Kentucky adds a player, Louisville builds a bubble and Bellarmine finds a new home

The 2020-21 college basketball season will look like nothing we’ve seen before, so it’s no surprise the lead-up to that campaign is a little unusual as well.

Three weeks before the season’s first allowable starting date, Nov. 25, the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team announced the addition of a player to its roster on Tuesday.

Kareem Watkins, a freshman point guard from Camden, N.J., has joined the Wildcats as a walk-on, completing Kentucky’s roster at 15 players. Last week, a different freshman walk-on, Isaac DeGregorio, decided to leave the squad for personal reasons.

The 5-foot-8, 145-pound Watkins is the stepson of Dajuan Wagner, who starred at Memphis under John Calipari.

“Kareem is a great kid with a terrific work ethic who is going to be a great addition to our team,” the UK head coach said. “Kareem knows our expectations of him. We want him to come in here and be a great teammate and help us in practice. Dajuan ... has really instilled a drive in Kareem and I look forward to seeing him continue to develop here with family.”

Watkins played at Kingsway Regional High School in Camden. He played in 26 games his senior season and averaged 8.7 points per game.

“These last few days have been surreal,” Watkins said. “I grew up wanting to play basketball on the college level. To have the opportunity to do so at a place like Kentucky and under a Hall of Fame coach like John Calipari is a dream come true. I understand what the expectations are of me. I’m excited to come in and be a part of this team and work hard every day to help my teammates and this team chase its goals.”

Louisville ‘bubble’ set

Because of COVID-related delays, neither Kentucky nor Louisville has yet announced a complete 2020-21 schedule. However, the Cardinals revealed a slice of their slate on Tuesday.

From Nov. 25-Dec. 4, Louisville will host eight other teams at the KFC Yum Center for the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic, which will feature 18 games over the 10-day stretch.

The participating teams are Duquesne (21-9 in 2019-20, fifth in Atlantic 10), UNC Greensboro (23-9, third in Southern Conference); Little Rock (21-10, Sun Belt champion); Louisville (24-7, tied for second in ACC), Prairie View A&M (19-13, SWAC champion); Seton Hall (21-9, Big East co-champion), Southern Illinois (16-16, fifth in Missouri Valley Conference); Western Kentucky (20-10, tied for second in Conference USA); and Winthrop (24-10, Big South co-champion).

Five teams will play five games each (Little Rock, Louisville, UNC Greensboro, Prairie View A&M and Winthrop), three will play three games (Duquesne, Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky) and one will play two (Seton Hall). There will be three days with triple-headers, three days with a pair of games, three days with a single game and one day without a game (Thanksgiving).

The namesake for the event was one of the first three Black basketball players to sign with U of L, a group that included Houston, Sam Smith and Eddie Whitehead. Houston went on to become a longtime assistant to Louisville head coach Denny Crum and later became the first Black head coach in the Southeastern Conference at Tennessee.

During the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic, Louisville will face Southern Illinois (Nov. 25), Seton Hall (Nov. 27), Prairie View A&M (Nov. 29), Western Kentucky (Dec. 1) and UNC Greensboro (Dec. 4). In addition to Louisville, Western Kentucky will take on Little Rock (Nov. 28) and Prairie View A&M (Dec. 3).

Teams will be housed at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville. Practice courts will be made available at the KFC Yum Center, at U of L’s on-campus practice facility and in the Grand Ballroom of the hotel.

Players will be tested for COVID-19 and operate under coronavirus guidelines established by the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Bellarmine takes over Freedom Hall

Bellarmine University in Louisville, which is preparing for its inaugural season in NCAA Division I, will play their men’s and women’s basketball home games in Freedom Hall under a multiyear agreement announced this week.

With the COVID-19 pandemic limiting seating capacity for the 2020-21 season, Bellarmine sought an alternative site for its home basketball games and landed on the iconic former home of the Louisville Cardinals.

“We then saw the obvious benefits of making Freedom Hall a more long-term home for our basketball programs,” Bellarmine Athletics Director Scott Wiegandt said. “It has long been considered one of the best places in the world to watch a basketball game and the venue gives us ample room to grow into our new D-I status.”

The 18,252-seat Freedom Hall can accommodate 2,700 fans this season under Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s recommendation of capping attendance at 15 percent capacity to prevent the spread of COVID-19. By comparison, Bellarmine’s Knights Hall seats 2,196 for basketball and would have been restricted to just over 300 fans this season.