Daimion Collins (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky basketball fans needed some good news and got some Sunday when 247Sports national recruiting analyst Travis Branham reported that freshman forward Daimion Collins would be returning to UK for his sophomore season.
The 6-9 Collins was a five-star recruit out of Texas and was expected to be a major contributor to Kentucky this season. Instead, he played only 7.4 minutes per game in the 27 games he played — not exactly the playing time most top 15 players would expect — and averaged 2.9 points and 2.0 rebounds per game while shooting 58 percent from the field.
Collins did not play in Kentucky’s disappointing loss to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s in the NCAA Tournament, a move many UK fans did not understand. That led to concerns that the lack of overall playing time and not being used at all in the NCAA might lead Collins to enter the transfer portal. He averaged almost 15 minutes per game in UK’s first eight games but less than five minutes per game in the next 19 games he played.
He came to UK in large part because of his long-time relationship with UK assistant coach Jai Lucas and that trust likely is a major reason Collins is not leaving. Collins also had no illusions of being a one-and-done player this season even though he averaged 35.2 points, 14.4 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 6.2 blocks per game his high school senior season when he was named Gatorade Texas Player of the Year.
Collins’ play was a big reason UK won at Alabama Feb. 5. He came off the bench to score 10 points and grab six rebounds in just nine minutes. His best overall game was early in the season against Robert Morris when he had 14 points, six rebounds, and four blocks.
Kentucky coach John Calipari had indicated Collins could be a difference-maker for UK in postseason play — and then did not play him against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament loss or against Saint Peter’s.
“I think Daimion is going to be the difference between us advancing and not,” Calipari said after Collins played five minutes in a win over Mississippi. “He’s going to do something in a couple games that are going to be the reason we advance. And you know what’s great? He’s ready for it. You see him. We just have to get him in there.”
Guess what? Calipari never got him “in there” in UK’s last two games — both losses — but according to Branham that is not going to lead to Collins putting his name into the transfer portal and that’s really good news for Kentucky.
One Response
Calipari lies to his players, lies to the media, and lies to BBN. He has wasted so much talent in his 13 years at KY and only has one national title to show for it. He needs to move on to an NBA team, if one will have him, and let BBN have our basketball team coached by a man who is committed to winning championships.