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John Wall’s One Season at Kentucky Almost Didn’t Happen

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When you think of some of the best players to ever put on a Kentucky uniform, John Wall is certainly in that conversation.

Not only is he one of the best to ever play at Kentucky, but he also turned the program around. Yes, John Calipari played a big part in bringing Kentucky basketball back from the dead, but it’s well documented that John Wall gave Kentucky its “swag” back.

Eleven years ago today, John Wall signed with Kentucky over Duke and Miami. But his one year in Lexington almost didn’t happen.

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In an interview with Evan Daniels, Wall said that if Xavier Henry committed to Kentucky when John Calipari left Memphis for Lexington, he wouldn’t have gone to Kentucky.

“I was playing with Xavier [Henry] and Xavier was a talented player but he was just shooting the ball so much, so mad he wasn’t getting the ball, I called Cal up and was like, ‘‘Cal when you switch to Kentucky, if he’s coming, I promise I won’t go,’” Wall explained. “I told him that straight up. I told him I can’t go because I was like me, DeMarcus, E-Bled [Eric Bledsoe] and all of these guys are about to sacrifice and he has to sacrifice, we’re not going to get a lot of shots. We all are used to averaging over 25 or more on our team and we’re not about to be like that and I don’t think he could buy into that.”

Well, Xavier Henry, who was ranked as the No. 6 player in the 2009 class, ended up going to Kansas. Because of this, Wall ended up in Lexington instead of committing to Frank Haith and Miami.

Wall was going to commit to Memphis to play for Calipari, but when Cal called Wall to tell him he was going to Lexington, he was fine with it. The only reason he didn’t want to go to Kentucky was because he didn’t want to play for Billy Gillespie.

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“He called me and told me he was about to change and I was like, ‘That’s fine, I like Kentucky anyway, I loved everything about their fanbase when I took a visit there,’” Wall said. “I took a visit there when Billy Gillespie was there, I loved everything about it. I just didn’t want to play with coach Gillespie so I’m like, ‘I’m going to go play at Memphis where Cal is.’ And he called me and I was like, ‘perfect, I don’t even have to take a visit, I already know the atmosphere, I already know how it goes.’”

Wall said that if Xavier Henry went to Kentucky, he would’ve ended up in Miami, “I think [Xavier Henry’s] brother was trying to go to school too and I think Cal ended up not bringing him and I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to Kentucky,’” Wall said. “I think if Xavier would have went then I would’ve ended up going to Miami.”

Wall also said that when Cal recruits you, he’s “just real.”

“I think he’s just real,” Wall said. “I think he’s just being real. He came to my house, he will go anywhere to go visit you, he doesn’t care if you live in the hood, not in the hood, he’s not scared, he’s pulling up and he probably talked about basketball for like two questions. Do you want to be great? Do you want to make the NBA? That’s it. Everything else is like, ‘how is your life going?’ what do you see yourself doing for your mom and doing for your family?” 

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“He’s really like a father figure to people,” he added. “He takes you in and he preaches to you about what he thinks you need to do to prepare yourself for where you want to get to.”

John Wall’s time in Lexington was unforgettable. Wall averaged 16.3 PPG, 6.5 APG, and 4.3 RPG while leading the Cats to an SEC Championship and an Elite Eight run.

To read more of the interview and to watch it yourself, click here.

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Men's Basketball

Kentucky Basketball in Mark Pope’s Inaugural Season: Expectations vs. Reality

The weight the Wildcats carry from expectations is both expected and unfair; where should fans, and analysts, draw the line?

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Kentucky head coach Mark Pope coaching from the sidelines at Rupp Arena.
Jordan Prather | IMAGN

At 15-7 (4-5 in the SEC) Mark Pope’s inaugural Wildcats roster are in chase for a competitive seed come tournament time, despite currently suffering their first serious losing streak of the season. While some fans have voiced frustrations with the team’s sporadic output, others have defended the unit, pointing back at what the program had become in recent years and, from that, drawing hope for the future.

The Assignment

The Kentucky job comes with lofty expectations attached; Pope has admitted that understanding on multiple occasions. He “understands the assignment,” which is to ultimately hang championship banners.

Can this year’s team do just that? While not explicitly dominant, they’re far too dangerous to write off. At best, the 24-25′ ‘Cats are one of the most prolific offensive teams in the country, brandishing the ability to go on lengthy runs and flip the script of any given game in an instant.

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In more Quad 1 wins than not, they’ve overcome double-digit deficits. This is not a team that coasts at any point; the paw stays on the pedal.

Even in their most recent loss to Ole Miss, Kentucky battled back from down 27 at one point to cut the lead to 11. Now, as Mark Pope himself says, there are no “moral victories” at Kentucky; a loss is a loss. But this is a Kentucky team that swings until the bell rings with no exceptions.

Are there areas in which they struggle? Undoubtedly, seven losses say as much. The defensive metrics during their recent cold stretch specifically bear worrying numbers.

But the team has also endured great adversity already; from on-court issues, like multiple pivotal players battling injuries, to off-court dilemmas, such as (primarily) unbalanced expectations flying in from all sides and landing squarely on the guy’s shoulders.

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An Age-Old Standard

It’s easy to apply the “Kentucky Standard,” if you will, to any group that rolls through Rupp Arena. But so many have been quick to forget their mindset going into this year.

Sentiments such as “I’ll take a bad season or two if it means the team is better off in the long run,” or “I don’t care if we lose our recruits, I’d rather have somebody who knows the X’s and O’s,” were common and constant in the period between Calipari’s departure and Pope’s subsequent arrival.

Even after Pope was hired, delivered the immediately infamous press conference and pieced a team together out of the transfer portal, analysts across the board had already counted Kentucky out of higher contention.

Growing Pains

Not to mention the track record of first-year SEC coaches in the past being equivalent to Pope’s current progress, if not measurably worse.

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In Rick Barnes first season at Tennessee, he finished with a 15-19 record. Nate Oats was 16-15 in his first go-around with Alabama, and Bruce Pearl, who currently helms the top-ranked team in the nation, went 15-20 in year one at Auburn.

With 15 wins under his thumb already, not to mention the preseason complications he faced with building a roster in so little time, Mark Pope has certainly exceeded expectations set by bygone examples.

Above the Line

Further, at this point, about two-thirds of the way through their schedule, Kentucky just recently fell out of the AP Top 10 for the first time since week three after earning residence there within the season’s first few games. Working through SEC play, they’re sitting in the middle-to-bottom of the pack with a ton of opportunities still to come, including two straight home games directly ahead.

Coming into the season, Kentucky was projected by many as a bottom-feeding SEC squad, not to mention their barely slotting into the AP Top 25 to open the season.

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While this doesn’t mean that Kentucky will certainly finish above those metrics, it does mean that, to this point, they’re outperforming the general expectations of the college basketball populous.

If anyone had said, going into this season, that Pope would manage wins against Duke and Gonzaga, two programs with highly touted coaches and star-studded classes, they’d have likely been met with a chorus of scoffs and wishful eye-rolls. Not to mention in-conference triumphs over ranked teams like Florida, Mississippi State and Texas A&M.

Yet following that unexpected success, the bar suddenly rose from “win the easy games and compete in the big ones” to “win every game, period.” It’s a disconnect that has cost this team credit that they’ve earned.

Keep the Faith

Now, this conversation may look a little different if Kentucky continues to skid and, in the worst possible world, loses at home to South Carolina this weekend.

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But for now, this is a team with their best days ahead of them and more than a few season-defining wins behind them already. They deserve the chance to regroup, get healthy (that’s the kicker) and take the last stretch of this season to task.

In all truthfulness, I think a lot of folks would be happy to make it out of the first weekend in March. Unless another Oakland-level disaster ensues in a few months, the pitchforks would be better off left alone.

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Men's Basketball

Lamont Butler Returns to Non-Contact Practice, Return Grows Closer

Mark Pope finally had some good news for Kentucky fans regarding Lamont Butler’s injury in his press conference on Thursday.

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Kentucky guard Lamont Butler is announced as a starter in Rupp Arena.
Elliott Hess | UK Athletics

After missing three straight games with little to no information on his condition, Lamont Butler has returned to non-contact practice on the basketball court.

Even before he started to sit, Butler dealt with what is, to the best of anyone’s knowledge, a shoulder injury. Mark Pope, who is self-admittedly “conservative” when it comes to the health of his players, confirmed Butler’s return to the practice floor in his press conference on Thursday.

“He is going to be on the court in a non-contact situation today, and we will see how that feels.”

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With the Wildcats currently on a skid, losing four of their last five games, any news on Butler’s potential comeback is good news. Having a physical, experienced starting guard like him has proven crucial to the team’s success in the SEC.

Yet to bring him back preemptively and risk aggravating his injury would defeat the purpose.

“We would like to get him back in a position where we have the best chance of not having another setback,” said Pope.

In games that he has played this season, Butler averages 13 points, three rebounds and five assists for the ‘Cats. Having already lost Kerr Kriisa, the team’s backup point guard, before Butler also went down, Kentucky’s struggles have become unfortunately understandable.

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And while they’ll likely have to find a way to beat South Carolina this Saturday at home without him, any game from next week’s home matchup with Tennessee onward seems like a possibility for “PG1’s” return.

The Big Blue Nation will continue to monitor the situation in hopes that Butler returns sooner rather than later, and that this Kentucky team can get things back on track in time for March.

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Mark Pope Channeled Some Rick Pitino After Frustrating Loss to Ole Miss, Cutting Hand, “There May Have Been Some Completely Destroyed Furniture in the Locker Room”

After losing four out of their last five, Mark Pope and Kentucky have become frustrated with falling behind.

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Jordan Prather | Imagn

On his radio show following Kentucky’s blowout road loss to Ole Miss, Mark Pope admitted to a caller that he and the team grew frustrated with the result at halftime, where Kentucky found themselves trailing 31-54.

The fan mentioned blood on Pope’s hand and sleeve as he came out of the locker room to a 23-point deficit.

“There may have been some completely destroyed furniture in the locker room,” he said candidly.

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The Wildcats’ falling short to the Rebels on the road came directly on the heels of their gut-wrenching home loss to Arkansas. With injuries mounting and pressure from fans building, it’s easy to see how Pope and the team were heated.

Yet for Pope, it’s a much simpler dilemma.

The Big Blue Standard

“We have a really high standard at the University of Kentucky,” he said. “And we’re not playing to that standard.”

Even in a dry stretch, Mark Pope understands the assignment, and it’s clearly eating at him to fail that esteemed standard. Still, he emphasized not becoming “emotionally belligerent” in his anger, elaborating, “This game begs you to lash out at your players but that has limited short-term returns.”

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Pope has become known for his mild mannerisms and a philosophy with the visible absence of anger, but the strain that the ‘Cats current losing streak has put on him and the team seems to be testing that mindset.

At 15-7 (4-5 in the SEC) Kentucky has slowly trickled down throughout both the conference and national standings. With two home matchups on deck next, Coach Pope and the team will have a good opportunity to get things back on track before March.

Injuries or not, home or away, the time to win is now, and Mark Pope simply expressing his understanding of that knowledge goes a long way. His next test comes in Rupp Arena on Saturday, Feb. 8, against the conference-worst South Carolina Gamecocks.

A must-win, if there ever was one.

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