Brown: Tre Mitchell is making his mark at center. And it's key for UK basketball right now
LEXINGTON — There's one career stat Kentucky coach John Calipari finds unbelievable about versatile forward Tre Mitchell.
Through four years playing at three schools — Massachusetts, Texas and West Virginia — Mitchell has logged more turnovers than assists. It’s not particularly close either, with 1.3 turnovers for every assist. He’s never finished a season with more assists than turnovers.
“How the heck’s that?” Calipari said. “Like, he has maybe the best assist-to-turnover ratio on our team.”
Mitchell currently has six assists and no turnovers through UK's first two games, including one in the Wildcats' 81-61 win over Texas A&M-Commerce at Rupp Arena on Friday.
He’s quite the twist on the adage of a gift that keeps on giving.
“The only reason he’s here is because of what happened in West Virginia,” Calipari said, referring to Bob Huggins' forced resignation due to a DUI charge.
Mitchell didn’t transfer to UK from West Virginia in order to make his mark at center. Yet his ability to do it so seamlessly while making the young players around him better, makes everything else possible for the Wildcats.
Playing the five spot has looked good on Mitchell through the first two games. He scored 18 and grabbed eight rebounds against TAMC. But no one will be more relieved once one or all three of the Wildcats’ 7-footers are in the lineup.
The 6-foot-9 graduate is more of a natural at forward, where he could actually become more of a matchup problem once he gets to move over a slot.
“He definitely affects everything we do on the floor, because he's a pick-and-pop big who can facilitate for everybody,” said senior guard Antonio Reeves, who scored a game-high 21 points.
There’s still no definitive timetable on when true centers Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso will return from injury or when Croatian center Zvonimir Ivisic will be cleared by the NCAA to play.
It’s not likely to happen before the Cats travel to Chicago to play Kansas in the Champions Classic on Tuesday. Meaning, Mitchell will get his first taste of being the undersized big as he’ll face off with 7-foot-2, 260-pound Hunter Dickinson.
That’s a lot of size and weight for Mitchell to go against. But fortunately for UK, he’s done it before.
Mitchell spent his first two seasons at Massachusetts playing center. When he transferred to Texas, he was asked to stay at the five in what was essentially a four-guard lineup for the Longhorns.
He showed against the Lions how he hasn’t lost sight of playing as a big. Mitchell towered over 6-foot-1 Texas A&M-Commerce guard Khaliq Abdul-Mateen banking a shot and completing a three-point play in the second half.
Mitchell trailed a play on defense and recovered to swat Kalen Williams’ shot into the front row of the student section.
He's leading the team in rebounding through two games and quietly, he’s one of their best passers too. Mitchell is one assist behind guard D.J. Wagner and Rob Dillingham for the team lead with seven each.
After having five assists in the season opening win over New Mexico State, Mitchell’s lone dish on Friday came after he grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Dillingham for a 3-pointer.
“He’s one of those bigs that can shoot and pass the ball, so it’s opened up the floor for all of us,” said freshman Justin Edwards, who had 16 points and seven rebounds.
Had he not transferred, the Cats would have little chance against the Jayhawks with a lineup that rivals Rupp’s Runts. But Mitchell is more than a stop gap solution at center and that's more than enough for UK.
C.L. Brown: Rob Dillingham, not DJ Wagner, might be just what UK needs at PG
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter atprofile.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: Tre Mitchell making everything possible for Cats
