John Wall returns to Rupp, and another UK guard who idolized him has an unforgettable night
With the greatest point guard of the John Calipari era sitting courtside, yet another Kentucky point guard had a career night.
Earlier this season — in his first game as a college player, in fact — it was Tyrese Maxey who had his breakout performance in front of his childhood hero. That night in November in Madison Square Garden, the UK freshman poured in 26 points and hit some crucial shots to lift the Wildcats to a victory over No. 1-ranked Michigan State.
John Wall was there for that one.
On Saturday night in Rupp Arena, sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley scored a career-high 26 points — 22 of them in an amazing second half — to lead Kentucky to a 65-59 victory over Florida.
And Wall was there for this one, too.
“It was crazy,” Quickley said. “Tyrese had a similar situation in Madison Square Garden. (He’s) one of the best point guards to ever come out of here, so it’s really cool just to see him come back and give love.”
Not only are Maxey and Quickley trying to follow in Wall’s footsteps of great Kentucky guards, he’s one of the reasons they’re both here in the first place.
In an interview with the Herald-Leader nearly four years ago — before he even had a scholarship offer to play for Kentucky — Quickley talked about his interest in the Wildcats and one player, in particular.
“Obviously, everybody knows John Wall,” he said in 2016. “He can get up and down the court in three, four dribbles. And he gets everybody involved. That’s just one of the many point guards from John Calipari that I’ve watched.”
On Saturday night, one of Quickley’s huge three-pointers brought Wall out of his courtside seat, arms outstretched in celebration.
“Like I said, man. It’s John Wall,” Quickley said with a big smile. “It don’t get better than John Wall coming back, showing love.”
Quickley recalled his admiration for Wall from his childhood days, confirmed he was part of the reason why he was so interested in Kentucky to begin with.
“Definitely one of the reasons why I committed here,” he said Saturday. “He basically started all of this stuff. All the quote-unquote one-and-done stuff. All the best point guards and stuff like that. John Wall is John Wall — you don’t gotta say too much about that.”
When Maxey was a high school recruit, he said he knew from the moment he saw Wall playing for Calipari in a UK uniform that he wanted to do the same. On Saturday night, he looked back and pointed to Calipari’s vast track record with point guards — Wall, Brandon Knight, Tyler Ulis, De’Aaron Fox, many others — but it started in year one at UK.
“His first year at Kentucky, he had John Wall — and just letting him play in space and letting him have a lot of fun on the court — I wanted to be a part of that,” said Maxey, who had 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists against Florida.
Oh, and when Wall walked onto the court and threw his arms up as the ceremonial “Y” during the second half of Saturday’s game — as the Rupp Arena crowd went bonkers — the No. 1 point guard recruit in the junior class, Kennedy Chandler, sat just a few feet away behind the UK bench.
Chandler — a five-star prospect from Memphis — was in town for a recruiting visit. He’s the only point guard in the 2021 class that has a UK scholarship offer. Seeing the ovation that Wall received Saturday night — a reminder that Lexington was his final stop before a highly successful NBA career — can’t hurt the Wildcats’ recruiting efforts.
But the focus now is obviously on this Kentucky team, which has just four more games before the postseason begins. Quickley said he got to talk to Wall a little in the UK locker room after the game. And the Kentucky great had some words of encouragement for this group.
“He said this team will go as far as Nick (Richards) takes us, and as far as the guards take us. So, really, just taking that to heart. We want to get back to work and keep working harder and stuff like that. Just try to get ready for a run in March.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 10:13 PM.
