Daimion Collins played 15 minutes against Alabama and blocked this shot. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Maybe the basketball has not gone as well as Daimion Collins hoped but basketball has still been a lifeline for the Kentucky sophomore.
The 6-9 forward lost his father, Ben Collins, suddenly at age 43 just two days before UK’s final preseason exhibition game. Ben Collins had come to Lexington from Texas for a visit and was in the gym putting up shots with his son the night before his passing — which was just four days after Daimion’s 20th birthday.
“For me, it has been an outlet for everything that’s been going on,” Collins said Monday. “I think that is something that’s therapeutic to me. Them (teammates and coaches) just being there every step of the way from the time when things happened to now, they have my back ever since then.
“Basketball is my outlet. So it hasn’t been too hard to just concentrate on that, because that’s something that I like to do and want to do in times like this.”
Collins traveled back and forth between Kentucky and Texas for two weeks and missed UK’s first two regular-season games. He said his teammates “helped me a lot” during that time.
He’s averaging 1.9 points and 2.5 rebounds going into tonight’s home game against South Carolina. Those are not the kind of numbers coach John Calipari expected from him this season before the sophomore’s father died unexpectedly. However, he’s starting to play more and had four points, two rebounds and one block in 15 minutes in Saturday’s loss at Alabama.
“My confidence is going up some more,” Collins said Monday. “That’s just what I’m doing with my alone time, working out with the coaches and stuff like that. Just going into the game, playing hard and doing what I need to do to try to help our team. So I think with that, it is helping my confidence go up.”
“It felt pretty good just being out there being able to play. Knowing that I was out there just playing hard and trying to help my team win even though it didn’t go the way it was supposed to. It felt pretty good being out there.”
Collins was terrific when UK went to the Bahamas as he averaged 10 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game and shot 61 percent from the field. He also had the team’s highest max vertical and standing vertical jumps at UK’s October Pro Day.
“I know right now I’m probably not all the way back to where I want to be,” he said of his current status. “But I’m definitely getting there. I’m getting better day by day.”
