information on Lance @UKSportsNetwork 55KENTUCKY 56 @KentuckyMBB 2021-22 Appeared in nine games in 2021-22 … Had three rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals … Picked up a steal against High Point … Had an assist vs. Western Kentucky … Snared a rebound vs. Central Michigan … Had a rebound and a steal against North Flor- ida … Registered a rebound against Mount St. Mary’s. 2020-21 Joined the team as a walk-on … Made one appearance, logging two minutes in Ken- tucky’s dominating regular-season finale vic- tory over South Carolina. High School Appeared in all 26 games for Kingsway Re- gional during his senior season … Averaged 8.7 points per game … Notched 11 dou- ble-figure scoring efforts and knocked down multiple 3-pointers in 12 games … Scored a season-high 19 points on six made 3s with four assists against Woodstown … Also post- ed 16 points, five rebounds and four assists at Clearview and recorded 15 points, six boards and five dimes vs. Cumberland … Dished out four or more assists in 14 games … Produced three or more steals in 10 games … Helped advance Kingsway to the 2020 New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 4 Championship field of 64. Personal Born Feb. 3 in Camden, New Jersey … Mother is Syreeta Brittingham … Stepfather is Dajuan Wagner, former Memphis star who played for John Calipari … Has two siblings, Dayonni and Dajuan Jr. … Major is communication … Off the court talent includes juggling … Lists his parents as the two people who have influ- enced him the most … When he’s not playing basketball he’s watching it … Listens to NBA YoungBoy, Polo G and Lil Durk pregame … Chicken is his favorite food … Lists Kemba Walker as his favorite NBA player and Tyler Ulis as his favorite former UK player. KAREEM WATKINS 5-8 n 175 n Jr. n Camden, N.J. #25 n G Follow KAREEM on Social Media n @reemwat on Instagram Click Here for More Information on KareemKENTUCKY 2021-22 Bob Cousy Award finalist for the nation’s best point guard … All-SEC Second Team by both the league’s coaches and the media … Third in the nation and first in the SEC for the sec- ond straight season with an average of 6.9 assists per game … Finished with 207 assists on the season which is the fourth most in a single season in UK history … That mark was also a career high … Was second in the SEC with a 2.27 assist-to-turnover ratio … Totaled 12 games with at least eight assists and had five or more in 12 of the final 13 games of the season … Scored in double figures in 16 outings … Totaled a pair of double-doubles in the points-assists variety … Had a career low in turnovers … Shot 78% from the free- throw line, the best mark of his career … Produced 28 games with at least three assists and led the team in that category 25 times … Started 29 of the 30 games he played … Missed four games due to injury … Averaged 10.1 points, 6.9 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game … Had 11 points and a team-high six assists in the NCAA Tourna- ment … Logged 10 points and six rebounds against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals … Produced eight points and 11 assists in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals win against Vanderbilt … Scored 13 points, had five assists and two steals in the win at Florida … Logged 16 points and seven assists in the win over Ole Miss … Had 14 points and five assists at Arkansas after missing two games with an injury … Had 11 assists and four rebounds in the win at South Carolina … Totaled seven points, eight assists and three rebounds in the win at Kansas … Scored 15 points and chipped in with six assists in the overtime win over Mississippi State … Was the team’s leading scorer with 17 points at Auburn … Had 21 points, eight assists and two steals following a two-game absence due to injury in the historic win over Tennes- see at home … Logged 11 points and nine assists in the SEC regular-season opener vs. Missouri … Scored a season-high 26 points to couple with eight assists and a season-best four steals in the win over North Carolina … Was named the SEC Player of the Week and the NCAA March Madness National Player of the Week following the performance … Tallied 12 points and a career-high 14 assists in the win over North Florida for his second double-double … Logged 16 points and 10 assists in his season debut against Duke in the Champions Classic. 2020-21 (at Georgia) An All-Southeastern Conference Second Team selection by both the coaches and the Associated Press … Started all 26 games … SAHVIR WHEELER 5-9 n 180 n Sr. n Houston #2 n G Follow SAHVIR on Social Media n @sahvir on Twitter n @sahvir on Instagram Click Here for More Information on Sahvir @UKSportsNetwork 57KENTUCKY 58 @KentuckyMBB I n preparation for the upcoming season, the University of Kentucky women’s bas- ketball team hosted Pikeville in its lone exhibition game of the season Wednes- day, Nov. 2 at Memorial Coliseum. The in-state matchup will marked Kentucky’s lone exhibition game of the season. The Wildcats are coming off a public Blue- White Game in Memorial Coliseum and a closed scrimmage against Eastern Ken- tucky in the Joe Craft Center practice gym in late October. Kentucky will begin its regular season Monday, Nov. 7, when it plays host to Radford inside Memorial Coliseum for a 7 p.m. ET tip time on SEC Network+. For the 14th time since 2007, the Wild- cats will begin its season ranked or re- ceiving votes in the national polls as the Cats are receiving votes in the USA Today / Coaches Preseason Poll. UK returns five players from last sea- son’s historic team, a season that culmi- nated in a Southeastern Conference Wom- en’s Basketball Tournament title for the first time since 1982. Those five returners, including guards Robyn Benton, Blair Green, Emma King and Jada Walker and forward Nyah Levertter, combined for 44 starts in 2021-22. Green is returning for her fifth year. She sat out last season with a ruptured Achille’s tendon suffered in the preseason. Green, who was a member of the Class of 2018 alongside best friend and room- mate Rhyne Howard, who was selected the WNBA’s No. 1 Draft pick, has played in 90 games and made 25 starts during her three active seasons at Kentucky (2018- 21). She averaged 5.7 points on 41.2 per- cent shooting from the field, including 59 3-pointers on 33.3 percent shooting from long range. The Wildcats are expecting point guard Walker to step into a greater leadership role despite being just a sophomore. In 2021-22, the rookie played in 31 games and made 22 starts, including the last 18 straight games of the season. That included Kentucky’s 10-game win streak en route to its 2022 Southeastern Conference Wom- en’s Basketball Tournament title, a run that included knocking off four straight teams (Mississippi State, LSU, Tennessee, South Carolina) in the tournament to win the ti- tle. Walker averaged 10.4 points per game and 3.0 rebounds per game last season and combined for 64 assists and 47 steals. She was named a 2022 SEC All-Freshman Team member last season, Kentucky’s first since Green and Howard were both named to the list in 2019. Benton returned to the Bluegrass for her fifth year of collegiate eligibility and her third year as a Cat. She played in 25 games last season, making nine starts, providing 8.8 points per game and 2.5 rebounds per game. Benton hit a sea- son-high trio of 3s in Kentucky’s win over Tennessee in the 2022 SEC Tournament. Meanwhile, she made 25 of her 67 at- tempts from long range last season. King took on a larger role as a junior last season, playing in a career-high 26 games and making two starts. She scored 58 points on the season, adding 32 rebounds, 31 assists, nine steals and eight blocks. Junior Leveretter is stronger and more confident that ever before. She played in 25 games last season, earning 11 starts, making a big impact on the boards, comb- ing for 65 rebounds total in 2021-22. She went 50.0 percent from the field, too, con- necting on 16 of her 32 shots last season. It was a successful second season for the Kentucky women’s basketball program under head coach Kyra Elzy, who led the Wildcats to a 10-game win streak en route to the conference tournament title and became the first head coach in program history to lead his or her team to back-to- back NCAA Tournaments in their first two seasons at the helm. Kentucky brought in 10 newcomers (six freshmen, four transfers) for 2022-23. UK’s newcomers include two former Miss Kentucky Basketball’s in Amiya Jen- kins (freshman) and Maddie Scherr (junior transfer). UK’s four transfers come from promi- nent programs in Adebola Adeyeye (Buffa- lo), Ajae Petty (LSU), Maddie Scherr (Or- egon) and Eniya Russell (South Carolina). Kentucky’s four transfers actually have one more combined starts (45) than its five re- turners from 2021-22, so it may be a new team, but it has experience. The coaching staff formed a “leader- ship committee” over the summer. It in- cludes returners Green, King, Leveretter and Walker and transfers Scherr and Ade- bola Adeyeye. It was just the four returners on the committee at first – King, Green, Walker, Leveretter – but coach told them that be- fore practice began, they could vote two more members onto the committee. That was Scherr and Adeyeye, a testament to their early impressions on the program. Women’s Basketball Tipsoff 2022-23 Season by Cami Moore UK Athletics Communications and Public Relations6-8 | F | Bronx, N.Y. | Cardinal Hayes 60 @KentuckyMBB JAMAL MASHBURN 1990-93 24Market Call Letters Frequency Ashland, KY WCMI 92.7 FM / 1340 AM Ashland/Greenup, KY WLGC 105.7 FM Benton, KY WCBL 99.1 FM / 1290 AM Bowling Green, KY WGGC 95.1 FM Cadiz, KY WKDZ 106.5 FM / 1110 AM Campbellsville, KY WCKQ 104.1 FM Cincinnati, OH WCKY 1530 AM Columbia, KY WAIN 93.5 FM / 1270 AM Corbin, KY WCTT 107.3 FM / 680 AM Dry Ridge, KY WNKR 106.7 FM Elizabethtown, KY WQXE 98.3 FM Flemingsburg, KY WFLE 95.1 FM Grayson, KY WUGO 99.7 FM Harlan, KY WTUK 105.1 FM Hazard, KY WSGS 101.1 FM Henderson, KY WSON 96.5 FM / 860 AM Hopkinsville, KY WHOP 98.7 FM / 1230 AM Jamestown, KY WJRS 104.9 FM Jenkins, KY WIFX 94.3 FM Lancaster, KY WRNZ 105.1 FM Leitchfield, KY WKHG 104.9 FM Lexington, KY WBUL / WLAP 98.1 FM / 630 AM London, KY WWEL 103.9 FM Louisville, KY WHAS 840 AM Madisonville, KY WKTG 93.9 FM Mayfield, KY WLLE 102.1 FM Maysville, KY WFTM 95.9 FM / 1240 AM Monticello, KY WKYM 101.7 FM Morehead, KY WIVY 96.3 FM Morganfield WMSK 101.3 FM Nashville, TN WPRTHD 102.5 HD Owensboro, KY WBKR / WOMI 92.5 FM / 1490 AM Paducah, KY WKYX 94.3 FM / 570 AM Paintsville, KY WSIP 98.9 FM / 1490 AM Pikeville, KY WDHR / WPKE 93.1 FM / 103.1 FM Pineville, KY WRIL 106.3 FM Prestonsburg, KY WQHY / WDOC 95.5 FM / 1310 AM Providence, KY WWKY 104.9 FM Somerset, KY WSEK 93.9 FM / 910 AM Whitesburg, KY WXKQ / WTCW 103.9 FM / 920 AM Williamsburg, KY WEZJ / WEKX 104.3 FM / 102.7 FM John Calipari Radio Show Monday, November 21, 2022 (7-8 p.m.) Monday, November 28, 2022 (7-8 p.m.) (all remaining shows are from 6-7 pm) Monday, December 5, 2022 Monday, December 12, 2022 Monday, December 19, 2022 Monday, December 26, 2022 Monday, January 2, 2023 Monday, January 9, 2023 Monday, January 16, 2023 Wednesday, January 25, 2023 Wednesday, February 1, 2023 Monday, February 6, 2023 Monday, February 13, 2023 Monday, February 20, 2023 Monday, February 27, 2023 Monday, March 6, 2023 Monday, March 13, 2023 Monday, March 20, 2023 Monday, March 27, 2023 UK Sports Network Radio Information KENTUCKY @UKSportsNetwork 61Next >