If the first 1-5 start to a season by a Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team in 94 years had not generated enough gloom, UK backers got more disconcerting news Monday morning.
Via Twitter, John Calipari revealed that he has asked Cam’Ron Fletcher “to step away” from the Cats basketball program after the freshman forward appeared to have an emotional meltdown on the UK bench late in the Cats’ 75-63 loss to North Carolina on Saturday.
In his postgame video news conference, Calipari said Fletcher’s outburst was related to lack of playing time.
“He needs to reflect and do some soul searching to get his priorities in order,” the Kentucky coach tweeted Monday about Fletcher. “Any attitude or actions that are detrimental to this team will not be tolerated — and that goes for everyone on the team.”
Of Fletcher’s future as a Wildcat, Calipari added, “I talked to Cam and his mother and they know I care about him and I love him, but they also understand that there are changes that need to be made. It’s his job to decide whether he can perform within this culture both on and off the court.”
Now, what has been a UK basketball season of discontent turns to what has previously been a consistent, Calipari era source of brightness for Kentucky fans.
For perspective on just how thoroughly Calipari has dominated intrastate rival Louisville, consider:
Since Cal arrived in Lexington for the 2009-10 school year, UK has more historically rare football wins over Tennessee (three: 2011, 2017, 2021) than U of L has men’s hoops victories (two: 2012-13 and 2016-17) over Kentucky.
Not in any of Calipari’s prior 11 seasons, however, has Kentucky approached the Louisville game — now set for 1 p.m. Saturday in the KFC Yum Center with the telecast on ESPN — as desperate for a victory as the Cats are now.
It’s not just that UK has started a season 1-5 for the first time since coach Basil Hayden’s 1926-27 Cats began 1-8.
Kentucky has looked bad while opening 1-5, with losses to mediocre foes — Georgia Tech is 4-3 with defeats against Georgia State and Mercer; Notre Dame is 2-4 — and long stretches of all but unwatchable basketball.
UK’s need for something good to happen Saturday is obvious. Yet Kentucky’s struggles create a desperation scenario for Louisville, too.
In his Xavier days, Chris Mack was an effective rivalry coach, going 6-3 against Cincinnati in what is one of college basketball’s ultimate grudge-fests.
However, as “the fearless leader” of Louisville basketball, Mack is 0-2 vs. Kentucky. That has not helped his standing with a fan base that is heartily sick of having UK rivalry domination lorded over it by the Big Blue Nation.
Going into Tuesday night’s ACC game at Pittsburgh, Mack’s Cardinals stand 4-1 with home wins over Seton Hall and Western Kentucky.
Still, it’s very difficult to know what to make of U of L. The Cardinals went almost three full weeks this month without playing because of a coronavirus-related “program pause.”
Meanwhile, due to injuries and COVID-19 protocols, Louisville has not had its full team for any game this year.
Returning big man Malik Williams (right foot injury) is expected to be out until at least mid-January. San Francisco graduate transfer Charles Minlend (MCL injury) and sophomore guard Josh Nickelberry (knee) have yet to play.
After missing two games, sophomore swingman Samuell Williamson (dislocated big toe) returned for U of L’s Saturday ACC/Big Ten Challenge tilt with No. 12 Wisconsin.
However, the Cardinals lost star guard Carlik Jones for that game, apparently for coronavirus-related reasons.
Without Jones, a grad transfer from Radford, the Cardinals got whacked by Wisconsin, falling 85-48.
Assuming he plays vs. UK, the 6-foot-1 Jones (17.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists) will be the most accomplished college player on the court — even if he is not the most coveted NBA prospect.
Some elements of the Kentucky fan base have never really been on board with the realities of the one-and-done era of UK basketball. For them, the unceasing roster churn, the comparative lack of multi-year players and the dearth of in-state recruiting have grated.
However, the high level of winning that Calipari has produced has tended to mute large-scale fan grumbling. So far this season, though, winning has been absent and the fan base is correspondingly grumpy.
There’s no better way for Calipari to flip this season’s negative narrative than by extending his ongoing mastery over the team many UK backers most relish defeating.
Yet as bad as Kentucky has looked so far in 2020-21, it will all but kill U of L fans if the Cards don’t take advantage and post a rare victory over the Cats.
That makes Mack’s need for a rivalry win Saturday even more acute than Calipari’s.
NEXT GAME
Kentucky at Louisville
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Records: UK 1-5; Louisville 4-1
TV: ESPN
