Brennan Canada’s basketball journey is ‘a dream come true.’ And he’s helped Kentucky, too.
Ask anyone who’s spent any time around the Kentucky men’s basketball program over the past four years about Brennan Canada, and you’re almost certain to get the same reaction.
The mere mention of his name is enough to bring out a smile.
Canada is in his fourth year as a Kentucky Wildcat. The 6-foot-5 guard from Mount Sterling has scored a grand total of nine points in his college basketball career. He’s appeared in just 18 games over those four seasons. He hasn’t logged a second of playing time since November.
Yet, just ask around, and those who have shared a locker room with Canada will light up while talking about how much he means to the UK program. On and off the court.
“He’s always ready for practice,” said reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe. “He goes 100 percent. He fights in practice, and he makes us better every day. You take it easy on him, he’s gonna get you, and Coach is going to be yelling at you.
“I love Brennan, his attitude, and everything he’s bringing to our team. He has helped us so much.”
Tshiebwe has spent more than two years as Canada’s teammate. Freshman forward Chris Livingston is still in his first season playing alongside him, but it didn’t take long to form a bond.
“He means a lot. He’s a great teammate,” Livingston said. “He steps up when somebody gets hurt, so a lot of the time I’m guarding him in practice, and he’s guarding me. He’s on the scout team acting as the other wing. He’s very important. He’s much-needed, and he’s a great teammate. And I love him.”
Even those who have been away from Lexington for years have fond memories of Canada, who joined Kentucky — the team he grew up rooting for — as a walk-on before the 2019-20 season.
Immanuel Quickley ended up as the Southeastern Conference player of the year after that season. He was back in town last weekend, sitting behind the UK bench for the Cats’ win over Tennessee.
“BC has been great since the first time I met him,” Quickley said. “On the court he was selfless, works hard in practice. But the best part about him is his character off the court. He’s fun to be around, and he’s always positive. I’m glad I got to have him as a teammate.”
To most fans, Canada represents the Kentucky kid at the end of the bench. If he gets in a game, it’s cause for celebration, because that likely means the Cats are up big, and it might mean the seldom-used player could get a chance to score some points.
What fans don’t see is what Canada brings to the team on an everyday basis. He’s been a key practice player for most of his four seasons at Kentucky, always ready, willing and able to step in for an injured or fatigued teammate. And with UK regularly dealing with such issues over the past couple of seasons, Canada has found himself running with the main rotation quite a bit, especially in the team’s 10-man scrimmages.
And, by the way, he can play basketball, too. Because of Canada’s role on this team, his actual game gets overlooked, since he’s rarely seen by anyone outside of the Wildcats’ practice gym. Coach John Calipari summed up his status perfectly last month.
“He is a good player. He’s just behind some other really good players,” Calipari said. “But he is good. Can shoot it, is tough, is smart.”
His combination of size, skill and versatility is rare for a walk-on. And his easy-going demeanor off the court has made him fast friends with a rotating roster of teammates over the years.
On Wednesday night, Canada will join his fellow seniors on the Rupp Arena court for the program’s annual Senior Night festivities before Kentucky plays Vanderbilt.
“It’s gone by really fast,” he said of the past four seasons. “It feels like yesterday when I got here with my freshman year group — Dontaie (Allen), Tyrese (Maxey) and all of those guys. That was a fun year. And it’s flown by. It really has.”
A Kentucky kid
Canada will be accompanied on the court Wednesday night by his parents, Lynn and Melissa Canada, who spent his childhood ferrying him around to innumerable practices, youth league games, AAU tournaments and all those other basketball activities that dominated his early life.
The 22-year-old says he still remembers his dad rebounding for him on the court outside their church when he was barely big enough to get the basketball near the hoop. His father has always been a UK fan. His mother didn’t follow the sport much until her son started playing it, Canada says, but she’s obviously all in on the Wildcats now, too.
They took off work to drive him to tournaments when he was a kid, made it to all of his high school games and have rarely missed a game in Rupp over the past four seasons, even knowing there’s a slim chance they’d get to see their boy out on the court.
“They’ve enjoyed it just as much as I have,” Canada said, looking ahead to Wednesday night. “It means everything. Having my parents there by my side for that special moment. They’ve been there from the get-go, since preschool days — all the way to AAU to high school to now. … They’re definitely going to be excited for that moment. And just to be able to share that with them, that’s great.”
Canada was a standout player as an underclassman at Montgomery County before breaking his leg as a sophomore, cutting that season short after just 11 games and stalling what had looked like a promising college recruitment. He played his final two years at Clark County, finishing his high school career with 1,371 points and 776 rebounds.
He had some sub-Division I offers, but he wasn’t really sure what his next move would be as his senior year wrapped up. When an opportunity came to join the Wildcats as a walk-on, he jumped at the chance. Those who see him compete regularly in UK’s practices say he could have found considerable playing time elsewhere. Ask Canada if he ever looks back with any regrets, and the reply is quick.
“No, there’s definitely not,” he said. “Once I got here, I was like, ‘This is it.’ And I’ve been happy every day since.”
The camaraderie he’s found among his teammates surely has a lot to do with that. He’s also clearly earned the respect of Kentucky’s coaches.
Back in late December, the Wildcats struggling to live up to their enormous preseason hype, Calipari was presiding over a team meeting and decided to go across the room and tell each of the Kentucky players what they meant to the squad in an attempt to build some collective confidence.
The Hall of Fame coach mentioned every player on the team except for Canada, then continued on with his speech. One of the walk-on’s teammates turned and gave Canada a look like, “I can’t believe he forgot about you.” He hadn’t.
“What do you guys think about Brennan?” Calipari asked the team.
And then he delivered the news. After three and a half hard-working seasons as a walk-on, Calipari was putting Canada on scholarship.
“He said that, and all the guys went crazy,” Canada said. “It was just great. It was a blessing. It was a fun day, for sure. It was a good Christmas present.”
Canada’s teammates stood up and started cheering and clapping, hopping over to congratulate him.
“It means a lot,” Canada said. “Some of these guys, I’ve been here with two or three years. … You build a bond and relationship with those guys that will last a lifetime. Just them being there and the way they acted after that, it means a lot. It really does.”
Canada’s future
What’s next for Kentucky’s popular walk-on? Who knows? Certainly not Canada.
“That’s what my parents are talking to me about,” he says with a not-this-question-again laugh. “I don’t know.”
Canada has already graduated from UK with a degree in communications, and he’s currently working on a master’s certificate in sports management. He could return to the Cats for a fifth season — all players in his class are eligible for one, due to the COVID-19 pandemic — and he acknowledged that he’s considering that path, which would allow him to pursue a full master’s degree. He could start looking for a job this summer. He’s even contemplated a future career in coaching, something he’s thought about since his high school days and an idea that blossomed further once he got around Calipari and the Kentucky program.
“You learn a lot,” Canada said. “How everyone takes coaching differently. How certain athletes need to be taught these things, others need to be taught that. Team-building stuff, team-bonding stuff — so you can get the best out of the season. And how hard it is being a college coach. You’re busy 24/7. … I like being busy. If I’m not doing something, I get bored really quickly. So I would like that part about it.”
Canada was a 4.0 student in high school and became a regular on the SEC academic honor roll once he got to college. Last year, he was inducted into UK’s Frank G. Ham Society of Character, which honors student-athletes who have shown an “extraordinary commitment” to academic excellence, athletics, personal development and serving as a role model.
Wherever he goes from here, success is likely to follow.
If Wednesday night does mark the final time he wears a Kentucky uniform in Rupp Arena, it will be the end of a fun ride. And he will have left a mark on the UK program that few walk-ons have.
“I think I’ve helped the guys, on and off the court,” Canada said. “Just pushing them every day in practice. And then if they have a question or something about practice, just being there for them to lean on. … It’s meant the world. Just helping them get better.”
And for a boy who grew up rooting for the Wildcats to actually spend four seasons as a Kentucky basketball player?
“It was definitely a dream come true,” he said. “Growing up as a kid, you watch Kentucky every game they play. And just being able to come here and be a part of this and being able to put the jersey on — and grow as a player on the court and as a person off the court — it’s really been a blessing.”
Canada admits that he spent his initial time at UK in awe of the whole thing. Putting up shots in Rupp Arena before games. Putting on that blue and white jersey in the Kentucky locker room. Representing the Wildcats on and off the court. For those who grow up around here, it’s difficult to wrap your head around. Even if you get to live it.
“The first year, year and a half, it was kind of surreal. And then it hits you, and you kind of get used to it. … But it’s always going to be surreal.”
This story was originally published February 24, 2023 at 6:30 AM.
