Sacha Killeya-Jones: 'I’m ready for my chance'
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Kentucky freshman forward Sacha Killeya-Jones wants to be on the court in games, but he's staying positive while he's not.
“Obviously, I want to play,” Killeya-Jones said after Kentucky’s SEC tournament quarterfinal win over Georgia. “I love basketball and everything. I want to be out on the court. I want to help the team, but as long as we’re winning then I’m happy. We’re here. We’re in Nashville, SEC tournament, winning games, getting ready to going in the NCAA and make a run. Life is good.”
A 6-foot-10 McDonald's All-American, Killeya-Jones is averaging 2.7 points and 2.1 rebounds in 6.4 minutes per game, but he has played in just 15 of UK’s 32 games this season.
He has not played at all since Jan. 21 and has not logged more than six minutes in a game in SEC play.
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“He’s got to do it first in practice,” UK coach John Calipari said of Killeya-Jones in early February. “You’ve got to do it in practice first. Not, you just say, ‘Well, I’ll give you a chance.’ You can’t. If the other two deserve to play before him then they’re going to play first.”
Killeya-Jones played double-digit minutes in four games between Nov. 20 and Nov. 28 but has played no more than nine minutes since.
In that time, freshman forward Bam Adebayo has developed into a dominating post presence. Sophomore 7-footer Isaac Humphries has served as Adebayo’s primary backup, but even his minutes have diminished as Calipari looks to maximize Adebayo’s time on the court.
For Killeya-Jones that means waiting his turn.
“He’s a little bit behind, but I’ve had some individual meetings with him, talked to him,” Calipari said. “He said, ‘I understood coming here that this was going to be hard, so I’ve got to work through it.'”
While he may have disappeared from UK’s rotation, Killeya-Jones insists he has made significant strides in practice.
“Definitely, hands down,” he said. “I’m a whole different player.”
That improvement has not been enough to earn him minutes in games yet, but Killeya-Jones thinks if he can improve his consistency his opportunity could still come.
Recent UK history suggests he may be right. In 2014, Dominique Hawkins, then a little-used freshman guard, emerged from obscurity to play a key defensive role in the Wildcats’ run to the national championship game. That same season, freshman forward Marcus Lee shocked observers with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the Elite Eight against Michigan after an injury to Willie Cauley-Stein forced him into action.
“I’m working. I’m trying to get better,” Killeya-Jones said. “I’m ready for my chance whenever it (happens).”
Email Jon Hale at jahale@courier-journal.com. Follow him on Twitter @JonHale_CJ.
