‘Thank God he is alive.’ Former UK star Tyler Ulis injured in head-on collision on I-75.
Tyler Ulis, arguably the best point guard in John Calipari’s 13 seasons as Kentucky’s coach, suffered a broken left ankle and other injuries in a head-on collision around midnight Friday night/Saturday morning.
His father, James Ulis, said his son was driving south from Detroit to Toledo on Interstate 75. The other driver was going north on the south side of the interstate, the father said.
“She smacked Tyler head on,” James Ulis said.
The former UK player’s father said he guessed the cars were traveling between 60 and 70 miles per hour.
“It was a tough one, but thank God he is alive,” James Ulis wrote in a text message. His son also had a “bad cut” on his left leg and a scratch on his face.
Surgery on the left ankle is scheduled for Wednesday, the father said before adding, “these injuries are less than what he went through for basketball.”
Hip and groin injuries were setbacks to his basketball career. Ulis, 26, was expecting to return to the Golden State Warriors’ G League team in March.
When asked how his son was emotionally, the elder Ulis said, “He’s actually good considering what he went through. It was unbelievable.”
Calipari tweeted support for Ulis on Monday.
“One of my most competitive players, whose will to win inspired me . . . ,” the UK coach tweeted. “We’ve been in touch, but let’s send some prayers, #BBN. He’s had some setbacks and fate has intervened a few different times.”
Calipari ended his tweet with, “I’m here for you @tulis3 until the wheels fall off!!”
The elder Ulis said support from friends and Calipari “means a lot.”
The accident came less than a year after another former UK player, Terrence Clarke, died in a car wreck in the Los Angeles area.
Ulis’ father said he had taught his children to drive defensively.
“But at night, you can’t see,” he said.
Ulis is the only Kentucky player to win the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award as given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He won it for the 2015-16 season. That season also saw Ulis named Southeastern Conference Player of the Year.
In two seasons for UK, Ulis had an assist-to-turnover ratio of almost four-to-one: 381 assists, 107 turnovers. That is easily the best ratio for a UK point guard in Calipari’s time as coach.
Ulis also averaged 11.3 points in those two seasons, which included Kentucky’s 38-0 start to 2014-15, plus two SEC regular-season and tournament titles.
Ulis was selected in the second round of the 2016 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns (No. 34 overall). He spent two seasons in Phoenix, where he averaged 7.6 points and 4.1 assists while appearing in 132 games and starting 58 before the Suns waived him. He signed with the Chicago Bulls, for whom he played one game in 2018-19.
He has not been back in the NBA since but has spent time with the G League affiliates of the Bulls, Warriors and Sacramento Kings.
This story was originally published February 28, 2022 at 5:34 PM.
