Sahvir Wheeler leads the charge on Kentucky's player-led roster

Player empowerment has been a talking point for John Calipari since the beginning. Every team he’s had during his time in Lexington has been talented — some clearly more than others — but the best have always been player-led, the earlier the better.

It starts with off-court habits and accountability. That then bleeds into success in live game situations.

The player empowerment narrative is usually pushed — when applicable, of course — after the team has found its footing later in the season. Or it comes when the team is struggling to find its identity and Calipari is looking for players in the locker room to step up and lead.

This year is different. Maybe it’s because Kentucky returned 42.1% of its minutes, 41.9% of scoring, 39.0% of rebounds, 42.4% of assists and 60.6% of 3-pointers from last season. Or it’s because the team entered the season with 13,385 minutes, 5,203 points, 1,917 rebounds, 1,132 assists and 543 3-pointers of total college basketball production. Maybe it’s because only two Calipari-coached teams returned more minutes and points than this group (2011-12 and 2014-15).

Credit whatever or whomever, but the player-led talk has already begun. And it took just three games for it to come to light.

“The greatest thing is they’re coaching each other,” Calipari said following Kentucky’s 80-55 victory over Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday. “They’re holding each other accountable. At halftime one of the players looked right at the other guy and said, ‘We need you. Where is your energy? Where is your spirit?’ You know what I said? ‘When someone tells the truth, don’t be mad.’

“‘Well, I think that’s negative.’ When someone tells the truth and the rest of you should be saying, ‘Facts.’ He didn’t yell and cuss. He just told you. Now it’s, ‘Facts. Come on. We need you.’ That’s when this team begins to be empowered.”

One of the players leading the charge on the player empowerment movement within the program? Georgia transfer guard Sahvir Wheeler, who joined the team this past offseason.

Like we heard with Tyler Ulis back during the 2015-16 season, Wheeler has already taken over in practice as an on-court coach. He’s currently leading the team in drills, namely in pick-and-roll defense situations.

Then his situational coaching turned into positional coaching, which then led to team coaching.

“I had Sahvir coaching the guards in pick-and-roll defense. He coached them. You don’t need to be in this drill. They all need the drill. Show them what you are doing. He showed them. Then he coached them. Then he started coaching the bigs. I said, ‘Coach the whole team.’

“That’s fine for me. I don’t care. We’re just trying to grow.”

His teammates appreciate the hands-on approach Wheeler brings and how he has emerged as a clear extension of the coaching staff. He makes life easier for the players when Calipari can’t physically be on the floor himself.

“He makes me better. I like how he talks, I like how he is communicating,” Oscar Tshiebwe said of Wheeler. “Sometimes I miss stuff in the game and he just grabs me and says, ‘Hey, we’ve got to do this! We’ve got to do this!’ He has leadership and he’s so quick. Like, if he sees somebody doing something that does not really help us, he talks to them. In the locker room, we need to speak. I love Sahvir as my communicator. My relationship with him is so great.”

The feeling is mutual for Tshiebwe’s lead guard.

“For a point guard, it’s a necessary thing to have a really, really great relationship with your center,” Wheeler said following the win. “Especially a guy like Oscar, who is so unselfish and wants to serve others. We have a special connection.”

Wheeler came in averaging 4.4 turnovers and shooting just 39.9% from the field and 22.5% from three last season. He led the SEC in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio, but efficiency and playmaking miscues made him a polarizing addition at the time of his commitment.

The reason he’s off to a successful start in Lexington? Coachability. When Calipari points out mistakes, he doesn’t argue or complain. Wheeler goes out of his way to learn from them.

In the Kentucky coach’s own words, Wheeler has bought in as a Wildcat, and the production has quickly followed because of it. Following a 12-point, eight-assist, one-turnover night against Mount St. Mary’s, the 5-foot-9 point guard is now averaging 11.0 points, 10.0 assists, 2.0 steals. 1.7 rebounds and 2.7 turnovers in three games

“He’s not losing his mind,” said Calipari. “After the game, he looked at me and said, ‘I had one turnover.’ He knows it’s important to me, so who’s it going to be important to? Him. We still have some guys that I’m telling them exactly what I want them to do and how to play, and they fight it a little bit. That hurts them and hurts us.”

After a year where point guard play was inarguably Kentucky’s biggest weakness in 2020-21, it’s now one of the team’s biggest strengths.

“He has totally bought into what I’m saying,” Calipari added. “Totally bought in.”

Wheeler’s individual growth has allowed Calipari to focus his attention elsewhere. The Kentucky head coach doesn’t have to babysit the seasoned veterans on the roster. Instead, he can correct mistakes and coach with minimal pushback before digging harder on some of the younger talent.

“I like the fact that I’m able to get on our best players because that means I can coach everybody on this team,” said Calipari.

Instead of patting himself on the back, Wheeler gives credit to his teammates for putting him in positions to succeed. In his eyes, it’s a group of complementary, selfless pieces coming together with one common goal. It’s not about the individual numbers, it’s about winning games.

They plan to do a lot of that this season.

“Playing with speed, playing for others, making my teammates’ lives easier and putting them in situations where they can score the ball and make plays for me, as well,” said Wheeler. “Playing with this group of guys has been amazing. These guys make this game so easy and so fun. All credit goes to them. They make my job easier, as well.”

Calipari’s best teams have been player-led, and the Kentucky head coach has gone out of his way to stress that fact just about every year he’s been in Lexington. This season, it’s taken just three games for those conversations to begin, and Sahvir Wheeler is leading the charge.