‘Worst day of my year’ for Kentucky’s Mitchell yields pretty positive results

Matthew Mitchell deemed it a fruitful Big Blue Madness not because his Kentucky team got an important commitment a few days later from a top post player, but because he managed to get through his annual dance.

“I was not booed and I didn’t have anything hurled at me, so that’s always a successful year,” he said of his routine, which transitioned from a segment of him dancing behind the scenes to him dancing in front of the packed Rupp Arena crowd.

“That’s the worst day of my year, that day,” he said Thursday as a part of Southeastern Conference Media Days at Bridgestone Arena.

“We’re not professional and there’s not a lot of preparation that goes in, so anything can happen in front of 25,000 people and we pulled something off again, I still don’t know what it was.”

It was a 45-second dance to “Juju On That Beat,” but it might have been among his most challenging yet in the yearly quest to entertain and not have rotten fruit thrown from the rafters.

“I was nervous because I just couldn’t get it,” he said. “I could not get it.”

He was at Rupp Arena on Thursday night for more than two hours with several members of the UK Dance Team who performed with him.

“Those poor kids did it about 50 times and I finally got it,” he said.

Kentucky also got its girl in Dorie Harrison, a 6-foot-3 post player from Nashville who chose the Cats over Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi, Syracuse and Virginia Tech.

Mitchell can’t discuss Harrison, the sister of former Lady Vols star Isabelle Harrison, until signing day, but he said he doubted his regular song and dance routine affected her decision.

“I don’t know that the dancing did it,” he said. “I’d say the dancing probably hurt us more than helped us.”

In general, UK coaches want players to visit on a normal day instead of selling the craziness of Madness.

“We try to make sure they know Madness is nuts and the only value of Madness is it gives you some indication of how people feel about basketball in Kentucky,” he said.

Epps, Boom and a beloved belt

Makayla Epps saw the belt sitting there and couldn’t take her eyes off of it.

“He just had this belt sitting on the couch like a trophy,” the Kentucky star said of the WWE replica championship belt sitting on the sofa of UK running back Boom Williams.

Epps was hanging out with Williams, whom she calls “Stanley just because nobody else does,” and some other UK football players playing video games one day recently.

The senior guard couldn’t stop thinking about his belt.

Epps, who had missed out on Big Blue Madness a season before as part of a violation of team rules, wanted to do something memorable and special for the event as a senior.

The two UK standouts share a mutual adoration of professional wrestling and watch it regularly on Monday nights, Epps said during her time at Southeastern Conference Media Days on Thursday in Nashville.

“I’m a big WWE fan; I’m a big kid,” Williams said this week. “She asked me and I thought it was a great idea and it was great to see her be able to go out there and be able to have fun at Big Blue Madness.”

Before the big event, Epps’ grandfather noticed the belt was missing a few screws, so he went to Lowe’s and fixed it up for her to wear as part of her Madness entrance along with a custom “Straight Outta Lebanon” T-shirt.

“It was a good moment to see her go out and enjoy her last moment,” Williams said, probably about Epps, but maybe about his belt.

Speaking of that massive, shiny waist jewelry, has Epps returned it to her friend Stanley?

“I’m going to wait for him to ask for it back because I really like it,” she smiled. “I ride around with the belt in my car. I keep it very close.”

What’s it like to join your former rival?

As soon as SEC Player of the Year A’ja Wilson learned that a player from one of South Carolina’s most bitter rivals was transferring from Kentucky to play for the Gamecocks, she couldn’t help herself.

“I picked at her as soon as she committed here,” the forward said of Alexis Jennings, who left UK after the season. “I posted a picture of me blocking her shot.”

The fun didn’t stop there. South Carolina players had running videos of similar shot-blocking events happening against Jennings when she was wearing UK blue and competing against them.

“We just kind of joke on her and be like, ‘Y’all didn’t beat us,’” senior forward Alaina Coates said. “Just playful banter among teammates.”

South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley, who said Jennings’ family reached out to her after the 6-foot-2 forward decided to leave UK, said she’s not always privy to the amusing back and forth between her players and the newcomer from Kentucky.

But Staley said she’s confident Jennings holds her own.

“She’s pretty strong-minded, pretty strong-willed, so she just fits right in because she gives it right back to them,” Staley said of Jennings, who averaged 10 points and 7.1 rebounds last season for Kentucky.

Jennings will sit out this season per NCAA transfer rules, but she’s already a key contributor, her new teammates said.

“She’s definitely going to be a good piece of the puzzle to what we’ve been working toward,” Coates said. “She pushes us in practice and she’s really contributing.”

This story was originally published October 20, 2016 at 6:03 PM with the headline "‘Worst day of my year’ for Kentucky’s Mitchell yields pretty positive results."