By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Senior Night will be longer than usual this year.
When Kentucky (20-9, 11-5 Southeastern Conference) closes out the home portion of the schedule against Vanderbilt (16-13, 9-7) Wednesday night, the No. 23 Wildcats will honor six seniors, the most in the John Calipari era at Kentucky.
Senoirs Oscar Tshiebwe, CJ Fredrick, Antonio Reeves, Sahvir Wheeler, Jacob Toppin and Brennan Canada have combined and scored 2,688 points and one of the most productive classes in recent memory. All six players will take part in the pre-game ceremony on Wednesday night, but all have the option of returning for another season under a waiver granted to student-athletes during the 2020-21 season.
“Every one of them, I hope they get a rousing applause,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said on his radio show Monday. “Each one of them in their own right because they’ve all helped the program and they’ve all been good stewards of the program. They’ve been good people. We don’t have the issues and these kids are all doing the right thing.”
Canada has been a part of the program for four years and spent the first three as a walk-on before earning a scholarship this season.
Canada played at George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester and has played in 19 games in his career. He has scored nine points and played 27 minutes in his collegiate career. He scored 1,371 points and grabbed 776 rebounds during his prep career and opted to stay close to home and play for the Wildcats instead of earning more playing time with another program.
“It’s definitely been a blessing,” Canada said. “It’s crazy that it’s been four years, already this fast. But it’s been a blessing, growing up in Kentucky, watching all the games, being a fan and stuff, and just being able to come here and be a part of this team and program, it’s really been a blessing.”
Despite his lack of playing time, Canada has proven to be a valuable asset behind the scenes.
“He makes some of the guys look bad in practice because he always comes in and he’s always ready to kill them,” Tshiebwe said. “Some days you come in, you just want to have fun, but he goes 100 miles per hour.”
Although typically an emotional time, Toppin doesn’t think the ceremony will be a distraction for the surging Wildcats.
“I feel like I’m going to be locked into the game honestly,” Toppin said. “Yeah, it’s my last game at Rupp Arena. But at the end of the day, we have to worry about the game. I’m just worried about winning tomorrow.”
Kentucky carries a four-game winning streak into the contest and is looking to improve its postseason resume ahead of the season finale set for Saturday at Arkansas.
“Everyone’s in the right mind space right now,” Toppin said. “We’re dialed in, we’re locked in to what we need to do to end this season off strong.”
Kentucky defeated the Commodores 69-53 on Jan 24 in Nashville but Vanderbilt has won six of its last seven games, including an 88-72 win over Florida last Saturday in Nashville.
Gametracker: Vandy at Kentucky, 7 p.m., Wednesday. TV/Radio: SECN, UK Radio Network.