‘A difficult decision.’ Freshman Kahlil Whitney leaving Kentucky.

Freshman Kahlil Whitney, one of the top prospects in the nation coming out of high school, announced Friday that he’s leaving the University of Kentucky basketball team.

His AAU coach said Whitney was moving on, in part, because of a lack of playing time at Kentucky.

“After several conversations with my family and coaching staff, I regret to announce that I will be leaving the University of Kentucky,” Whitney said in a Twitter post. “Like so many others, playing at UK had always been a dream of mine. ... Unfortunately, my time at Kentucky has not gone as I had hoped, and I therefore need to make a difficult decision quickly to put myself back in to the best position possible as I continue to develop and work towards my ultimate goal.”

Whitney, a 6-foot-6, 190-pound swingman from Roselle (N.J) Catholic High School, struggled to find playing time through his 18 games as a Wildcat, though he did start in eight of them. The Chicago native averaged 3.3 points and 1.7 rebounds in 12.9 minutes per game.

Whitney, a McDonald’s All-American who scored more than 2,000 points in high school, played only two minutes in Kentucky’s most recent game, a win over Georgia on Tuesday night in Rupp Arena. The game before that, last Saturday’s win at Arkansas, the freshman logged only one minute.

“Do you know how many minutes he played in the last five games? (11, 9, 10, one and two minutes),” said Mike Irvin, who coached Whitney in AAU ball. “The minutes probably weren’t there for him to really contribute. ... You got to play some minutes. Why didn’t he play the minutes? Who knows? But, you know, the playing time just wasn’t there.”

Whitney, renowned for his elite athleticism, was the No. 11-ranked recruit in the nation in the 2019 class, according to the 247Sports composite ratings. Only Tyrese Maxey (No. 10) among Kentucky’s newcomers was ranked more highly.

Whitney’s departure came on the eve of 15th-ranked Kentucky’s game at No 18 Texas Tech in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

Kentucky Coach John Calipari held a press conference to preview the game at 11 a.m. Friday during which there was no mention of Whitney leaving UK. Whitney’s tweet announcing his departure was posted at 11:50 a.m. Kentucky notified the media Friday afternoon, saying Whitney told them of his decision earlier in the day.

“First and foremost, Kahlil is a great kid,” Coach John Calipari said in the school’s news release. “This is tough for me because Kahlil is a tremendous person who is going to do great things. I certainly don’t want to see him go because I wanted to continue to coach him, but I understand his decision and, as we always do here, will support him in whatever way we can.

“As I told Kahlil today, I hope he goes on and does his thing and makes us all proud. I know he will stay in touch with us and I know our fans will continue to support him as he takes this next step.”

If Calipari knew of Whitney’s intentions before Friday, he did not let on during a Southeastern Conference coaches teleconference on Thursday.

After saying UK had to work with forward Nate Sestina to get him going, Calipari said, “And then we got to get Kahlil going. He’s got to get there and do some things and get that feel going for what he has to do for our team, to get in there and play.”

As recently as the Louisville game on Dec. 28, Whitney was portrayed as fighting through his slow start.

“He was the biggest cheerleader,” Maxey said after Whitney played only two minutes against the Cardinals. “Even after the game, he was really hyped and very positive, which is really good. That’s how you have to be.”

Whitney’s playing time began to dwindle even more recently as fellow freshmen Keion Brooks and Johnny Juzang carved out larger roles.

“Apparently, there weren’t enough minutes for him to play there,” Irvin said. “So, at the end of the day, he wants to play in games. You know, the game he loves, he wants to play.”

Whitney’s statement went on to express his respect for Calipari and thank his teammates, the coaching staff, the university and its fans.

“I will always be cheering for UK’s success and for all of my brothers on the court,” Whitney’s statement said. “I will be in the gym. I will be in the film room. I will continue to do everything necessary to prepare myself for what I know I’m capable of at the next level.”

Scholarship players who have transferred to other schools during Calipari’s 10 seasons as UK coach are Darnell Dodson, Stacey Poole, Ryan Harrow, Kyle Wiltjer, Charles Matthews, Marcus Lee, Sacha Killeya-Jones and Quade Green. Calipari’s son, Brad, who was a walk-on at UK, also transferred.

Kentucky’s roster for the remainder of the 2019-20 season now counts nine scholarship players. One of those, 2019 Kentucky Mr. Basketball Dontaie Allen, has not yet played this season as he recovers from a knee injury.

Irvin said he could not explain why things didn’t work out for Whitney at Kentucky.

“I don’t know,” the AAU mentor said. “That’s what everybody’s puzzled about, trying to figure it out. Don’t nobody know. I watch games. You want it to work out. You want him to be out there on the court.”

On Dec. 20, the day before Kentucky played Ohio State in Las Vegas, Whitney sounded like a player coping with a lot of questions from outsiders about his slower-than-expected breakout.

“Like I told you, it’s a process,” Whitney said. “I’m telling everybody, it’s a process. I think everybody can see that.”

When asked how often he’d been telling people that, Whitney said, “Pretty often. Yeah, pretty often.”

Whitney gave no indication in his Twitter post Friday of his future plans, whether those include transferring to another school or beginning a professional career.

“I guess all options are open right now,” Irvin said. “So, he’s going to keep all options open. Then sit down with the family and see what’s best for him.”

Herald-Leader staff writer Jerry Tipton contributed to this article.

This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 12:33 PM.