By LARRY VAUGHT
What could Riley Gaines do for an encore?
During her junior season she won the 200-meter freestyle at the Southeastern Conference championship and was also part of the winning 4×200 relay team that won the SEC title to help the Kentucky women win its first SEC championship.
“There was some pressure at the beginning of the year just knowing where I came from finishing up last season,” said Gaines. “At first, it was kind of scary. Then I had to shift my perspective to where it was not scary but more of an opportunity. So far, it has been great. I have stepped up in practice and have been doing things I did not do last year. I have a lot of confidence going into the last few weeks of training.”
The SEC Championships will be Feb. 15-19 in Knoxville and the UK women have found some extra inspiration to repeat as champion because they feel disrespected.
“There are a ton of articles saying other schools did not perform as well last year due to COVID and we were just the healthy team at the right time,” Gaines said. “It’s kind of good to read because we had our own problems (with COVID) last year and this year. It’s kind of exciting to read that stuff and it’s going to be cool to go back and show what we can do.”
Gaines has done plenty again this season. She’s ranked nationally in the 200 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 200 butterfly. She has school records in the 100 free, 200 free, 200 medley relay, 400 free relay and 800 free relay.
Gaines is undefeated in the 100 freestyle this season and has 15 wins overall in her individual events. That’s why she feels like she’s in a “good place” getting ready for the season’s biggest meets.
“We have competed against great teams like Tennessee and Auburn already and gotten a little taste of what their swimmers can do,” Gaines said. “Last year I was more nervous going into SEC because I had not won and our team had not won before. Now I know what it is like and what it takes to be a little more confident. I have been there and should feel less pressure this year.
“I know I am the person being chased and targeted this season. That keeps me going knowing others are thinking about beating Riley. Knowing other coaches think our team got lucky last year also fuels our team. A lot of teams get content when they win a championship. Our team is different. We are not complacent and satisfied.”
Gaines has been concentrating on consistent practices, staying focused on key details and taking advantage of every opportunity given to her.
“I want to get my team going. I want to be excited and hyped and let our team build on that,” Gaines said.
Her collegiate career will end in mid-March at the NCAA Championships, which she admits is also a scary thought since she has been swimming competitively for 15 years.
“It’s sad but I have been around some great girls the last four years and it will be exciting to start the next chapter of my life in dental school,” Gaines, a Tennessee native, said. “Hopefully I will be staying in or around Lexington because I have such great relationships with everyone at UK.
“I imagine the hard part will be finding a daily routine. As an athlete, a routine is a big part of my day every day. So I know I will have to find something to do and keep me busy.”
Davion Mintz was a starter for Kentucky during the 2020-21 season when he led the Wildcats in scoring. He returned for an extra season at Kentucky obviously anticipating he would be a starter again. Instead, he’s become the first guard off the bench to relieve Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington or Kellan Grady.
No one understands how difficult that transition can be better than James Posey, a former NBA player who won championships with Miami in 2006 and Boston in 2008. He is Xavier’s 16th all-time leading scorer with 1,455 points and 10th all-time rebounder with 801. He was the Atlantic 10’s defensive player of the year in 1999. He did all that while almost always coming off the bench rather than starting. He still was the 18th overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft.
“My stats were better than some starters at Xavier. It was tough at first not to start. I didn’t want to buy in but Coach kept telling me I was more valuable coming off the bench because nobody else could do what I could,” Posey said. “I didn’t believe it but I did what he wanted and he was right.
“If I had swapped spots with a starter, he might not have given the team what I did coming off the bench. Once I bought in, I had fun with it.”
Posey was a high school basketball teammate of former UK running back Anthony White in Twinsburg, Ohio, and recently was on WLAP Sunday Morning Sports to talk about a sixth-man role and how hard it can be.
“I wanted to be on the floor at the end of the game but before I bought in I wanted to play the whole game,” Posey said. “Our starters did their things but I was the second leading rebounder and scorer coming off the bench even though I was playing less minutes. But in my mind I knew I could lead the team in scoring and rebounding if I played more minutes before I bought in.”
Posey said he learned coming off bench allowed him to see what the team was not doing and that enabled him to provide energy and hustle along with his scoring much like Mintz has done most of this season.
“The biggest thing was just learning to buy into the role. If not, it makes for a long season but if you buy in, it can become a fun role,” Posey said.
Record-setting receiver Wan’Dale Robinson had a historic homecoming after transferring from Nebraska to UK this season and was the recent winner of the Lexington Herald-Leader Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year
He beat two-time Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin — who had more first-place votes — for the top award.
Herald-Leader columnist Mark Story oversees the nominees and voting for the award.
“This award belongs to the sports media in the state,” Story said. “What makes it special is that is the best in a given year. People that spend the most time covering sports and thinking about sports vote on it.
“Richie Farmer won in 1988 and second place was Pat Riley of the Lakers but you could understand why Richie was the right choice. Tom Couch won it after his great high school career at Leslie County.
“I like to have a wide diversity of winners but college sports is our biggest deal in this state. However, I like it when people break the mold.”
Story knew there would be no clear-cut winner this year because so many athletes and coaches with Kentucky ties had fabulous years, including Olympians.
“There were so many Olympic athletes who did great with ties to our start. Then you had Madison Lilley win national player of the year in volleyball and lead Kentucky to the national championship,” Story said. “It was just an incredible sports year in Kentucky.”
Final Four teams have to have star power and Kentucky seems to have two of those this year in guard TyTy Washington, who set a single-game UK record with 17 assists, and center Oscar Tshiebwe, the nation’s leading rebounder who has broke the Rupp Arena single game rebounding record twice.
Mississippi State coach Ben Howland took UCLA to three straight Final Fours and has guided four different teams to the NCAA Tournament. His team took Kentucky to overtime last week before losing 82-74.
Washington didn’t play because of an ankle injury but Howland was impressed with what he saw in his pregame preparation before he knew the freshman would not play.
“I watched the game that he had 17 assists in. I was blown away by his basketball IQ and how he saw the floor so well and how he shared the ball so well and still scored it well,” Howland said. “He is really an incredible scorer and is very good off the dribble.
“He is a good catch-and-shoot guy and has a great handle and is very, very smart. He is just another typical, outstanding freshman that comes into that program over the years.”
What about Tshiebwe?
“I am amazed when I watch how well he runs the floor. He runs the floor like a tank, a very fast tank. He is incredibly athletic and strong,” Howland said. “What is really fun to watch with him and to appreciate with him, everything is two handed. He has two hands on all of his rebounds. He has two hands at everything he does and his hands are amazing and how strong he is.
“You can’t move him and wherever he’s at, he ain’t moving. It would take two-three guys to be able to move him once he is set where he is posting up or setting up to get offensive rebounds. He is getting five-plus offensive rebounds a game. He is just an incredible player and has arguably been one of the best players in the country.”
Howland said trying to keep Tshiebwe off the offensive glass is a real problem.
“As soon as his man leaves to help on any penetration, they are just throwing the ball at the rim and he is dunking it. He creates a lot of problems,” Howland said.
Kansas coach Bill Self didn’t disagree. He said Tshiebwe was “hands down” the best rebounder in the country.
But Self also threw some extra praise at UK point guard Sahvir Wheeler that could make him the special third player the Cats need to challenge for a national title.
“They’ve had really good guards (in the past) but Sahvir is different from a speed standpoint,” Self said. “Sahvir is the best 94-foot player in the country hands down.”
Obviously Self was even more enamored with Kentucky after the beatdown UK put on his team.
“That was a great basketball team. That team that we played tonight could win it all. I know that we contributed to them playing well, but they were dominant, athletic and they shot it. It made us uncomfortable and when we got behind the rim shrunk,” Self said.
Former Kentucky All-American Kenny Walker was one of many players who considered former UK coach Joe B. Hall, who died recently at age 93, a “father-figure” for many years after their playing careers were over.
“He pushed us to be good basketball players but he also molded us to be good men,” Walker said.
Walker said Hall was very concerned with the image of the Kentucky program and made sure his players understood that.
“When I played at UK, we had to be clean shaven and wear a coat and tie when we went on the road or did interviews,” Walker said.
Walker, and his teammates, didn’t understand why other teams could wear sweats or jeans but the UK players could not. He asked Hall for an explanation.
“He said, ‘Son if you look good, you play good. If you look like a team, you play like a team. It’s important how you look and how you carry yourself,’” Walker said.
“Those things meant a lot to him and that has stayed with me to this day and will stick with me for the rest of my life.”
Kentucky coaches continue to believe in 6-9 freshman Daimion Collins, a consensus five-star prospect and top 20 recruit, despite his lack of playing time, especially in Southeastern Conference play.
He signed with Kentucky but also had offers from Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Baylor, Houston, Texas A&M, LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma State and others.
Assistant coach Orlando Antigua said Collins’ focus is fine despite his lack of playing time.
“He is working extremely hard. He is getting extra lifts in, working on nutrition,” Antigua said. “He is unique. He can play multiple positions.
“He has a lot of learning and growing knowing both positions at 5 (center) and 4 (power forward). He is really, really talented and we need him.”
However, Calipari made it clear after the Kansas win that he was down to an eight-man rotation that didn’t include Collins, Bryce Hopkins or Dontaie Allen at this time.
Quote of the Week: “I think he could be a first-round pick. He can make every throw. He will develop under (offensive coordinator) Liam (Coen). I can really see him as one of the top quarterbacks in the draft next year,” Kentucky recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow on UK quarterback Will Levis.
Quote of the Week 2: “We always told him to play center, play point guard. Just get an opportunity to play. Then we always told him to make sure his teammates eat because then everybody is happy. If you win and everybody is happy, nobody gets jealous. Make sure you are happy and keep your teammates happy,” Tee Washington on advice he always gave his son, UK freshman TyTy Washington.
Quote of the Week 3: “It’s an honor. But for those guys that know me, I’ll reflect on it in April. Right now, all of our attention is where it should be. And that’s not just coach talk. It truly is,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl on becoming only the third head coach to lead three schools to a No. 1 national ranking.