Where is Trey?
That’s the question that took over Twitter in the state of Kentucky Monday night after head coach John Calipari sent out a cryptic tweet that read “I thought Trey got on plane but we can’t find him.”
Whoops.
Big Blue Nation originally sent itself into a frenzy over what could have happened with the 6-foot-10 freshman. Lyles, of course, had missed three games before Kentucky’s road trip to LSU, and the details behind his “illness” have been shrouded in mystery and rumors.
But then Calipari kept going, and it became clear that this was one huge, Cal-style joke.
“Has anyone in Lexington seen Trey?” he tweeted. “If anyone sees him, please let us know. #WhereIsTrey”
With the inception of the hashtag, Calipari essentially admitted that he was pulling everyone’s leg; and certainly if a player was actually missing, Twitter wouldn’t be where he would announce it.
Calipari’s tweet the next morning read, “Message to Trey: Wherever you are, if you don’t make shoot around today, you won’t play in the game tonight. #WhereIsTrey.”
Part of the fanbase certainly got nervous when the tweets first began, but eventually most people came to realize that Calipari was probably laid back in an armchair somewhere in Baton Rouge, chuckling over his mentions.
The team had gotten involved too: Devin Booker tweeted at Lyles “Where you at bro?”
So count that as roughly 15 guys kicked back in armchairs, chuckling at Twitter instead of worrying about the word “perfection.”
And that’s exactly what the team needed. At a now 24-0 record with a game at Rupp Arena against South Carolina Saturday, the Wildcats are fighting the pressure of perfection, and could use any method possible of staying loose. That’s where Cal comes in.
For at least one night, Kentucky fans stopped talking about the team’s perfect record and the imperfections that could change that. For one night, they laughed alongside their coach at the momentary hysterics his tweet brought.
And the fun wasn’t over: After LSU missed a last-second shot, and Kentucky squeaked out its 24th win, ESPN reporter Shannon Spake was interviewing Calipari during post-game. While he was talking about Karl-Anthony Towns’ “immature” technical foul for hanging on the rim for too long, Towns himself sidled up behind Calipari and stared straight into the camera with an impressively deadpan expression. Then he chuckled at himself and walked back out of the camera’s range.
The screenshot of Towns’ video-bomb circulated through social media, and Towns’ face quickly was photoshopped onto everything from the Statue of Liberty to the moon. The fact that it came while Calipari was talking about Towns’ technical foul made the whole situation even funnier.
Kentucky very well could have been shaken after such a close call against LSU – it was probably the closest the Wildcats have come to losing all season. And while that almost-loss certainly got their attention, this team is still staying loose and maintaining a sense of humor about it all.
Whether it’s a #WhereIsTrey hashtag that keeps Calipari and the team laughing behind closed doors, or a video-bomb that keeps the fans and a national TV audience howling, Kentucky is doing its best to keep everyone relaxed.
With a 24-0 record and even tougher games on the horizon, they’ll certainly need it.
Ashley Scoby is a senior journalism major at the University of Kentucky and a sports writer for KyForward.com. She has reported on the Wildcats for wildcathoops.com, vaughtsviews.com and kysportsreport.com as well as for newspapers in Danville and Glasgow. She will join Sports Illustrated magazine as a summer intern in June.