Brown: Antonio Reeves can add to UK legacy, change NCAA Tournament narrative this March
Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves clutched his cell phone during the NCAA Tournament selection show and recorded the moment the Wildcats heard their name called as a No. 3 seed in the South Region on Sunday.
The fifth-year senior, seated behind coach John Calipari, was one, if not the only, player with his phone out. He realizes the preciousness and the finality of the tournament in a way his younger teammates may be too inexperienced to be thinking about.
Reeves doesn't have much NCAA Tournament experience, but he's proof that one bad outing can bring an end to the season. He didn’t need a dozen NCAA games to learn that.
After scoring 22 points in last season's first-round win over Providence, he missed his first 14 shots and scored five points in the Cats’ 75-69 loss to Kansas State in the second round.
He doesn’t want that moment to be what defines his two years at UK.
“It’s a dream come true to get another shot at it from last year,” Reeves said. “Definitely gonna be ready this year and I feel like we got the team for it, so definitely excited to be out there and try and give it all I got.”
Calipari said he’s not relying on his veterans — Reeves and forward Tre Mitchell — to get the younger Cats tournament ready.
“They barely know too,” Calipari said.
Mitchell just played in one NCAA game with West Virginia last year. When the Mountaineers made it in 2022 and lost in the second round to Purdue, Mitchell was injured and did not play.
Reeves didn’t make the Big Dance his first three seasons playing for Illinois State.
But what he went through in last season’s loss to Kansas State has shaped how he’s approaching this year.
“Teams are desperate, definitely," Reeves said. “They're gonna give all they've got, like 100% effort. The whole 40 minutes, you just can't let up. Everybody’s got to be dialed in to what they have to do out there. So that's why I tell young guys just make sure you stay focused the whole 40 minutes.”
Reeves will leave UK as one of its most prolific 3-point shooters in program history. But he has a chance to work past his ghosts of tournaments past.
He could leave a legacy — as much as one can in a program that turns over rosters every year — based on what happens this tournament.
“To be honest, I haven't really thought about a legacy or anything like that,” Reeves said. “But, a run would really shake things up for us and hopefully we have a good run.”
Reeves is vying to be the first Kentucky player since Jamal Murray in 2015-16 to average 20 points per game. He is one of the keys for the Cats to advance out of the first weekend for the first time since 2019.
He’s been arguably UK’s most consistent player. Even in the nine losses, Reeves averaged 18.8 points per game. It’s not just his scoring, it’s also the threat of it.
He only scored 13 points in the Wildcats' SEC Tournament loss to Texas A&M, but it's when he was on the court and out of foul trouble that the Cats made their runs in the second half.
Freshman Rob Dillingham said one of his favorite tournament memories was watching Kemba Walker go on an incredible individual run to power UConn to the national championship in 2011.
Dillingham said Kentucky has “more than a few guys” capable of going on a Kemba-like tear. But the Cats really don't need to be carried as much as they need consistency. Reeves has it in him. Should he deliver now, he will ensure his name and the Kansas State loss are never mentioned together again.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball: NCAA Tournament is opportunity for Antonio Reeves
