We Meet Again: Pandemic contains silver lining for one former Kentucky player
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We Meet Again
The Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com are publishing a series of stories catching up with former University of Kentucky athletes. Click here to read all of the installments published previously.
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series in which the Herald-Leader is catching up with former University of Kentucky athletes.
Like many people, former Kentucky basketball player Jarrod Polson works from home during the coronavirus pandemic. Perhaps unlike many people, he’s OK with it.
Credit for that goes to his daughter, Avery, who was born Dec. 16.
“You, obviously, never want anything like this pandemic to happen,” Polson said before immediately adding a qualifier. “If there ever was good timing (for a pandemic), it’s now because I’ve gotten to spend time with her rather than be at the office every day.”
In addition to ignoring social distancing with Avery this spring, Polson does his homework, so to speak, as a financial associate for Thrivent Financial. He and his wife, Arial, converted a spare bedroom into an office.
The company’s website says its objective is “connecting faith and finances.”
Polson credited the coronavirus pandemic for enhancing his understanding of finances.
“This is my first time through a market downturn,” said Polson, who added that he was an oblivious high school student during the 2008 recession. “You realize how fear can play a role in finances. For me, it’s kind of shown me why people really need someone they can talk to about their money, especially in these situations where emotion can play a big role. You just need a steady presence that views a long-term perspective on things.”
Polson credits a grandfather for setting him on this career path. When he arrived at UK in 2010, he needed a long-term academic plan.
“Honestly, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do in college,” he said. “But I knew I liked math.”
That’s when his grandfather, Gene Lintemuth, intervened. Lintemuth had been a vice president of finance for Asbury seminary.
“My grandfather said, if you don’t know what you want to do, a business degree is always a good thing,” Polson said. “So, I just went with business.”
Polson graduated from UK in 2014 with degrees in finance and marketing.
“I’m doing exactly what I majored in: a little finance and a little marketing,” Polson said. “I get a lot of satisfaction from it. Just being able to help people. I feel money is something … so many people struggle with it or don’t know much about it. So, I find a lot of satisfaction helping people navigate their money journey through their lives.
“It probably sounds pretty nerdy. But I enjoy it.”
Finding a satisfying career path played a part in Polson deciding to enroll at Kentucky rather than Liberty University and join the basketball team as a walk-on. (He received a scholarship before his freshman season of 2010-11).
Although he scored 1,884 points for West Jessamine High School, Polson braced himself for not playing much for UK. He acknowledged that facing a basketball crossroads entered his mind: Mostly sit the bench for Kentucky or play at a lower level.
“I won’t lie to you, it definitely did,” he said. “It probably does for everybody.”
Polson said he knew that not playing meant “a long road ahead for me.”
So why Kentucky?
More than a few people pointed out that being on the UK team would be a dream come true, plus there was the promise of making connections that could be long lasting.
“It’s like a lifetime decision,” he said. “Where you could just go to a smaller college. Yeah, you get more playing time. But when you look at the long-term perspective …
“I got a lot of people who said, ‘You’re probably going to regret it if you don’t go to Kentucky. I’m glad they said that because I’m definitely glad I chose that.”
Polson, who turned 29 on May 8, still plays basketball. He said he plays in pickup games on Wednesday nights. He also plays in a church league “here and there.”
When asked if he is the point guard or the power forward in the church league, the 6-foot-2 Polson laughed.
“I’m primarily the ball-handler,” he said. “I kind of go back to my old high school days where I scored a lot more than my distribution-and-assisting-in-college days. I bring out the high school instead of the college.”
Q&A
What do you remember most about Coach John Calipari?
“I think just the drive of Coach Cal was something that I’ll always remember. He just has an insane drive to succeed and win. Not just for himself. But, like, he had the drive to get his players to where they want to be. I know that’s talked about a lot in the media and public. It’s a players-first program. It really is. He is constantly trying to figure out ways to put his players in the best position to succeed at UK, but really in life. That’s really what I’ll remember most. What I still today remember most about him.”
What’s your favorite memory of being a Kentucky player?
“If it’s just one, probably the national championship (in 2012). But, honestly, that senior year run when Aaron Harrison hit those shots, that was probably a more fun tournament run, and more memorable in my mind just because of the craziness of it and being an eight-seed.”
In thinking about your UK career, one game comes immediately to mind. It’s the 2012-13 opener against Maryland. After averaging less than four minutes and making one shot in your first two seasons, you played 22 minutes, scored 10 points, got credit for three assists and had no turnovers to key a 72-69 victory over Maryland. Does that game play on your mind?
“It definitely does. That was, obviously, the first time I actually got any sort of playing time. That’s one of my favorite memories. I was at Kentucky. But to be able to actually put the jersey on and get onto the court in the Barclays Center, that was really the dream come true for me.”
You were on teams that played in three Final Fours: 2011, 2012 and 2014. In the last 57 years, that possibility for players has happened only two other times: Duke in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992 and Kentucky in 1996, 1997 and 1998. How does that distinction feel?
“That was some good timing on my part, huh? (He chuckles.) I feel like it was really an exciting time in UK basketball history. I honestly just feel very fortunate to have been there when I was. To be a part of all that after growing up as a kid who rooted for Kentucky, I don’t think that could have been a better four-year period minus the NIT year.”
Of course, Kentucky played in the 2013 NIT primarily because Nerlens Noel tore an anterior cruciate ligament at Florida on Feb. 12. How does that play on your mind?
“I don’t think we let go of the rope at that point. The next game, we lost by 30 (at Tennessee). I think after that game, we still had hope, but you could just tell it just wasn’t working out for some reason that season.”
In the NIT loss at Robert Morris, you played 31 minutes. You scored 10 points, had three assists and only one turnover. How was that experience?
“If there was a silver lining that year, I got to play more than I ever got to play at UK in my career. So, my junior year, I wouldn’t call it a breakout year because of the circumstances. But for me, selfishly, it was an awesome time even though we lost a lot of games. My dream was to play for Kentucky. That was the year I really got to live it out, which was cool.”
Was the lifelong connections that can be made as a UK player what led you to choose Kentucky rather than Liberty?
“That, and it’s just not an opportunity many Kentucky kids get along with the lifelong (factor), this is more than a four-year decision. It was I have the opportunity to play for my dream school that I’ve loved since I was in diapers. That was probably more so than the lifelong decision.”
Do you stay in contact with your former UK teammates?
“I wouldn’t say much. Every once in a while.”
This story was originally published May 18, 2020 at 7:30 AM.
