Long wait is finally over for Kentucky’s Cann

Makenzie Cann keeps a calendar reminding her how long it’s been since she last played in a game.

“It’s been 600-some days,” the Kentucky transfer said recently of the time between her last game at Cincinnati and her first chance to play in a UK uniform.

When the Cats take the floor in Memorial Coliseum for their lone exhibition against NCAA Division II Union University on Thursday night — some 607 days since Cann played in her last college game — she probably will be the one with the biggest smile.

“I’m really, really excited to get to play again,” Cann said.

But this chance to play in a Kentucky uniform, to wear the blue she’s been cheering for her entire life, took a lot longer than 607 days.

With no offer from Kentucky, the 6-foot-1 guard out of Anderson County opted to go to Cincinnati instead. In her lone season with the Bearcats, Cann played in 31 games and averaged seven points.

She shot 34.6 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from three-point range. And when she approached Cats Coach Matthew Mitchell looking to play for Kentucky, he wasn’t sure how she would fit in.

Mitchell knew she could shoot, but that’s all he could tell from her old game film. Cann and her family met with Mitchell in his office to discuss her joining the team.

Mitchell was hesitant at the time.

“Her reputation coming out of school was she was a shooter,” Mitchell said. “To be honest, shooters don’t last very long at the highest level. … You’ve got to be able to play.”

Cann asked him to give her a chance. “She’ll figure it out,” her family told Kentucky’s coach.

And that’s exactly what she did.

“I wanted to be more than just a shooter, which means getting better at the other things,” she said. “That’s what I tried to use my year (off) for.”

After a season away from the game — a season where she got bigger and stronger — Cann might turn out to be one of Kentucky’s most versatile players this season.

“Shooting has been something she’s been known for throughout her career, but she’s a lot more than that for our team,” Mitchell said.

“She’s going to impact us in every phase of the game. … It’s amazing to see her physical development and her speed, quickness, agility, is so much different than when she first arrived.”

She has developed into a more physical defender, too. Cann can and has played at every position on the floor during her season behind the scenes with the exception of point guard. With her long wingspan, she could play anywhere from shooting guard to power forward this season.

“Her size allows her to do different things,” said Mitchell, who needs all the versatility he can get on a team that is still coming back together after an offseason of departures. “Her skill set allows her to do a few things.”

During Cann’s season sitting out, she worked to become a more complete player and she’s eager to show other people, too.

“When you sit out a year, you improve in practice, but you don’t get to see the improvement in games,” she said. “You don’t get to see your progress as much as you’d like, to reap the benefits.”

Her teammates saw how Cann’s hard work paid off.

“She practices hard,” senior Makayla Epps said of Cann in January. “She goes harder than me, dang near anybody on the list. … I can’t wait to see her out on the court next year.”

It’s that all-out effort and Cann’s desire to do whatever she was asked that has made Mitchell a fan of the former Anderson County star, who set a school record for career assists with 645 and finished second in points with 2,207.

“The thing that I like most about her is that she is willing to do whatever it takes,” Mitchell said. “So she will just say, ‘I’ll do whatever you need me to do,’ and that is very, very valuable on a team. … She’ll give you everything that she has.”

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Long wait is finally over for Kentucky’s Cann."