Meeting the Wildcats

Three years ago I became a UK basketball season ticket holder. I have always loved UK basketball, but this made me even more invested in the program. I have been able to witness some awesome games and some amazingly talented young men play basketball at RUPP Arena. Unfortunately, every year after the season is over many of these young men leave Kentucky to pursue their dreams of playing professional basketball. This year we had a lot of guys leave; 3 seniors and 5 underclassmen who decided to leave early. Here are our adventures going to meet them all:

Dominique was the first player that we met this year. We don't get that many home grown Kentucky boys on the team anymore so it was neat to meet both of them on the #KYboystour. 

Dominique thought the kids three goggles were pretty funny.

Family picture with Dominique Hawkins. I thanked him for the last 4 years and wished him all the best in his future. I also thanked him for going and visiting one of the cancer patients that wasn't doing well at his home. It meant a lot to him and his family.

Another Kentucky born player. I told Jennifer afterwards that these guys gave boys all over the state of Kentucky hope that one day they too could play basketball for UK.

Family picture with Derek Willis. I also thanked Derek for coming to visit kids at the hospital from time to time. I actually met him for the first time a few years ago on one of those visits to the hospital. I wished him the best with his future playing career. We also got to stop and talk with his fiancee.

Next up in the autograph tour was Malik Monk. He was my favorite player from this past season and I knew for sure that I wanted to meet him. Unfortunately, I missed his session when he was in Lexington. The next closest place that I could find was when he was scheduled for a visit at the Tin Roof in Louisville. Of course in was on a night that Jennifer had to work, so I packed up the kids and headed west. This is probably Landon's favorite way for me to hold him. Maybe because it allows him to see so much more.

These two crack me up sometimes. They have their own "iPhones" which are just old ones of ours that we downloaded some games on. They love to get to have time playing on them, which is usually limited to when I need them to sit and be calm. Landon looks so big here with his hat on. I think he looks like a frat boy.

Of course I am the guy that teaches my daughter to put L's down while standing on the street in downtown Louisville. Raising them right!

Landon wanted to wear his hat like Malik, so I helped him get it just right. Just a few minutes before it was our turn to meet Malik, Brinley fell down and cut her hand. Thankfully one of the Tin Roof servers helped us out with bandaid.

We rarely meet one of the players and don't throw up some 3 goggles!

Myself and the kids with Malik Monk. I wished him the best in the NBA and can't wait to see what records he breaks there.

I just need to find myself another shadow box so I can get this up to display.

Next on the autograph tour was De'Aaron Fox. This young man was super talented and proved night in and night out that he was one of the leaders on this team and probably one of the fastest point guards to ever play for Kentucky.

Fox throwing up his 3 goggles with the kids.

Myself and the kids with Fox. Landon refused to put down his 3 goggles.

While we were waiting in line to meet Fox, Brinley kept taking selfies of herself. I told her that if she wanted to then she could try to take one with Fox. We got all of our pictures and autograph and were heading out the door when Brinley became upset. I asked her what was wrong and she said that I didn't give her the phone so that she could take a picture with him. So, we got back in line. Thankfully it was only a few people at this point. I explained that she wanted a selfie with him. De'Aaron was very happy to take one with her and even helped her out because she couldn't figure out how to get both of them in the picture. She was so happy on the way back out to the car and on the way home.

This was the one surprise of players that decided to leave early. Isaac Humphries was a really nice young man who didn't get to play as much as I thought he should. He showed flashes of how good he could be especially in the final game against North Carolina.

Family picture with Isaac. I told him about Brinley being our little Australian surprise since we found out after our trip there that we were expecting her. Jennifer told me that was too much information. So, then I wished him all the best of luck in his basketball career.

Mychal Mulder was the next former cat that we got to meet. I wish that we could have had him at Kentucky for all 4 years. I don't think that we ever got to truly see everything that he was able to do. The kids threw up some 3 goggles for him.

The whole family with Mychal. We wished him the best of luck in wherever his basketball career takes him.

Isaiah Briscoe and Landon having a little conversation.

The kids with Isaiah. We were so caught up with taking pictures that I forgot to tell him that he was Brinley's favorite player. I told him that we enjoyed watching him play over the last 2 years.

Brinley taking a selfie with Briscoe.

Myself and the kids with Briscoe. Landon wouldn't look up because he was trying to get his phone to work so that he could take a selfie with Briscoe too. Landon even had a little bit of a meltdown when I couldn't get it to work either.

Our last wildcat that we went to meet was Bam Adebayo. He was a really nice young man and he had a lot of fun with the kids.

Bam thought that the 3 goggles were hilarious! You can even see his mom in the background laughing too.

Bam taught Brinley how to throw up deuces. Brinley thought it was cool, but Landon didn't really want to do it.

The kids took their selfies with Bam and he even wished Brinley an early happy birthday.

This is the picture from Brinley's phone of her selfie with Bam. These are the pictures that I anticipate will be priceless someday to the kids.

This is the picture from Landon's phone with Bam Adebayo. Bam had to help him out a little bit because he couldn't take the picture because he kept putting his finger over the camera lens.

 A few years back the players that were leaving all started doing autograph tours around the state so that they could meet the fans and say thanks for all the support. A lot of fans thought it was wrong because the guys charge money for autographs and pictures, but to me it doesn't really bother me. These guys have made the university so much money playing basketball for practically free during their time on campus. Twenty or thirty bucks to meet them and say thanks for all the memories is fine with me. I have made it a point to take the kids with me too. They don't always like it because they have to wait in line to meet them, but someday when they are older I think they will be happy that I took them to meet all of the guys. Thanks for reading and God bless!