Koby Brea wears his love for Kentucky on his sleeve, even at the NBA Combine
Koby Brea loved his time spent as a Kentucky basketball player, and he was never shy about it.
Perhaps the most memorable example of Brea expressing his appreciation for the opportunity to play for the storied program came a few minutes after his time as a Wildcat officially ended.
Brea was on the podium for his final press conference appearance as a college player following UK’s loss to Tennessee in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in March, when he tried to sum up what the experience meant to him.
“Yeah, I don’t know who is in charge of the jerseys and all that, but they’re going to go through some trouble to get mine,” he said. “It’s still surreal every time I walk in the locker room, and I’m able to put this jersey on. Just from everything I have dealt with, everything I have been through, where I come from, just to be able to put it on, it’s super special.”
Brea went on to describe the immediate bond he formed with his new teammates — “we were all strangers when we first got here” — and how he was embraced by the UK fan base.
“We’re all a big family now, and BBN has been amazing,” he concluded. “They made this dream like a reality, for real, for me. Ever since I stepped onto campus, everybody’s greeted me with open arms, and they’ve been amazing to me and my family. It’s been everything I wanted it to be and more.”
Brea played his first four seasons of college basketball with the Dayton Flyers, but he finished his career with the Wildcats, and — if he hears his name called at the NBA draft next month — it will be “Kentucky” that accompanies that announcement.
It sure sounds like he’ll get to enjoy that moment.
When the latest batch of mock drafts were released after the final order of picks was set Monday night, Brea’s name was on all of them.
Yahoo Sports has him as the No. 34 overall pick — just outside of first-round range — to the Charlotte Hornets, while Bleacher Report projected him at No. 44 to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and both ESPN and The Athletic placed him at 54th overall to the Indiana Pacers. The draft will be held June 25-26 in Brooklyn.
Brea was also among the initial selections for the NBA Combine in Chicago, and the Herald-Leader caught up with the former UK sharpshooter there Wednesday evening.
“It’s been going great, man,” Brea said. “I’m just embracing the process. This is all new for me. So I’m just enjoying it as much as possible, trying to learn as much as possible. There’s a lot of people here — whether it’s players, coaches and GMs and all of that — so I’m just trying to learn from everybody.”
Brea met with the Memphis Grizzlies — current holders of the No. 48 and 56 picks — earlier Wednesday and had several other team meetings scheduled for Thursday.
He’s been looking forward to those conversations.
“All these teams just want to get to know you,” Brea said. “They know what you can do on the court. So the next step is really just getting to know you as a person. They just want to see what kind of person you are, how you grew up, and the things that motivate you, how you think that you fit into their system and stuff like that.
“So it’s really just been talking about myself and my life and my story. I’ve been enjoying it.”
Brea has quite the story to tell, from his childhood in New York — both of his parents are originally from the Dominican Republic — to his mid-major entry into college basketball at Dayton, where he emerged as one of the country’s best shooters, but not before a series of serious injuries, one of which landed him in a wheelchair for several weeks.
And then there was this past season at Kentucky, where he confirmed his reputation as one of the top 3-point threats in all of college basketball. His outside shooting numbers technically dipped — from an astounding 49.8% in his last season at Dayton to 43.5% at UK — but he was still one of the nation’s best, and this time he did it against elite competition almost every night.
“I think a lot of teams have really valued that throughout this process,” he said. “Just seeing that I went from the A-10 — at a little bit of a smaller school — and I went to Kentucky and was still able to reproduce what I did, and do it at a high level.”
Kentucky’s next NBA draft pick?
Brea wasn’t on NBA draft boards when he started his career at Kentucky, even though the basketball world was well aware he could shoot.
While in Lexington, he was challenged by coach Mark Pope to become a better and more consistent defender, something he clearly achieved by the end of the season. That transformation was a point of pride for Brea, both in his final weeks at UK and during the conversation at the Combine.
Brea had just finished his first scrimmage at the event. He went 1-for-7 from 3-point range in that game, but there’s a large enough body of work from beyond the arc that NBA teams won’t be changing any of their evaluations of him based on one poor shooting performance.
For Brea, who went 4-for-8 from deep in his second scrimmage the next day, showing those scouts he can do other things is a big part of Combine week.
“Like today, I didn’t shoot the ball the way I wanted to, but I think I really was able to showcase my defense,” he said after Wednesday’s game. “Just rotations and guarding my guys and stuff like that. So that’s been the main focus for me, showing my energy out there, and being there for my teammates — showing what kind of teammate I am. And just guarding and rebounding.”
Pope, who has never had an NBA draft pick as a head coach, was at the Combine on Wednesday, too.
Brea beamed when asked what being part of Pope’s first Kentucky team meant to him.
“Man, everything,” he said. “Everything. Just because I feel like we really did something special. And it was Coach’s first year, so I think it was a perfect opportunity for us to go and just build a foundation for what’s to come in the future. And I know as guys keep coming in, and Coach keeps doing his thing, it’s only going to get bigger and better.”
And when asked if he had been following what Pope had been doing this offseason — the return of some key players, along with the acquisition of one of the most talented transfer classes in America — Brea said “of course” he’d been keeping tabs on Kentucky’s spring.
“He’s been working, man,” he said. “That’s what he does. It feels like the same thing he was doing this time last year. I know that he’s been grinding, making sure that he got the right guys that fit the culture and what he’s trying to do for the team.
“So it’s been exciting to see what he’s put together. I’m excited.”
Brea made it clear that, whenever he is next season, he’ll be paying attention to his alma mater.
Oh, and what about that Kentucky jersey? The one that Brea declared someone would have to pry out of his hands after the NCAA Tournament loss?
“They went through a lot of trouble, but I kept it,” he said, a wide grin on his face. “I was able to keep it. Now I got it with me everywhere I go. It’s special to me, man. It really is. I think that’s something that I really showed throughout the year. Something I wasn’t afraid to show, because Kentucky is a special place.
“I’m just privileged and honored that I was able to go out there and do what I did.”
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