How Kentucky will remember Blair Green
Blair Green averaged 6.2 points per game during her career at Kentucky, but she was an irreplaceable piece of every team she was on. Green lived in Lexington for five years, but she raised thousands of dollars for her home when it needed it most. Green won’t be in the record books, but Kentucky will never forget her.
Going down swinging
The Cats’ 80-71 loss to Tennessee in the 2023 SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday night marked the end of Green’s college career. In the loss, the 6-foot-2 guard recorded eight points on 3-8 shooting. Green didn’t have a winner’s ending, but she didn’t need one.
“That could have been the last quarter we ever played in our life, so just laying it all out and just knowing that we gave it our all and poured it all. The outcome is what it is, but as long as we laid it all out there, that’s all we can do,” Green said after playing her final college game.
A full Kentucky career
Responses like that are what endeared Green to Kentucky fans in the first place. Of course, it didn’t hurt she was from Harlan County, Kentucky. The three-star prospect committed to the Cats in 2016, nearly two years before her graduation.
Halfway through her career, Green watched former head coach Matthew Mitchell suddenly hand over the reins of Kentucky women’s basketball to Kyra Elzy. One year later, Green became somewhat of a coach herself, watching films and typing up game plans after tearing her Achilles in a preseason scrimmage.
Green certainly had the competitive spirit to compete with the most driven coaches in the league.
“This is why you love your Kentucky girls, just tough as nails. We’re carrying [Green] off the floor and she said, ‘Coach, I think I just need to tape my ankle up a little more. I’m going back in,'” Elzy recalled.
After Elzy fervently told her starting small forward she wasn’t going back in, the Kentucky kid said something the 44-year-old coach will never forget.
“‘Did I end on a make?'”
Yes, she did. It wasn’t the only score Green would find that season. She was an integral part in helping lead UK to its first SEC Tournament championship in 40 years, even though she did so from the bench. Additionally, while Green was sidelined for Kentucky WBB, a Kentucky MBB transfer was rehabbing an injury of his own. That transfer happened to be Green’s future fiancé, CJ Fredrick.
Blair Green’s last dance
With two new rings on her fingers, Green brought a new passion to the court for her fifth and final season. The veteran leader recorded new season-highs in points, rebounds and assists. She was a leader to six freshmen and four transfers. She was the Kentucky player she dreamed of being, and she doesn’t take it for granted.
“It’s the time that I’ll cherish all my life, just looking back at all the amazing memories that I have got to make with my teammates and my coaches and the love they poured into me and making me a better person today,” Green said on Friday evening.
Not only is Green thankful for her memories at UK, but also for how the program prepared her for the future.
“Probably some of the best memories I’ll ever have in my life and the sisterhood I have created over this time, but it’s challenged me and brought out the best in me and made me tough and resilient for the future,” Green said.
With the Bluegrass behind her, Green’s future is undoubtedly bright. Green was never a Kentucky star, but she’s certainly a Kentucky legend.
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