Vicky Graff Photo
Antonio Reeves thrives on international competition.
He was the most valuable player in 2022 during Kentucky’s exhibition trip to the Bahamas and did the same thing to help UK win the gold medal at the GLOBL Jam when he averaged 23 points per game.
“I am grateful for this opportunity to go out of the country and show my talent and perform at the highest level,” Reeves said after Sunday’s 18-point performance in a win over Canada. “If I did not get it (MVP), so what. All these guys played well.”
No one was as good offensively as Reeves who was 33 of 57 overall from the field and 18 of 32 from 3-point range as he certainly proved why his decision to return to Kentucky for a second year was so important for coach John Calipari’s team.
Reeves contemplated where to play this season after taking his name out of the NBA draft but was not sure he wanted to return to UK knowing Calipari had the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class coming in and playing time might be an issue.
“He was worried about the wrong stuff. When you have five of the freshmen that we have and you’re finding out they’re really good. ‘So what’s gonna happen to me?’ What? You’re the vet. What do you mean what’s happening to you?” Calipari said after Sunday’s win.
“So, he did the right stuff. Proud of him and he’s playing good.”
Reeves said he liked the team chemistry UK built on the Canadian trip but also realizes it is July and the team can “build off stuff we did not do” well despite winning the gold medal.
