John Calipari is building a case for Tyler Ulis.
The Kentucky coach not only thinks Ulis should be in the running for Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, but also thinks his sophomore point guard should be in same discussion nationally.
“I think he obviously (is) a name that should be mentioned, I’m looking at, what about (national) player of the year?” Calipari said during the SEC teleconference Monday. “When you talk about what he’s been able to do for us, and what he’s done in these games, it’s incredible.”
Ulis was named SEC Player of the Week after leading the Wildcats to blowout wins over Georgia and South Carolina last week. Ulis, second on the team in scoring behind leader Jamal Murray at 16.7 points per game, scored a career-high 27 points and dished out 12 assists in an 89-62 win over the Gamecocks in Kentucky’s last outing. He also became the first player in school history to score at least 20 points and collect 10 assists in the same season.
Although Ulis has been consistent all season, Calipari said the 5-foot-9 guard has shown significant improvement since the beginning of the season, especially during the past four weeks. In 24 games, Ulis has drained 36 3-pointers and collected 160 assists. In two of the past three games, Ulis has tallied a double-double and has scored at least 20 points in 11 games this season.
“He’s got numbers that you don’t see but every five to 10 years,” Calipari said. “Second thing, I would tell you, is he’s getting better. He’s better now than he was a month ago. Not only is he better shooting the ball better, his efficiencies have gone way up.”
Not only has Calipari taken note of the impact Ulis has made for the Wildcats this season, other coaches in the league also have been impressed by the play of Ulis.
“I love him,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “As I said going into the last game (against Kentucky), when you’re his size and you compete – and I would say he does a lot of great things well, but I think he’s just a big-time competitor. A guy that I think his teammates feed off of him. I know that he showed me some stuff in our game where right in front of me, it looked like he turned his ankle, and he simply tied his shoe up tighter and kept playing. To me, that talks about a guy that loves the game.”
Barnes added that Ulis has been instrumental in helping Kentucky avoid a total collapse following losses at Kansas and his Volunteers earlier this month. Since the setback at Tennessee, the Wildcats have blown out their past three opponents and are in a two-way tie with LSU for first place in the conference standings.
“I think when you look at – when you talk about player of the year, all this and all that, you have to look at the top teams in the country,” Barnes said. “When you’re one of the top teams in the country and your conference, you have to have the players to do that. You look at what he’s done and the way I think he’s just grinded it out all year, I mean, he certainly has to be in the conversation with anybody for that award.”
Like Calipari and Barnes, Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy thinks Ulis is one of the top players in the country.
“He definitely needs to be strongly considered (for player of the year),” he said. “(He is) a veteran who makes everybody around him better and runs that team and has good command and control of what they do offensively and defensively. I think he’s definitely somebody that needs to be strongly considered, especially with Kentucky playing as well as they are and in the position they are in to possibly win the league.”
Despite the compliments from Barnes and Kennedy, Calipari wants Ulis to keep getting better and not become complacent.
“He’s a great kid,” Calipari said. “Now I’m just looking for him to continue to grow. Where can we take this thing? How much better can (he) get on both sides of the ball?”
As evidenced throughout the season, Ulis will continue to climb the proverbial ladder.
Game tracker: Tennessee at Kentucky, 7 p.m., Thursday. TV/Radio: ESPN, 98.1 FM WBUL
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports writer who covers University of Kentucky athletics for KyForward.com