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The Kentucky Wildcats are ready to return to their winning ways on the basketball court, and two of the team’s upperclassmen leaders are ready to lead the way.
Keion Brooks and Davion Mintz were two of the leaders on last year’s team that struggled throughout the year, never really gaining their footing, and missing out on the postseason.
But Brooks and Mintz know that donning the blue and white in Lexington means winning, and they’re ready to play a key role in doing just that this year.
“Me being in a leadership position, leadership role, I’m looking forward to helping my teammates out, helping the freshman, helping the new guys that transferred in to know what it’s really like to be here and what it takes to win,” Brooks told KSR. “I had a taste of that my freshman year with the older guys pulling me along and showing me the way and I think it’s only right that I do the same thing when it’s my turn.”
“Kentucky fans should be exciting because it’s a lot of guys out there who are experienced,” Mintz recently told KSR. “A lot of different approaches to the game, guys that can really shoot it from the perimeter. There’s a lot of different threats out there and guys have gotten better that was here last year. We simply have returners that have improved and also saw how elite they have to be–or we have to be in order to win games because we saw how terrible it can get.”
Kentucky brings in several older transfers this season, which should help, but there is quite a difference between playing at Davidson, Iowa, or Georgia as opposed to playing at Kentucky. Brooks and Mintz have that experience, and will be key figures on and off the court helping the freshmen and new transfers adjust.
I’m expecting a significant jump from Keion Brooks now in his third year in the program, and Davion Mintz should be able to thrive as a guy who isn’t the top focus of opposing defenses. With more offensive threats, Mintz should see a lot more open looks from the perimeter and show how lethal of a shooter he can be.