Ahead of Senior Night, Mintz says transfer to UK ‘best decision of my life’
From starter to valued reserve. From Kentucky’s first losing season since 1988-89 to national championship contention.
Davion Mintz has experienced a wide spectrum of basketball heading into his Senior Night farewell in Rupp Arena on Tuesday.
“It’s been the best decision of my life,” Mintz said Monday of his transfer from Creighton to Kentucky in 2020.
The heat of competition cannot always obscure this realization
“Sometimes even in the middle of games, I’d just be thinking, did I really go to Kentucky?” Mintz said. “And I’m really here. It’s still crazy to me.”
As Mintz explained it, to go from starting point guard to a role coming off the bench was part of this good kind of crazy.
“It was the greatest thing to ever happen to me because I found myself this year …,” he said. “You really start to see who’s with you and who’s not.”
Assistant coach Ron “Chin” Coleman saluted Mintz’s unwavering approach to the game and UK team.
When asked what stood out in his assessment of Mintz, Coleman said, “first and foremost, character. The kid is unbelievable and his character always shines through. … He’s what I call an ‘everyday guy.’”
As with fellow grad transfer Kellan Grady, the ceremony prior to Kentucky’s game against Ole Miss will not be Mintz’s first experience with college basketball’s sentimental farewell. He saw that at Creighton and then with Kentucky last year.
Mintz expects his parents and siblings to be at Senior Night. Just don’t ask for an exact number of family members.
“I’ve got to check my phone and go through my text messages,” he said.
Mintz had an idea of how he’d like to be remembered.
“I want to be known as that guy who tried to give his all …,” he said. “No matter what happened. … A guy who sacrificed everything for his team.”
Seven of nine
Seven of the teams in the top nine of The Associated Press top 25 last week lost on Saturday. That included Kentucky. All seven losses came in “true” road games.
Mintz said he was initially mad about UK’s loss at Arkansas.
“Becuase we could have been No. 1 in the country,” he said before adding, “like Coach Cal (John Calipari) said, we weren’t ready for that.”
So, Mintz called the loss at Arkansas “a blessing. They did us a favor. …
We’re still a really good team.”
Coleman stressed looking to improve “every single day, every practice, every possession” rather than dwell on the loss.
‘50-50 deal’
After the loss at Arkansas, Calipari questioned a call against Keion Brooks for pushing off a defender before receiving an inbounds pass with about a minute to go. The UK coach said he would review that play.
The result of that review?
“It could have been, maybe, a 50-50 deal,” Coleman said. “You could call it. You could not call it.”
Coleman said he did not focus on officiating as a player nor now as a coach.
“They called it,” he said, “so we have to live with it.”
‘Embarrassing’
Ole Miss (13-16 overall, 4-12 in the SEC) has lost six of the last seven games.
The Rebels had 10 turnovers in the first half in Saturday’s 76-66 loss to Texas A&M.
“I take full responsibility,” Ole Miss Coach Kermit Davis said after the game. “That was embarrassing. I didn’t come to Ole Miss to put that kind of product on the floor. … We’ll have to regroup and play a great Kentucky team on Tuesday.”
UK-Michigan
UK’s game against Michigan scheduled to be played in London this season was postponed because of COVID concerns.
The game has been rescheduled for Dec. 4 in The O2 arena in London. The game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. ET (6 p.m. in London).
It will be part of a doubleheader with Marist playing Maine in the first game.
“When we announced this game a few years ago, we were excited to be able to do something different — to be first, which our fans know we loved to do …,” UK Coach John Calipari said in a news release. “I know our fans have been anticipating this game and will show up in full force, but this will also be an unforgettable experience for our players both on and off the court.”
Tickets will go on sale at 4 a.m. ET Friday. That’s 9 a.m. London time. Tickets are available at AXS.com and at The O2 arena box office.
The O2 arena has a capacity of 21,000.
Etc.
Kevin Fitzgerald, Jimmy Dykes and sideline reporter Marty Smith will call the game for ESPN.
Tuesday
Mississippi at No. 7 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m.
TV: ESPN
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Ole Miss 13-16 (4-12 SEC); UK 23-6 (12-4)
Series: UK leads 108-14
Last meeting: Ole Miss won 70-62 on March 2, 2021, in Oxford, Miss.
This story was originally published February 28, 2022 at 1:53 PM.
