UK’s game against North Florida will be ‘kind of a kid’s dream’ for Kentucky native
The many homecomings on Kentucky’s schedule this season include the return of former UK assistant Tony Barbee as Central Michigan coach on Monday. Former UK point guard Sean Woods returns Dec. 7 to lead Southern against the Wildcats.
And, of course, former UK Coach Tubby Smith’s High Point team plays at UK on Dec. 31.
Perhaps overlooked is a fourth “homecoming game.” It comes Friday when Kentucky plays North Florida. That game brings back Carter Hendricksen, North Florida’s leading scorer and a former standout for Lexington Christian Academy.
“It’s going to be really fun,” Hendricksen said this week. “That’s for sure. It’s kind of a kid’s dream from Kentucky to play in that arena and play in front of those Kentucky fans because they’re unbelievable fans.”
Hendricksen has never played in Rupp Arena. He came close as a high school senior. He led LCA to within one victory of the 2018 state tournament. But he sprained an ankle in the third quarter of a one-possession game won by Scott County.
Hendricksen toured Rupp Arena in May. Coincidentally, the Kentucky-North Florida game was finalized that same day.
While Hendricksen leaned on the sporting mantra of downplaying the significance of Friday as anything other than the next game on North Florida’s schedule, his father veered from that familiar script.
“Getting to play in that building is a big deal,” said Mark Hendricksen, adding that it would be for any person who grew up in Kentucky.
“They’re going to know sometime in elementary school probably, or maybe before that, they’re going to know about that building and that program . . . ,” the player’s father said. “I think they all grow up wanting to play there.”
Hendricksen’s uniform number can be linked to Kentucky basketball. He wears No. 3 because that’s the number worn by J.P. Blevins when he played for UK from 1998-99 through 2001-02.
Beginning as an 8-year-old, Hendricksen attended Blevins’ basketball camp in Lexington. He decided No. 3 would be his number.
“As a Kentucky kid, when you see someone who’s played for Kentucky, they’re big-time,” he said. “They’re celebrities. It was really cool.”
Hendricksen grew up in Mount Sterling. His mother, Anita, taught math at Montgomery County High School. He became childhood friends with future UK player Brennan Canada. The two played on the same AAU team — the Mount Sterling Trojans — as second-graders.
When asked if the friendship endures, Hendricksen said, “We text every once in awhile. He was texting me about playing Johnny Juzang in Los Angeles.”
Hendricksen guarded the former UK player in a game UCLA won 98-63 on Nov. 17.
The Hendricksen family moved to Lexington in 2011.
“He played point guard on the freshman team,” then-LCA Coach Nate Valentine said of Hendricksen. “But he was a kid that you knew could really shoot it. And he was going to continue growing. He shot up and had a tremendous career for us.”
Hendricksen led LCA to its first two 43rd District titles and the 2018 All “A” Classic state championship.
Colleges did not come calling with scholarship offers. North Florida was the only Division I school to offer a scholarship. Hendricksen narrowed his choices to North Florida and Bellarmine, then a Division II program.
“I didn’t really particularly enjoy the recruiting process,” Hendricksen said.
UK did not show interest. “He was kind of a late bloomer,” Valentine said. “He graduated at 17. He’s a guy I knew would be a really good college player because his body was still maturing.”
To explain the lack of general recruiting interest, Valentine said his star player was largely absent from AAU basketball. “Carter wasn’t a huge AAU guy,” Valentine said.
Because one of his LCA teammates would be playing, Hendricksen made one of his few AAU appearances in Orlando with a Lexington-based team the summer before his senior year.
By chance, North Florida Coach Matthew Driscoll happened to be at the event.
Hendricksen had been intrigued by a North Florida player, Beau Beech. Both Beech and Hendricksen are 6-foot-7. Both also shot three-pointers well.
Driscoll, who had been tipped off to watch Hendricksen, was not blown away by what he saw. Hendricksen understood.
“I played awful,” he recalled. “I was terrible. (Driscoll) will say that, too.”
The North Florida coach did just that.
“He was awful,” Driscoll said. “But he could rebound. He could pass. He had a nice stroke. Really knew the game. Tough as nails. Didn’t matter that he missed his last shot. He was going to take the next two.”
Driscoll offered Hendricksen a scholarship that night.
Hendricksen led North Florida in scoring as a freshman and sophomore. He’s doing the same this season. He leads the Ospreys with averages of 13.8 points and 4.0 rebounds. He’s also made nearly half his three-point shots (19 of 40).
Hendricksen’s parents moved to Jacksonville when their son went to North Florida. His mother had retired. As for his father, “my company was generous enough to let me work remotely before it was trendy,” Mark Hendricksen said with a chuckle.
The parents planned to come to Lexington for Thanksgiving and to attend Friday’s game.
“We will be there,” the player’s father said. “Won’t miss it. We wouldn’t miss it. No way.”
Friday
North Florida at No. 10 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: North Florida 1-5, Kentucky 4-1
Series: First meeting
