Kentucky's Isaac Humphries: 'Not planning anything yet' for future
INDIANAPOLIS – Isaac Humphries logged more minutes against Wichita State on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament than he had in any game since January.
The 7-foot sophomore grabbed two rebounds in nine minutes and was on the court during one stretch in the first half that lasted nearly six minutes without a whistle.
"It was six minutes of up and down, up and down," Humphries said. "That's part of the game."
Earlier in the week, Humphries received several texts and social media messages from friends after Humphries told SEC Country, "I don’t know what my path will be next year."
Many people who reached out, according to Humphries, interpreted the story the wrong way.
"I started getting messages and stuff from my friends about me leaving," he said. "I'm like, 'I don't know. You're telling me.' I didn't know about that. It was, I don't want to say it was overblown, but I've definitely not made any decisions at all. Last year I wasn't old enough to even enter the NBA draft. All I was saying was, I'm actually old enough to do something with this. I wasn't meaning I was going and stuff like that. I have no idea. I want to finish the season and then explore my options."
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Humphries said the amount of messages he received took him by surprise.
"I don't really look at that stuff (social media), not during this time," he said. "It is not the time to look at that stuff. My friends were messaging me personally, and I didn't know what was going on because they were telling me stuff that I didn't know about myself. I'm really not planning anything yet."
Humphries, a native of Sydney, Australia, is averaging eight minutes, 2.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game serving as the backup to freshman Bam Adebayo. The Wildcats are 24-0 this season in games in which Humphries has hit a shot, but he hasn't been on the court for more than 10 minutes since Kentucky beat Georgia on Jan. 31. He also mourned the loss of a childhood friend earlier this year.
"It's been such an up and down season for me," Humphries said. "I don't know why, but confidence there, confidence not there, it's been a very up and down season. I'm just trying to give it my all for the tournament because it's the last little spell we get of the season.
"Every game I just try to go in and play my role, which is fine. I understand that's my role on the team. I have to go in and get rebounds and just fight."
The lack of playing time hasn't been ideal, Humphries admits. Looking ahead to next season, three five-star post players, Nick Richards, P.J. Washington and Jarred Vanderbilt have signed and plan to enroll at Kentucky, and there's room for John Calipari to potentially add another frontcourt player. Whatever the circumstances, Humphries says he's always learning and grateful for opportunities.
"Surprisingly you learn a lot sitting on the sideline," he said. "I learned how to fight. When I get in games, I learned how to play my role. I am a big believer that with repetition in games you learn more and that sort of thing. But that's not my role this year on the team, and I had to learn how to do the most when I could, if that makes sense."