Karl-Anthony Towns 'would do a lot to come back to Kentucky,' tells Wildcats to savor 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity'

Karl-Anthony Towns talked about his message to the Kentucky Wildcats at his induction ceremony into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame, telling the team to enjoy life in Lexington and what it means to wear that uniform. The fame and fortune will come if you do things the right way and sacrifice, so don’t worry about any of it.

“Be in the present,” he told KSR of his conversation with the team on HOF night. “…  Show everyone what it truly means to be a Kentucky Wildcat.”

Now, we get Towns’ exact words to the team, UK Athletics sharing his heartfelt message to the Wildcats after practice.

It starts with understanding the magnitude of their situation to wear the uniform in the first place and the spotlight that comes with it. You get the celebrity status, but that also comes with a responsibility to be a great human being, too. Represent the program and your family well when you suit up in the blue and white.

“What we do gets more attention than who we are, even though who we are is more important than what we do. Being the best human you could be,” Towns told the Wildcats. “When you’re wearing Kentucky, you obviously all know — I think if you don’t know, you’re gonna realize. If you’re new here, you are the rock stars here in Lexington. You are the most popular, most famous athletes and people in this whole place. So when you’re wearing that Kentucky across your chest, make sure you represent them with pride, and make them proud. Show these people what it’s like to be a rock star.

“They have their own idea of what people like us are, and we’re supposed to be a certain way, but show them that we could be different. We could be great human beings while being great basketball players, being great sons to our families.”

Oh, and listen to Mark Pope — because he knows what he’s doing.

“Coach Pope is obviously the man,” he continued. “He’s going to bring y’all to places y’all never thought y’all could go, and take y’all — you and y’all families — to places that seemed impossible when you were in high school, in middle school, in AAU. He’s the man for the job.”

Learn to appreciate the difficulty, too. Hard work now leads to easy work later, Towns comparing life at Kentucky to ‘boot camp,’ allowing him to become a five-time All-Star in the NBA.

“Make sure, when you step on this court, every time you understand the greats who walked in here and had the same dream as y’all. I hope that I can be just one example of many to show that with Kentucky across your chest, you can make it to the NBA,” Towns said. “But not only that, you can be tremendously successful at it. It starts here. This is really where your success in the NBA starts. It’s here. Don’t think — it’s not when you get to the NBA, you get put in a situation. It’s the work you put in now, because the work I put in when I was here made the NBA easy for me.

“I remember leaving Kentucky, I thought the NBA was much easier for me than it was in college. That was because you put the work in. This is really our boot camp, showing the world that y’all could be NBA players, that y’all are worthy of the job. It is a job, and you’ll learn.”

Put your teammates before yourself and enjoy being together for this one-year ride — whether or not you plan on returning next season, because no group is ever the same. Make this one special and take pride in what you’re able to accomplish. Soak in the now.

That is what will make the Wildcats who came before you proud.

“Please enjoy this moment, stay in the present. Don’t think about the future or the past. You already took care of what you needed to do to get to the present, so stay in the present. Enjoy being teammates with each other,” Towns said. “Enjoy this moment in time, because you may never be in a room again with this much talent — I sure as hell learned that the hard way when I was here with my team. But I want to make sure y’all enjoy those moments, because it’s early. When y’all first practice, I want y’all to enjoy these moments, being here. Enjoy this moment, enjoy being the rock stars that y’all deserve and earn the right to be in Lexington.

“Make us proud, man. Make us proud. You don’t have to score 30 or 40 to go to the NBA or be a number one pick to make us, the alumni, proud. Y’all are representing yourselves the right way, being great men walking around this campus with pride. That’s exactly what makes me proud as an alum.”

Others would kill to wear that jersey and those sneakers inside that building. He’d kill to do it again personally.

Don’t forget that opportunity.

“So please just have fun with this. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You never get to go back and be a Kentucky Wildcat and be in college again. Enjoy it,” Towns said. “This is a place I wish I was back at, even with all the success I’ve been very blessed by God to find in the NBA.

“I would do a lot to come back to Kentucky. So enjoy it, enjoy this moment.”

Thanks, @KarlTowns, for talking to our team about what it means to wear Kentucky across your chest. pic.twitter.com/i3N21K6xZp

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) September 19, 2025

Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.