The rest of the country is just now catching up to what Kentucky basketball figured out during John Calipari’s tenure. One year on campus doesn’t allow for much of a connection.
I’m reminded of that watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the first former Wildcat player to win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, lead the Oklahoma City Thunder into the NBA Finals as the overwhelming favorite over the Indiana Pacers.
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An accomplishment like that in the past would have been trumpeted and Gilgeous-Alexander revered as one of the best to ever play for the Cats. Instead, the reaction has largely been, meh.
Sure, there’s some pride knowing he briefly wore Kentucky blue. But the attachment? Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t feel that much more tethered to UK than a seldom-used walk-on whose success came outside of basketball.
This isn’t to pick on UK or even to lament on days past — it’s only going to get worse as the new reality of college basketball ushers into the transfer if you wanna, pay-for-play, name, image and likeness era.
Players don’t have to turn pro to move like In and Out Burger through a program. And the ties that bind a former player to a particular program last about as long as fast food.
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Travis Perry’s celebrated arrival after winning Mr. Basketball in 2024 and becoming the all-time leading scorer in Kentucky high school history turned into an unceremonious departure when he opted to transfer in April to Mississippi. Although Perry wasn’t viewed as a game-changing player, as a native of the commonwealth fulfilling a dream to play at UK, he had a feel-good story that doesn’t feel so good anymore.
Player movement isn’t ruining college basketball, but it has created a different culture. Programs have become like franchises and it is certainly all about business.
Calipari was ahead of the game during the one-and-done era with the large scale, annual flipping of his roster. Just the sheer volume of players who were gone after a single season got everyone used to the assembly line movement of players.
Gilgeous-Alexander played during such a nondescript season, it’s really hard to recall his year at UK. I’d gather many fans can’t do it without looking it up. His 2017-18 team did win the SEC Tournament, which is notable because the Cats haven’t won it since.
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But that was the high point.
Mar 11, 2018; St. Louis, MO, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (22) cuts down the net after the Wildcats defeat the Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC Conference Tournament Championship game at Scottrade Center. Kentucky won 77-72. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports
Despite an easy path to the Final Four — the top four seeds in the South bracket all lost in the first or second round, including No. 1 seed Virginia’s historic loss to No. 16 seed UMBC — UK lost to ninth-seeded Kansas State in Atlanta.
The “free-throw merchant” moniker some NBA pundits have tagged on Gilgeous-Alexander was far from being created, but he did score 11 of his 15 points in that final game from the free-throw line.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s post-UK career has included some examples of him staying attached to the program as recently as Calipari’s last season.
The Ontario native visited with the Cats and attended some games when they played in the GLOBL Jam in Toronto the summer of 2023. He also gifted them pairs of an unreleased version of his signature Converse shoes before the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
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Those are the kinds of actions that nurture a real connection. But those actions have to be multiplied.
What forms lasting bonds with a program are things like returning to campus during the summer to workout. Or making an effort to visit with the newest team. Or holding a skills camp or an event that reaches out into the community.
This new age of players that have played for multiple schools might not even have clarity on where they should anchor themselves.
Where does someone like Tre Mitchell consider his home? He played at Massachusetts, Texas and West Virginia before finishing at UK. Is he enamored with one program above all? Does he return to Lexington knowing his former coach is in Arkansas?
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There’s no wrong choice here, but the fact that there are options speaks to why there will be a growing disconnect between programs and the former players who were only there for a season.
Short of winning a national championship or accomplishing something extraordinary, there’s just not many reasons to hold on.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball: SGA in NBA Finals 2025 shows one-and-done impact
