LEXINGTON, Ky. _ Likely in need of one more player for its already formidable backcourt next season, Kentucky seems to have found a perfect fit.
The Wildcats landed a commitment Friday morning from Creighton graduate transfer Davion Mintz, who started all but one game over his final two seasons with the Bluejays before sitting out the entire 2019-20 campaign while battling an ankle injury.
Mintz _ a 6-foot-3, 185-pound senior from Charlotte, N.C. _ is capable of playing both guard positions, filling a major need for a Kentucky team that has already lost Tyrese Maxey and Ashton Hagans to the NBA draft _ with Immanuel Quickley expected to follow _ and Johnny Juzang to the transfer portal.
The Wildcats have three five-star guards coming in with their No. 1-ranked recruiting class for next season _ point guard Devin Askew, and shooting guards Brandon Boston and Terrence Clarke _ but, if Quickley does indeed stay in the draft, Askew would have been the only scholarship point guard on UK's 2020-21 roster.
Mintz checks pretty much every box that UK was looking for in another backcourt player.
"And that was my whole reason of going and committing _ just because I can visualize the pieces that Coach Joel (Justus) and Coach (John) Calipari were selling to me. It just made sense," Mintz told the Herald-Leader. "And playing for a guy that's highly respected _ in my mind, there's no other coach that I'd want to learn from while taking the journey to go to the next level. I think he puts me in the best position to fulfill my dreams"
As a junior, Mintz started all 35 games for a Creighton team that finished in a tie for third place in the Big East and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals. He averaged 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 28.8 minutes per game that season, making a total of 43 3-pointers at a 34.7% clip. Mintz is a career 35.0% 3-point shooter with a 1.77 assist-to-turnover ratio and started 79 of 97 games in his three seasons with the Bluejays.
He also has the reputation as a defensive stopper on the perimeter who can handle point guard duties or play off the ball.
That will be important for a UK team high on talent but short on experience. Askew, who doesn't turn 18 years old until late July, will now have a more seasoned player to team up with at the point, and the Wildcats' backcourt will have a proven college defender to take some of the pressure off the program's incoming stars.
Mintz, who turns 22 years old in June, said he looks forward to taking a leadership role on next season's team and wants to share his experience as a four-year college player with his younger teammates. "Just kind of teach the guys the way and how to persevere through any type of struggles ... Just all around guidance for the younger guys."
He's also been studying up on Askew, Boston and Clarke, the trio of five-star recruits in the 2020 class that he'll be sharing the backcourt with at Kentucky. Mintz thinks it will be an athletic, unselfish and interchangeable group.
"Anyone can get it and go," he said. "I just think it'll work, regardless of how Cal puts us together, what his scheme is. I think that everybody will be ready to go. Everyone's talented. And everyone can make a play."
