Ex-Kentucky guard Sahvir Wheeler is moving west for his final season of college basketball
Former Kentucky point guard Sahvir Wheeler has found a new basketball home.
Wheeler — a 5-foot-9 player from Houston — will play his final season of college for the Washington Huskies.
This will be the third college team for Wheeler, who spent his first two seasons at Georgia, the past two seasons at Kentucky and will have one year of NCAA eligibility remaining to play for Washington. All athletes who were in college for the 2020-21 season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic were granted a fifth year of play by the NCAA.
Wheeler led the Southeastern Conference in assists as a sophomore at Georgia and repeated that feat during his first season with Kentucky, though he was a lightning-rod for fan criticism due to his often-frenetic play at the point guard position. Wheeler’s second season with the Wildcats didn’t go as well. He ultimately missed UK’s final 11 games after sustaining an ankle injury during practice in early February.
The veteran point guard indicated on the eve of the NCAA Tournament that he would be ready to return to game action for the Wildcats for their first-round matchup with Providence in Greensboro, N.C., but he did not play in that game and was also on the bench for UK’s loss to Kansas State two days later in the second round of the tournament.
Wheeler averaged 7.7 points and 5.6 assists in 28.5 minutes, missing 13 of the team’s 34 games. At the time of the ankle injury that ultimately ended Wheeler’s season, he was actually leading the SEC in assists per game for a third straight year and was also tops in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio, though he didn’t play in enough games to qualify for the final league leaderboard in those individual statistics.
Freshman teammate Cason Wallace ended the season at No. 2 in the SEC in assists per game, behind Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler. Wallace, who played primarily off the ball to begin UK’s season, started at point guard in Wheeler’s place in a victory at Tennessee in early January and held on to that starting spot for the remainder of the season.
Wallace is projected as a lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
UK Coach John Calipari said in a social media statement last month that he supported Wheeler’s decision to enter the transfer portal and find a “fresh start” for his final season of college basketball.
“Sahvir has been a big part of our team and we wish him nothing but the best,” Calipari said.
The Kentucky coach was also vocal with his support during the season as Wheeler faced backlash on social media.
“It was hard. It was really hard. Because I wanted to do some stuff,” Calipari said after Kentucky’s win over Vanderbilt in late January. “… I love our fans. The fans that are really into basketball? I love our fans. Now, social media, you got trolls. You got people from other programs. Or, they’re just not basketball fans. Or they’re not fans of mine. And they go crazy.”
Shortly after he entered the transfer portal, Wheeler posted a thank you message for “Big Blue Nation” on Instagram.
“For the past two years you all have been nothing short of amazing,” he said. “Some of my greatest memories that I will take away from my time at Kentucky will be my time spent interacting with the fans. The community service opportunities that I was able to participate in with you all were invaluable and I will always be thankful.
“To my teammates, we have made so many memorable moments. We competed every day, committed to making each other better, and I would not change that experience. Each one of you has made an impact on me and I consider you all brothers for life. Playing alongside of you guys has truly been a dream come true.
“To Coach Cal and all the staff, thank you for giving me the opportunity to represent such a prominent university.”
Wheeler ended his message by saying he would be graduating from UK in May and confirmed that he had entered the portal as a graduate transfer, which means he will be eligible to play right away next season.
He is the third Wildcat in recent years to transfer from UK to Washington. Point guard Quade Green left Lexington midway through the 2018-19 season and played two years with the Huskies after that. Keion Brooks Jr. departed Kentucky after three seasons last year and ended up as Washington’s leading scorer for the 2022-23 season.
The Huskies finished 16-16 this past season, tying for eighth place in the Pac-12.
