Kentucky Wildcats Basketball

Senior power forward Nate Sestina announced Thursday he's making a graduate transfer from the Bucknell Bison to the Kentucky Wildcats for the 2019-20 college basketball season. 

Sestina confirmed his decision in a Twitter post:

It’s been an amazing ride from Emporium to Bucknell and everywhere in between, and it’s surreal to think my college basketball career isn’t over yet.

I’m humbled to get started with @KentuckyMBB! Need to thank God, my family, my coaches, teammates and @UKCoachCalipari #BBN pic.twitter.com/JS3ZKqIS4e

— Nate Sestina (@NateSestina23) April 4, 2019

The 6'9'', 245-pound forward averaged 15.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks across 31 appearances in his first year as a starter for the Bison this season. He shot 53.6 percent from the field, including 38 percent from three-point range for the Patriot League runners-up.

Last month, he told Kurt Ritzman of the Daily Item he wanted an opportunity to play another season of college basketball with a potential March Madness contender, but still wanted a guaranteed place in the rotation.

"I felt I needed to improve some things," Sestina said. "The opportunity to play college basketball for another year, make a run to the NCAA tournament, and hopefully win some games, was very, very appealing. I want to find a place to grow and develop, but a place where I can be me and play my game—not a place where I'll sit the bench."

Joining the Wildcats should satisfy both parts of his desired landing spot.

Kentucky has qualified for the NCAA tournament in eight of John Calipari's nine seasons as head coach, highlighted by winning a national title in 2012.

In addition, UK was looking for some frontcourt depth with leading scorer PJ Washington likely set to enter the 2019 NBA draft and Reid Travis, a grad transfer last year, finished with his collegiate eligibility.

I think UK could be in trouble if they’re asking Nate Sestina to play starter’s minutes. However, I don’t believe that’s the plan. Strong rebounder, capable shooter, and a big with very good positional size. Should be a good bench piece.

— Adam Luckett (@AdamLuckettKSR) April 4, 2019

The Cats' second-ranked recruiting class is loaded with talent, led by Kahlil Whitney and Tyrese Maxey, but features only guards and wing players.

That should give Sestina a chance to compete for a starting job next fall. At minimum, he'll be a key asset off the bench after a strong final year at Bucknell.

Kentucky and head coach John Calipari agreed to a new long-term contract Monday that will ensure he finishes his coaching career in Lexington.

"It has nothing to do with the other stuff. ... People call every year," Calipari said on his radio show. "They presented it to me, and I appreciate it."

This comes in response to UCLA's offer of a six-year, $48 million deal, according to Seth Davis of The Athletic.

The new contract will include a 10-year deal as Kentucky's head coach plus the opportunity to serve as a "paid ambassador" after his retirement, per Davis.

Calipari is already the highest-paid coach in college basketball, reportedly making $9.2 million this season, and his current contract runs through 2024. However, the newest deal could give him even more security beyond his coaching days.

The 60-year-old reportedly had "extensive" contact with UCLA but decided he wanted to stay with Kentucky.

Kentucky is coming off a loss in the Elite Eight in Calipari's 10th season with the program. In that span, he has a 305-71 record, four Final Four appearances and one national championship.

Although he has now gone four years without reaching the Final Four, he seems happy in Lexington, and the school clearly loves him.

While his name is often attached to NBA rumors, Calipari continues to deny any interest in moving to the pro level.

"I'm at Kentucky having a ball preparing young people for the rest of their life," he said in January on ESPN's Get Up!, via Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.

Meanwhile, UCLA will continue to hunt for a big name to turn things around after a disappointing 17-16 season. The Bruins have 11 national championships in their history but haven't advanced beyond the Sweet 16 since 2008.

Kentucky Wildcats leading scorer PJ Washington said he's still dealing with pain from a foot injury but "just suffered through it" in the team's 62-58 Sweet 16 victory over the Houston Cougars on Friday night.

Washington tallied 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go along with two rebounds, an assist and a block in 26 minutes. It marked his first appearance for UK since the team's loss to the Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC tournament semifinals March 16.

"It kind of started hurting in the second half, but I just suffered through it," he told reporters. "I'm definitely going back to get some treatment after this and get a good night's sleep."

Washington has been the Cats' most versatile threat throughout the season. Along with leading the team in scoring (14.8 PPG) and rebounding (7.4 RPG), he also averaged 1.2 blocks and shot 52 percent from the field, including 41.9 percent from three.

The sophomore forward sat out Kentucky's wins over the Abilene Christian Wildcats and Wofford Terriers during the first week of March Madness.

"How we got through last weekend without him, I have no idea," head coach John Calipari said. "If you take the best player off any team in the NCAA tournament, you're not going to be the same. We just happened to survive.''

Now the question is whether he'll be effective on short rest.

The Wildcats return to action Sunday afternoon for an Elite Eight clash with the SEC rival Auburn Tigers. UK won both meetings during the regular season, with Washington scoring a combined 37 points.

Auburn has been on a roll since the teams last faced off Feb. 23. The Tigers have won 11 straight, highlighted by taking home the SEC tournament title. Two victories over Tennessee as well as triumphs over the Florida Gators, Kansas Jayhawks and North Carolina Tar Heels headline the hot streak.

It'll be an uphill battle for Kentucky to end Auburn's run if Washington is too far below full strength.

The second-seeded Kentucky Wildcats outlasted the No. 7 Wofford Terriers 62-56 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday in the NCAA men's basketball tournament to advance to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in six seasons.

Kentucky will face either No. 3 Houston or No. 11 Ohio State next week in Midwest action:

Leading scorer and rebounder PJ Washington was out for the Wildcats with a sprained foot, but senior forward Reid Travis delivered with 14 points and 11 rebounds, as Kentucky handed Wofford its first loss since Dec. 19.

While Kentucky prevailed, Connor O'Gara of Saturday Down South wondered how far the Wildcats can go if Washington remains sidelined:

Kentucky will adjust, but it's fair to question this team's upside without P.J. Washington.

— Connor O'Gara (@cjogara) March 23, 2019

Junior guard Nathan Hoover starred for the Terriers with 19 points, but Kentucky shut down star Wofford guard Fletcher Magee, who finished with just eight points on 4-of-17 shooting from the field and 0-of-12 shooting from downtown.

Per Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, Magee's performance from beyond the arc was the worst in the NCAA tournament in at least the past nine years:

https://twitter.com/Sam_Vecenie/status/1109562867815055360

While Magee is the all-time leader in NCAA Division I made three-pointers, Ken Pomeroy of KenPom.com noted he's struggled against tough competition in that regard:

Fletcher Magee career 3P%...
in 20 Tier A games: 29.1%
in all other games vs D-I teams: 45.2%

— Ken Pomeroy (@kenpomeroy) March 23, 2019

Wofford looked confident out of the gates and led for most of the first half thanks largely to a spectacular shooting performance from Hoover.

Although Magee came out flat, the Terriers got contributions from other players, including point guard Storm Murphy, who made an early three:

Kentucky shot poorly from outside and missed all six of its three-point attempts in the opening half. Most of the Wildcats' offensive success came in the paint, including this alley-oop to Nick Richards:

Scott Stump of Today noticed how poorly the Wildcats played without Washington:

How does a team that recruits on the level of Kentucky have guards this bad, even with Washington out?

— Scott Stump (@Scott_Stump) March 23, 2019

Wofford led by six with four minutes remaining in the half, but Kentucky went on a nice run in the closing minutes to take a two-point lead before Magee tied it with his first make of the game just 22 seconds before the halftime buzzer:

No. 7 WOFFORD NOT MESSING AROUND AGAINST KENTUCKY#MarchMadness https://t.co/3sMzANFL9c

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 23, 2019

Travis made a pair of free throws to give Kentucky a two-point lead entering the locker room, which seemed like a major win considering how poorly the team played offensively.

As ESPN Stats & Info noted, Magee's struggles contributed heavily to Kentucky's 28-26 halftime lead:

Kentucky closed the half on a 10-2 run but leads by just two despite the fact Wofford star Fletcher Magee has scored only 2 points.

Magee is 1-of-6 and all of his shots have been contested. pic.twitter.com/48irz55C5d

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 23, 2019

During a halftime interview for CBS, Kentucky head coach John Calipari called for his players to pass the ball more effectively rather than playing so much isolation basketball.

The Wildcats heeded Calipari's advice and got out in space and ran the floor more often in the second half.

With the score tied 37-37, the Wildcats went on an 8-0 run that included a three from guard Keldon Johnson followed by a putback on a fast break that forced Wofford to call a timeout:

Kentucky starting to lock in 👀#MarchMadness https://t.co/rRJooI2ytk

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 23, 2019

Terriers also went ice cold from deep to open the second half, according to Mark Long of the Associated Press:

Wofford missed its first seven 3-pointers of the 2nd half vs long Kentucky. Slump ended with a banked-in shot by Nathan Hoover

— Mark Long (@APMarkLong) March 23, 2019

Everything went Kentucky's way for much of the second half, including when guard Ashton Hagans put Murphy on the floor with some fancy ball-handling:

Murphy bounced back by knocking down a triple with 2:40 left to pull Wofford to within four despite Magee's poor play.

Seth Davis of CBS Sports was shocked that Wofford could remain competitive, considering Magee's inability to make shots:

Magee is 0 for 10 from three. How is Wofford within 20 right now?

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 23, 2019

A tip-in by Wofford's Keve Aluma on a Murphy miss with 38 seconds left cut the Kentucky lead to 58-56:

WE'VE GOT A GAME.#MarchMadness https://t.co/5vRax1HUgG

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 23, 2019

Travis answered with a pair of clutch free throws, though, and another missed three by Magee on the next possession sealed Wofford's fate.

Kentucky faced a test, but it will move on to face either Houston or Ohio State for a spot in the Elite Eight, while the Terriers were denied the first Sweet 16 berth in school history.    

Kentucky Wildcats forward PJ Washington is not expected to play in Saturday's second-round game as he continues to deal with a foot injury, coach John Calipari revealed to ESPN (h/t John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader) on Thursday.

Washington did not play in Kentucky's 79-44 victory over No. 15 Abilene Christian on Thursday in the first round of the 2019 NCAA tournament.

Calipari made it clear prior to the game that the sophomore forward would not suit up for the tournament opener.

"The specialists confirmed our original diagnosis that PJ Washington has a sprained foot and there is no fracture," Calipari wrote in a tweet on Thursday. "Once we determined that PJ was not going to play today, they put him in a hard cast for precautionary reasons. He is out for today's game."

The Wildcats sophomore started wearing a walking boot on Sunday "for precautionary reasons," according to Jon Hale of the Louisville Courier Journal. On game day, though, he was seen sporting a hard cast:

https://twitter.com/Kyle__Boone/status/1108867090717511680

Calipari added, per Stadium's Jeff Goodman, that the cast could come off on Friday or early next week.

PJ Washington in a hard cast and a scooter. That would not give me comfort if I were a Kentucky fan.

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 21, 2019

Kentucky was able to cruise past Abilene Christian even without Washington, taking a 39-13 lead into halftime. At that point, the second half was a mere formality.

The Wildcats would benefit from having Washington as the tournament progresses, though. The 6'8", 228-pound forward has led the team in both scoring (14.8 PPG) and rebounding (7.5 RPG) this season.

As the competition gets tougher, Washington's presence would go a long way in helping the Wildcats continue to advance.

Freshman EJ Montgomery saw an uptick in playing time in Washington's absence. Averaging 15.1 minutes per game this season, he logged 23 minutes on Thursday, recording three points and 11 rebounds against Abilene Christian.

Kentucky Wildcats forward PJ Washington will miss the team's first-round NCAA tournament game against the Abilene Christian Wildcats on Thursday because of a foot injury.

UK head coach John Calipari announced the news on Twitter:

The specialists confirmed our original diagnosis that @PJWashington has a sprained foot and there is no fracture. Once we determined that PJ was not going to play today, they put him in a hard cast for precautionary reasons. He is out for today’s game.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) March 21, 2019

Calipari said Wednesday that Washington, who suffered a foot sprain in the Cats' loss to the Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC tournament semifinals Saturday, wasn't dealing with a serious injury and could play in the March Madness opener.

"X-rays, everything was negative," he told reporters. "MRIs. We sent him to a specialist. Again, precautionary. He wants to play. If you know me, I'm like 'wait a minute. Let's go get one more level of this.' So we expect him. … We sent him to a specialist to make sure that he can't harm himself. But we expect him to play."

Instead, the heavily favored Wildcats (-20.5, per Vegas Insider) are taking the safe route with hope that they can cruise past Abilene Christian while giving their leading scorer a couple extra days to heal.

Washington has averaged 14.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 blocks, while shooting 51.5 percent from the field and 41.9 percent on threes, across 33 appearances this season.

Nick Richards and EJ Montgomery should both see additional playing time in the Kentucky frontcourt against Abilene Christian to fill the void.

Washington's next chance to play, should UK advance, will come in the second round on Saturday when the Wildcats would take on either the Wofford Terriers or Seton Hall Pirates.

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coach John Calipari isn't going to UCLA or anywhere else.

At least according to him.

On Wednesday, Calipari tweeted he plans on retiring at Kentucky and believes "there is no better job in the world to coach basketball":

Before I go to bed, let me just say this: I’m coaching at the Univ. of Kentucky. In my opinion, there is no better job in the world to coach basketball. My plan and my desire is to retire at Kentucky. I think the university feels the same as I do and we’ve talked openly about it.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) March 21, 2019

Earlier Wednesday, Tracy Pierson of 247Sports' Bruin Report Online cited multiple sources who said Calipari has showed "serious interest" in taking the UCLA job and enjoys the Los Angeles lifestyle.

Calipari isn't the only high-profile coach who has been linked to the UCLA job since the school fired Steve Alford in December.

In February, Adam Zagoria reported UCLA was "going hard" after Virginia head coach Tony Bennett, who has established the Cavaliers as one of the country's most consistent programs during his tenure.

UCLA is multiple steps behind Virginia and Kentucky at this point. It finished 17-16 this season and missed the NCAA tournament. It also lost in the First Four last year and hasn't been to the Final Four since 2008.

Still, the Bruins have a record 11 national championships and offer the ability to recruit California prospects from one's backyard.

Calipari is in his 10th season with Kentucky and sports a stellar 302-70 record. He consistently places players in the NBA and has made four Final Four appearances and won a national championship with the Wildcats. He also reached the Final Four when he was at Memphis and Massachusetts.

Calipari would be a home run hire for the Bruins, but he apparently wants to stay put as Kentucky prepares for its first-round NCAA tournament game against the Abilene Christian Wildcats on Thursday.

Concern has been mounting that the Kentucky Wildcats' NCAA tournament could start off on the wrong foot since sophomore forward PJ Washington injured his foot against Tennessee in the semifinals of the SEC tournament on Saturday. 

However, per Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, head coach John Calipari provided reassurance on Wednesday that Washington is expected to play in the Wildcats' tournament opener against Abilene Christian Thursday. Calipari said the injury is a sprain and noted that Washington saw a specialist, who assured him that he could not do more harm to his foot by playing.

Kentucky is seeded No. 2 in the Midwest region and will tip off against No. 15-seed Abilene Christian at 7 p.m. EST from Jacksonville, Florida. 

Per Kentucky basketball's official Twitter account, Calipari added that X-rays and MRI tests on Washington's foot "came back good," and the 6'8" forward "wants to play."

This update in Washington's status is particularly encouraging for two reasons. First, Kyle Tucker of The Athletic had relayed on Tuesday that Washington had been in a boot since Sunday "for precautionary reasons."

More than that, Washington is the Wildcats' leading scorer (14.8 points per game) and rebounder (7.5 rebounds per game). His emergence as Kentucky's leader led Bleacher Report's David Kenyon to name him the country's Most Improved Player this season: 

"The forward has become a more dangerous scorer. Last season, he attempted just 21 threes and made five (23.8 percent). This season, Washington has buried 30 triples in 71 attempts (42.3 percent) while elevating his free-throw clip from 60.6 to 67.3.

[...]

"Entering the season, Washington was an NBA draft afterthought. Five months later, he's a borderline lottery pick."

Before Washington can begin entertaining where he'll land in the NBA, Kentucky needs all of him to compete for its first national title since 2011-12. 

Stranger things have happened, but it would be a shock for Abilene Christian to oust Calipari's Wildcats. However, the second round will present a challenge against either No. 7-seed Wofford, who last lost on Dec. 19 to No. 5-seed Mississippi State, or No. 10-seed Seton Hall, which was narrowly defeated by Villanova in the Big East tournament finals. 

Following the loss to Tennessee on Saturday, Kentucky senior forward Reid Travis credited Washington's impact on the team to UK Athletics' Guy Ramsey. "PJ said it well at the end of the game: 'Pick your head up. We got a lot of basketball to play,'" Reid said. "Credit his leadership, his maturity for saying that because it's true."

How much basketball the Wildcats have left to play this season likely depends on the health and production of Washington.

The Herro family woke up around 9:30 a.m. one morning and saw red—everywhere. Red spray paint on the side yard. Red spray paint on the green grass. Red spray paint on the tree branches, which, for good measure, were also laced with toilet paper.

FUCK B.B.N.! GO WISCONSIN! the spray paint read, on that summer day last year.

Then there were handwritten letters, routinely delivered to Tyler Herro's high school, Whitnall of Wisconsin. His coach, Travis Riesop, carefully combed through them. Most were too vile to let Tyler, then a senior, read. One was from a man who said he hoped Herro injured his leg the way Gordon Hayward did—a particularly gruesome fracture.

All because Herro decommitted from Wisconsin to go to Kentucky (whose fans make up the aforementioned Big Blue Nation).

Then the death threats began. First on Twitter and then in real life. One afternoon, Herro was pumping gas into his tan Chevy Malibu at the BP gas station near his home when someone approached him. The man stepped close. Nose-to-nose close. "Walk across that street," the man said, turning to the road. "I hope you get hit by a truck!"

Eighteen-year-old Herro was no longer a kid, but what could he do? Laugh or shrug or run? His car was egged, as were his family's front door and garage. Tomatoes were thrown at his father Chris' Chevy truck. Tyler's mother, Jen, feared someone might physically harm Tyler when he went to Applebee's with his friends around 10 p.m. for half-price appetizers on weekends.

Fans would bring stuffed-animal snakes to games, as well as giant poster boards with Herro's face plastered onto a snake's body. He was called a backstabber and a traitor.

But he knew Kentucky was the right place for him—even though few outside his family and circle of friends believed it.

He was a 247Sports 4-star recruit, which is great but not considered the elite type of talent college basketball's blue blood programs feast on. He was not a McDonald's All-American. He was not regarded as a one-and-done NBA prospect as many Wildcat recruits are. Instead, fans said he would never play at Kentucky. He'd ride the bench for two years and then transfer. Forget the NBA. He'd be just another white boy who could only stand in the corner and shoot.

That burned Tyler the most. The way people boxed him in. Told him what he could do. What he couldn't do. And so he hardened. Did what his close friend, Baba Fajembola, advised him to do: embrace the villain people made him out to be.

You hate me now? Tyler would think to himself while taking the floor—like the time he hit a step-back corner three over two defenders against New Berlin Eisenhower. He grinned, telling the opposing bench they better sub in somebody who could stop him. I'm going to make you hate me even more.

---

Maybe the death threats, the eggs, the snakes, prepared Herro for the boos he encountered on the road for Kentucky this season. Maybe that's why he's so poised in clutch moments, like when he hit free throws in the waning seconds against Auburn, Arkansas, Florida and Ole Miss.

"I play better in those situations," Herro says. "I like it when people are against me."

"Pretty much whoever I'm going against, I feel like I'm gonna just kill 'em," he says. For good reason: He's averaging 14.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game as the Associated Press' SEC Newcomer of the Year, helping Kentucky earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.

When he's on the court, he feels like every shot he takes will go in. And he'll let you know. When a player from Arkansas was talking smack to Herro while the Wildcat freshman was at the free-throw line, Herro blurted out: "I'm a bucket."

During an exhibition game in the Bahamas in August, against Serbia's Mega Bemax, Herro drove to the left and kissed the ball high off the glass. He ran down the court and winked at Wildcats associate head coach Kenny Payne. "K.P.," the referee said, "Did you see this freshman wink at you? He's really that confident?" Payne just laughed. Nodded. Yup. That's Herro.

It's the same swagger he's had since elementary school. As a third-grader, Herro would challenge Fajembola, then a high school senior and teacher's assistant, to one-on-one during recess. Herro was skinny and frail and looked like a mouse next to Fajembola. But the first possession, Herro drove to the right and swished a step-back corner three. "That just let me know," Fajembola says. "He wasn't going to back down from anybody."

Nowadays, Herro comes off as brash or arrogant, but he's neither. His confidence is his coat of armor. His defense against those who still doubt he belongs.

---

On this snowy day in Lexington in early March, Herro sits on a black chair in the players' lounge. He's reserved—almost embarrassed when talking about his "I'm a bucket" moment. He pretends as if he doesn't know what the phrase means, though he's said it all his life. "I don't know," he says. A smile washes over his face, and he laughs. He tucks his head down. "A bucket means I can score; I don't know."

Many people don't see this Herro. Off-the-court Herro. The loud mouth quiets. The villain vanishes. The swagger melts into shyness. Sometimes it's difficult even for those closest to him to pull three, four sentences out of him. He was terrified to deliver a two-minute presentation to his speech class of 17 earlier this year despite playing in front of over 20,000 people at Rupp Arena every game.

His mistakes bother him—a lot. He calls them his "failures." Sometimes he chucks the ball into the stands in his own workouts when he fumbles a drill. He labors to get stronger physically. To get bumped off screens less. To finish with contact more.

"Every day I just feel like I'm not at my best," he says. And that gnaws at him. "When he has a bad practice, he's devastated," Payne says. "He's sick when he plays bad games."

Herro doesn't care what people think about him, but deep down, a part of him seems to. He reads the negative tweets, reads every article. These things fuel him and frustrate him. He still feels slighted for not making the McDonald's All-American Game. Still feels his all-around talent isn't recognized, even though he's hitting floaters, attacking the basket and morphing into a playmaker and much-improved defender.

"He wants to prove to people that, I am one of the guys that you should have been talking about and I am one of the best in the game," Payne says.

Back at UK's players' lounge, Herro looks to his left toward a wall with a graphic of Wildcats who have reached the NBA. Devin Booker. Anthony Davis. DeMarcus Cousins. John Wall. Herro stares at the wall, longingly, as if burning to jump inside and add his figure to the pantheon now.

That's the hard part about playing for Kentucky. The four-year college-growth process is often squeezed into one year. And Herro, who has unexpectedly jumped onto some NBA draft boards, has never been challenged like this.

Coach John Calipari lit into him in the middle of a timeout at Tennessee. It was Herro's worst game. He missed shot after shot, going 2-of-11. Afterward, Herro apologized to Calipari. Soon thereafter, he went to a gym late into the night, as he does after most games, and knocked down dozens of the baseline pull-ups that clanked during the game.

"He's been great," Calipari says. "I always tell our players, Don't apologize for your play. It's apologizing for your reaction, your attitude towards stuff, which [makes you] a man or child. Which one are you? Because these kids are going to move in a man's world real quick."

---

On his first day of practice at Kentucky, Tyler Herro looked like anyone but...Tyler Herro. He was prancing. He was trying to slide to his right during a defensive drill and couldn't do it—couldn't complete a lunge. He couldn't keep up with anyone.

"He was one of the worst defenders we had," Calipari says.

If a player dribbled by him, he'd try to steal the ball from behind or block the shot. But these were not 5'8" kids from Wisconsin. These were guys Herro's height (6'5") or taller, and they had the power to dunk on him when they blew by him.

But he committed to improving on that end of the floor. "He's absolutely engaged every moment he's on the court, which means you can trust him," Calipari says. "We got some other guys that aren't engaged all the time. When they're tired, they just stop. He does not stop."

He couldn't, especially while struggling with his shot the first few games of the season. I'm not cheating myself, he'd think. I'm always in the gym. Why can't I make a shot? But he was learning to play without the ball for the first time in his life, and his confidence teetered. Calipari told him to trust his work. Trust his instincts. Know that he's going to be pushed. Hard.

"He wants to be coached," says Drew Dunlop, Herro's longtime basketball trainer, crediting Herro's longtime shooting coach, Andy Monfre, for helping instill that mentality. "He wants to get better. He's constantly adjusting."

That was especially so after Duke demolished Kentucky 118-84 on national TV in November. Herro struggled to get open looks. The Blue Devils hedged hard on screens. Herro looked uncomfortable. Indecisive. Out of rhythm.

He still had 14 points, nine boards, five assists and two blocks but was disappointed in himself. After he talked with his team and family, he approached Fajembola. Herro broke down crying.

"Why are you crying, bro?" Fajembola said. "It's only the first game of the season."

Herro measures games differently, though. Always has. Riesop used to sometimes have to take him out of the game for 30 seconds or so in high school because he was breathing so hard. Because he wanted it so badly.

"Every single game that Tyler played in was like do or die," Riesop says. "It's, I'm either going to play my best game of my career, or it's not gonna be good enough."

Maybe that's why Herro broke down in front of Fajembola after the Duke loss. "I just felt like I let you guys down," Herro told him.

Herro meant his family. The ones who always saw him as worthy, as capable—who cleaned up every egged car and buried every hate-filled letter. Herro couldn't bear to let them down.

Especially not his dad.

---

Wake the fuck up! Chris Herro would yell at Tyler when Tyler launched ill-advised shots, when he dragged his feet on defense.

I'm awake! Tyler would shoot back. I'm just not playing good!

Happy Father's Day 👀 pic.twitter.com/XZb0LlgbsS

— Tyler Herro (@raf_tyler) June 19, 2017

Tyler was only in seventh grade but felt like every move he made on the court needed to be perfect. Chris demanded it that way. He was Tyler's coach. Tyler just wanted to release those long bombs and watch his pretty backspin twirl its way through the net. So, when the yelling began, he'd wave his father off with the hand he wasn't dribbling with.

Chris would then bench Tyler, once ignoring the mid-game text message Jen sent that told him to put Tyler back in.

"He used to push me so hard," Tyler says. "He'd never tell me good game or anything."

Tyler's voice grows thin. "That's kind of what made me," he says. "Those hard times." And they were hard. Painful. Sometimes Tyler wondered if he could do anything right.

Once, Chris and Tyler were playing one-on-one. Chris kept fouling Tyler, calling him soft. They got into an argument, and Chris told Tyler to walk home. Chris went home, but, as the sky darkened, he realized he should go back and get Tyler. He did.

Sometimes during Tyler's high school games Chris would stand up and yell at him from the top of the bleachers until he was red in the face. "We were always like this," Chris says, mashing his fists together, "because I was always riding him."

When Chris speaks to you, he moves closer. Not in an aggressive way, but in a direct way. He's pointed with his words. Self-assured. The thing he's most sure of is how much he loves his son. And how much he believes his son can be great. But the way he delivered those messages hurt.

"I was tough on him," Chris says. "I wholeheartedly believe he's mentally strong because of it."

Jen tried to reconcile: "They've always had a love-hate relationship. Chris and I used to fight all the time because I thought he was way, way too hard on Tyler."

Chris wanted to ensure his son would be tough enough to withstand what could happen if the basketball rolled the wrong way. He'd know. He was a basketball player all his life, too. One of the best in the area, too. Like Tyler, he was out to prove himself. To gain respect. To talk more mess than anyone else in the gym.

Then Chris tore his ACL, and his Division I dream evaporated overnight. Chris wanted Tyler to achieve his own dreams regardless of how Chris' career ended. Though the two continued to bump heads, Chris also supported him.

When Tyler would log on to the family computer, obsessing about rankings, slumping his head down when finding his name listed in the 40s rather than in the top 15, Chris would tell him to close the website. Rankings don't matter. You got this.

When Tyler would hit a corner three, Chris would belt out: You can't fucking hold him! Chris never missed a game. He doesn't now, either, driving about six hours to Lexington no matter the snow or rain.

Maybe Tyler's toughness, his swagger, comes from his dad. Chris taught him to always act like he belongs but not to forget where he comes from. You're not special just because you can put a ball through the hoop, Chris would tell him. There are things out in the world that are bigger than basketball.

Basketball always seemed to be at the brink of either bonding them or breaking them, but neither really happened. It's just that the color of their relationship shifted. Coach-player slowly shaded into dad-son, once Tyler realized who believed in him and who didn't.

Like when Tyler injured his meniscus as a junior and some friends talked crap about him behind his back: You're not gonna recover. You're not gonna play college basketball. Some of them fell away.

Or when Tyler decommitted from Wisconsin and it felt like the entire state was against him.

When Tyler lost his final playoff game as a senior, though, the relationship deepened. Chris found his son in the hallway. They hugged. They cried. They held each other. "A special moment I'll never forget in my life," Chris says.

There was a warmth between them that had long been cooled. Because underneath Tyler's jersey was a son. Not a basketball player. A son who had worried he let his team and his family down.

Chris shook his head. No. "You can't win every game," Chris said.

---

The day after Tyler scored 10 points and dished out four assists in a SEC semifinals loss to Tennessee last weekend, his mom found a tweet about him. This one felt particularly chilling:

"I hope Tyler Herro blows his knee out, has surgery, gets an infection, has to have a blood transfusion, gets AIDS from the blood transfusion, realizes he's going to die a slow death, then gets hit by a bus, but only gets mangled, then dies slowly as an AIDS infected cripple."

"The way people wish harm upon him is mind-boggling to me," Jen says.

Herro still feeds off it. "He can't be broken," says Steve Becker, his longtime strength coach. "He just knows what his abilities are."

He continues to show up at the gym at midnight, hitting fadeaways off the dribble and floaters down the middle, ever eager to prove he's a versatile scorer.

He continues to become more active on defense, too, recording three steals at Ole Miss and two against Alabama.

"He's not just a shooter," says Rex Chapman, a retired NBA veteran and former Kentucky star. "He's a basketball player. He makes basketball plays. He makes plays for other people. He's not a perfect player, but man, he's got a chance to be really good."

It feels a bit surreal for his family to see his name potentially in the draft this year. It's unclear if Tyler will declare, but sometimes Chris and Jen think back to when Tyler first picked up a ball.

Back when he was four years old, at the local YMCA, he refused to do arts and crafts in the day care center, instead sneaking onto the court. He never learned to swim in middle school—and still can't swim to this day—because he didn't want to miss a summer afternoon on the court.

"He's beaten a lot of odds," Chris says. "Last year, when he signed, I'd be tickled pink if he would have been playing 20 minutes a game here. And he's playing 37, 38."

Chris pauses. "I'm proud of him."

Chris still offers Tyler advice—albeit intensely—but his message is different. More upbeat.

It's a new game, he sometimes tells Tyler after the buzzer. New game.

                        

Mirin Fader is a writer-at-large for B/R Mag. She's written for the Orange County Register, espnW.com, SI.com and SLAM. Her work has been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, the Football Writers Association of America and the Los Angeles Press Club. Follow her on Twitter: @MirinFader.

Two days before the start of the 2019 NCAA men's tournament, the Kentucky Wildcats are dealing with an injury to leading scorer PJ Washington. 

Per The Athletic's Kyle Tucker, Washington has been in a walking boot since Sunday with an injury that's not believed to be serious or season-ending. 

Washington only played 20 minutes in Kentucky's 82-78 loss to Tennessee in the SEC tournament semifinals Saturday. 

It's unclear when Washington might have injured himself. The sophomore star was playing in the closing stretch against the Vols, even putting Kentucky up by one point on a putback dunk with just over one minute remaining.

Washington led the Wildcats with 14.8 points and 7.6 assists per game and shot 41.9 percent from three-point range this season.

Opening the tournament as a No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, Kentucky will begin its quest for an NCAA title against Abilene Christian at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. ET.