Kentucky players, coaches kneel during national anthem before Florida game
Kentucky players and Coach John Calipari knelt during the playing of the national anthem before Saturday night’s game at Florida. After the game, they said the reason should be obvious.
“I think the message pretty much stands for itself,” sophomore and team leader Keion Brooks said.
Brooks added that he, Davion Mintz and Olivier Sarr met and decided they wanted to “take a stand against what we’re seeing in the world today.”
Calipari said he learned about the players’ desire to make a statement during the national anthem while the team rode a bus to the O’Connell Center for the game. The three players met with Calipari and told him they wanted to kneel in silent protest.
Calipari said he asked why. The trio told him, and asked him to join them in the action. He agreed.
“It’s something that speaks for itself,” Calipari said. “These kids are good kids. They care about this country, and all the other stuff. They’re trying to figure out life and making statements they think they have to make. I want to listen to what they’re saying.
“I’ll support them if they want me to be there.”
Brooks said the players appreciated Calipari’s willingness to join them. The UK coach also joined the players in appearing in a preseason video supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
“It’s great to have the head man in charge backing you with everything you do,” Brooks said.
When asked if rioters storming the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday inspired the desire to kneel, Brooks said, “That stuff had a part to play in it. There’s some other things that we don’t see that go on every day that are unacceptable (that) we wanted to take a stand against.”
Davion Mintz joined Brooks and Calipari in saying the decision to kneel was made after a discussion in which players offered their opinions.
When asked if such an exchange of views might help unify the players, Mintz said, “Yeah. Absolutely. That can contribute to it. Just in talking and having a conversation. Anytime you’re discussing things, that’s just building a bond for us (and) helping us become more sensitive to each other and just understanding of each other.
“So, definitely, I think these conversations help. We’re going to continue having them because they’re working.”
Mintz did not rule out the players kneeling during the national anthem before a future game or games.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “We’ll just have to keep discussing as a team.”
Dontaie update
Late in the first half, Calipari saw something he did not like.
Dontaie Allen caught the ball on the left wing and was wide-open to shoot a three-pointer. But instead of shooting, he took a few dribbles as he moved closer to the basket and shot a more contested pull-up jumper. He missed.
“He passed up one (shot) because everybody’s got him thinking he’s got to be this guy,” Calipari said.
Then as if speaking to UK fans, Calipari added, “Please leave him alone, and let him be the guy we’re begging to shoot balls. It’s not like he’s going to have to make eight threes in a game.”
On the road
Going into the game, Kentucky had lost five times at Florida during Calipari’s time as coach. That’s the second-most losses in SEC away games in that span. UK had won six times at Florida in that span.
Kentucky’s most road games with Calipari as coach have come at Tennessee, where the record is 4-6 going into this season.
Kentucky’s overall record on SEC road games with Calipari as coach improved to 64-35 (a winning percentage of .646).
Gators bite
Florida came into the game having beaten a Calipari-coached team eight times. That equaled the fourth most losses for Calipari against any team in his coaching career. His teams also have lost to Louisville eight times.
The programs that have beaten Calipari-coached teams the most are Tennessee (12 times), Temple (11 times) and George Washington (nine times).
Calipari’s teams had an overall winning record against all but George Washington (8-9). The record against Florida improved to 20-8. Calipari is 17-8 against Louisville, 17-12 against Tennessee and 13-11 against Temple.
Earlier date
Saturday marked the earliest date for a Kentucky-Florida game since the 1998-99 season when the teams played on Jan. 2, 1999.
It was the earliest Kentucky-Florida game in Gainesville since Jan. 3, 1979.
A Kentucky-Florida game had become a made-for-TV fixture for concluding regular seasons. That has been the teams’ final game in the last three seasons, and 19 of the 21 most recent seasons.
Kentucky is scheduled to end the 2020-21 regular season against Ole Miss on March 2 with the SEC reserving the March 5-7 weekend for makeup games.
