Kentucky’s Derek Willis pops the question on Senior Night

Derek Willis made Senior Night memorable before the game even tipped off Tuesday night.

After being introduced during pregame ceremonies, the University of Kentucky senior dropped to one knee and proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Keely Potts.

Potts quickly accepted Willis’ proposal along with the ring the player popped open on the Rupp Arena floor.

Moments earlier, Willis was introduced to the crowd, attempted to break through the traditional Senior Night paper hoop, then gave up and walked around the hoop as the crowd chuckled.

Pregame jitters before the Cats tipped off versus Vanderbilt?

Seconds later, everyone in Rupp Arena new better.

Willis wasn’t the only one a little shaky.

“I don’t feel my stomach. I don’t know how I feel,” an excited Potts told a reporter afterward.

Potts, a former member of the UK dance team and a senior from Louisville, said Willis had been dropping hints about marriage, but she was still surprised in the moment.

On the UK radio postgame show, Willis said a Senior Day wedding proposal was “in the back of my mind for a while. I figured if I was going to do it, I’d do it big.”

This story was originally published February 28, 2017 at 9:13 PM with the headline "Kentucky’s Derek Willis pops the question on Senior Night."