Why do Kentucky basketball players wear certain numbers? The reasons vary.
Jersey numbers are intended to help identify players. But they can take on a deeper, more personal meaning. After all, it’s common to hear a player say my number is …
When playing with his AAU team, Kentucky freshman Terrence Clarke felt kinship with No. 6.
“My birthday is Sept. 6,” he said this preseason. “I just always loved No. 6. I thought it was my lucky number. It turns out it was probably No. 5.”
Before one AAU game, Clarke could not find his No. 6 jersey. Or it was stolen, he said. So, he wore No. 5.
“It turned out it was one of the best games I had …,” he said. “I kind of continued with it.”
Clarke will wear No. 5 for Kentucky this season.
“No. 5 is a number I felt suited me,” he said. “‘TC5’ is what I go by now back home. It’s a cool number, and I like it now.”
Olivier Sarr is No. 30, and also was while playing for Wake Forest.
“Because it’s the number of years my mother has on me,” he said. “And it reminds me of her when I play.”
There’s another reason 30 is Sarr’s number.
“I’m a godfather, and my goddaughter was born July 30,” he said before adding with a smile, “I’m playing for a lot of women in my life.”
Dontaie Allen wears No. 11 because it’s his favorite number twice. Jacob Toppin considers zero his number. Devin Askew identifies with No. 2. Davion Mintz sees No. 10 signifying completeness.
Of course, players can change numbers. Freshman Brandon Boston changed.
“Growing up, it was 11,” he said of the number he considered his own. He will wear No. 3 this season. This was not an idle decision.
“I had to switch it up,” he said. “It’s a new beginning, so that’s my new number.”
As the change suggests, Boston does not bond with any one number. “I don’t really play for a number,” he said. “I play for the last name on the back of my jersey.”
With Kentucky depending on several new alpha players each season, sacrifice is an annual theme. In the numerical sense, redshirt sophomore Zan Payne embodies that virtue.
Payne wore No. 21 his previous seasons with Kentucky. His number this coming season will be 20.
Freshman Cam’Ron Fletcher asked Payne to give him No. 21.
“It was tough giving it up,” Payne said. “But Cam said he wanted it bad. At first, I was unwilling to give it up. But then I said, I’ll give it up. Just because he was cool about it.”
Three versus two
During a virtual appearance at the Lexington Rotary Club Wednesday, Kentucky Coach John Calipari said he wants only two referees — not the customary three — calling team scrimmages this preseason. That’s because he wants to prepare for the possibility of COVID-19 infections reducing the number of referees available to work games this season.
These scrimmages can help players and coaches get accustomed to two-man officiating crews. Calipari suggested that the refs can also benefit.
“A guy missed a call in a scrimmage,” the UK coach said. “I go, ‘He grabbed him.’ (The referee) said, ‘You know, I was looking at the ball. I forgot there were only two of us.”
This did not surprise Barry Mano, a former referee and now president/founder of the National Association of Sports Officials.
With two referees rather than three, “your responsibilities are different,” Mano said. “And so your coverage areas are different.”
Three referees have worked college games since the mid-1970s, Mano said. When asked if three referees should suggest better officiating than two, he said, “That’s completely valid.
“Everybody thought when they were transitioning to crews of three there would be a lot more whistles. It turned out, analytically, that was not the case. (With three referees) you get a better perspective. You can get into position better and faster than under a crew of two.”
Mano suggested the changing nature of basketball led to the move from two referees to three.
“When we were a working crew of two, the game was not as fast,” he said. “It did not have the altitude that it has today.”
But on occasion in 2020-21, two might have to do.
COVID and refs
John Calipari also told the Rotarians to look for changes in how games are officiated because of COVID-19. For instance, referees might not hand the ball to the player throwing it in, but instead toss it in order to maintain social distancing.
Calipari also suggested this social distancing idea: When fouled in the act of shooting, the player should shoot the first free throw with no one lined up along the lane. Why line up when a miss is an automatic dead ball? The players would line up for the second free throw when a miss would be a live ball.
When asked his reaction to such a change, Barry Mano said, “Why not?”
Nicer to refs?
Might a shared anxiety about the uncertainty brought on by the pandemic lead to more harmony between refs and coaches, also between refs and fans?
Barry Mano saw reason for hope of a more peaceful coexistence as he watched the World Series.
“No arguments,” he said. “Everybody is in this great big boat together. C’mon, lighten up. I think people will chill out a little bit.
“You can get back to yelling at us once the pandemic clears up.”
Pardon my French
During his time playing for Wake Forest, it wasn’t unusual for Olivier Sarr to communicate by speaking French. “Especially early on when you’re dealing with the language barrier,” said Danny Manning, who was the Wake Forest coach.
In the 2018-19 season, Sarr had a teammate, Jaylen Hoard, who was born in Le Havre, France. Hoard, who now plays for the Portland Trail Blazers, is the son of former Murray State player Antwon Hoard.
“They were carrying on conversations during practices and during games in French that nobody else really understood,” Manning said. “And I was (saying) why don’t you guys figure out a way to stop people from scoring? And how can you two help each other score and our team score?”
When asked if Sarr and Hoard might have been talking derisively about the coach, Manning said, “Oh, I’m sure at some point. All players do. I’ve been there, too.”
Givens returns
Jack “Goose” Givens, whose 41 points in the finals led Ketucky to the 1978 national championship, has joined the UK Sports Network. He will join Dave Baker as co-hosts of the “Countdown to Tipoff” pregame radio show.
The former co-host, Rex Chapman, will now work with JMI Sports on new media content, UK said in a news release.
Givens will also provide analysis on television for the UK Sports Network as a featured guest on “BBN Gameday” and “BBN Tonight.”
“As a kid growing up in Lexington, you dreamed of winning a national championship with Cawood Ledford on the call,” Givens said in the news release. “To have experienced that was an incredible feeling. To now join the network of Cawood Ledford and share my lifelong love of Kentucky basketball with Big Blue Nation is exciting.”
Blue Ribbon
Blue Ribbon Yearbook, arguably the most comprehensive preseason preview of the college basketball season, is on sale online at blueribbonyearbook.com.
The publication also has a new weekly podcast and a newsletter. Each is delivered to an email inbox.
People can sign up at blueribbon.Substack.com.
Happy birthday
To Dontaie Allen. He turned 20 on Thursday. … To Trey Lyles. He turned 25 on Thursday. … To Vanderbilt Coach Jerry Stackhouse. He turned 46 on Thursday. … To Doron Lamb. He turned 29 on Friday. … To former UK coach Billy Gillispie. He turned 61 on Saturday. … To Jonny David. He turned 24 on Saturday. … To Dwight Perry. He turns 33 on Monday. … To Brad Calipari. He turns 24 on Wednesday.
2020-21 UK schedule
Home games in capital letters. Remaining tip-off times and TV networks to be announced later:
Nov. 12: PRO DAY, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Nov. 20: BIG BLUE MADNESS, 9 p.m. (SEC Network)
Nov. 25: MOREHEAD STATE-1
Nov. 27: DETROIT MERCY-1
Nov. 29: RICHMOND-1
Dec. 1: Kansas (ESPN)-2
Dec. 6: Georgia Tech-3
Dec. 12: NOTRE DAME
Dec. 19: UCLA, 4:15 p.m. (CBS-27)-4
Dec. 26: At Louisville
Dec. 29: SOUTH CAROLINA
Jan. 2: At Mississippi State
Jan. 5: VANDERBILT
Jan. 9: At Florida
Jan. 12: ALABAMA
Jan. 16: At Auburn
Jan. 20: At Georgia
Jan. 23: LSU
Jan. 26: At Alabama
Jan. 30: TEXAS-5
Feb. 2: At Missouri
Feb. 6: TENNESSEE
Feb. 9: ARKANSAS
Feb. 13: AUBURN
Feb. 17: At Vanderbilt
Feb. 20: At Tennessee
Feb. 23: TEXAS A&M
Feb. 27: FLORIDA
March 2: At Mississippi
March 10-14: SEC Tournament-6
1-Bluegrass Showcase in Rupp Arena; 2-Champions Classic at United Center in Chicago; 3-Holiday Hoopsgiving at State Farm Arena in Atlanta; 4-CBS Sports Classic at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland; 5-SEC-Big 12 Challenge in Rupp Arena; 6-At Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
