While not a final goodbye this season, Kentucky’s Senior Day still packs emotion
Add Senior Day to the lengthy list of adjustments mandated by the coronavirus pandemic. Kentucky’s sentimental farewell ceremony this season on Saturday will be reduced to a glorified see-ya-later.
UK’s final home game this season is now the rescheduled game against South Carolina next weekend.
And because the NCAA is allowing all players to return for the “normal” season of 2021-22, Olivier Sarr, Davion Mintz and Riley Welch also have the option of setting a seemingly unbreakable record of two Senior Day sendoffs.
When asked Friday if he might return to play a second season for Kentucky, Sarr said, “That’s a good question. That’s a question I think about. I don’t know the answer yet.”
Sarr, a native of France who transferred from Wake Forest to play for Kentucky as a senior, said his family will not be able to attend the ceremony and UK’s game against Florida.
Mintz spoke of the pain of not being able to fully participate in Senior Day last season at Creighton. An injury reduced him to the role of spectator with a foot in a cast.
“Those emotions that I felt, I just didn’t want to feel that again,” he said.
As for playing again for Kentucky next season, Mintz said, “No decisions have been made yet. Absolutely not. I think it’s important to go through this Senior Day.”
Welch, a walk-on and son of a coach, expressed gratitude for the coaching lessons he’s learned in three seasons in the Kentucky program. He aspires to be a coach himself.
“To be honest, I don’t think I’m coming back as a player next year,” he said. “It’s not a conversation Coach (John) Calipari and I have had. . . .
“If Coach Calipari asked me to come back and return in the position I’m in, it’d be hard to say no. I’m super grateful for everything he’s done for me, and super grateful for the fans, the university, the state of Kentucky. It’s been a dream experience these past three years.”
Seniors have usually been in the starting lineup for the Senior Day game. But there have been exceptions to that custom.
Welch said he did not know if he would be in the starting lineup against Florida.
“I haven’t asked him,” he said of Calipari. “He hasn’t mentioned anything. I just do whatever is asked of me.”
Kentucky will take an un-Kentucky-like 8-13 record into Saturday’s game.
When asked about this season, Mintz said, “It’s been a lot of character development.”
Sarr was philosophical about this season’s ups and downs. “It’s part of the job,” he said before adding a moment later, “It feels amazing to put on that jersey. Four years before that, I’d have never thought I’d be in this position. Not a lot of kids in France get a chance to play for Kentucky.”
Not many people in France are well acquainted with college basketball in the United States, Sarr said, “but they definitely know about Kentucky (basketball).”
Welch spoke of a turbulent experience this season.
“No one ever wants to go through difficult times,” he said. “If you ask anyone, do you want to be happy or sad, everyone will say happy. . . . We faced some difficult times this year. But we’ve weathered the storm, and I think we’re coming out the other side better than we came in.”
Kentucky is riding a three-game winning streak. That matches its longest winning streak of the season. UK also won three straight from Jan. 2 to 9. The third victory was a 76-58 handling of Florida that was the Cats’ second-largest victory margin of the season. UK beat Morehead State by 36 points on opening night.
Mintz said he joined Keion Brooks and Sarr on Thursday in comparing the three-game winning streaks.
“It just seems like there’s a different kind of feel out there now,” Mintz said. Of the earlier streak, he said, “We’re winning, but something still feels off. Like, we’re still missing that piece . . . (a) form of unity.”
As for the current streak, “it’s just like a different feel out there,” Mintz said. “. . . Now we don’t have a choice. We have to be unified. I think that’s the biggest thing that has changed.”
Saturday
Florida at Kentucky
When: 4 p.m.
TV: CBS-27
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Florida 12-6 (8-5 SEC), Kentucky 8-13 (7-7)
Series: Kentucky leads 105-40.
Last meeting: Kentucky won 76-58 on Jan. 9, 2021, in Gainesville, Fla.
