The freshman wanting Antonio Reeves back speaks to Kentucky's team focus

During the few weeks of purgatory between the NBA draft withdrawal and the day Antonio Reeves returned to Kentucky, there was an extreme amount of uncertainty about what might happen. There was scuttlebutt of him returning to Illinois State to finish up classes, which would make him eligible to be a graduate transfer. Why would he do such a thing? Rumors would have you believe Reeves’ camp had concerns about how he would fit with a star-studded freshman class packed full of skilled backcourt players.

Kentucky fans wanted him back. Kentucky coaches wanted him back. Reeves, himself, wanted back. But we also found out during that same conversation that Kentucky’s freshman wanted him back too.

And that is huge.

According to Reeves:

They called me and texted me every day, ‘Definitely, we want you back, we want you to be the older brother on the team,’ This is a family here. They definitely wanted me back, wanted me to be the older guy. That’s how much they really wanted me here. That’s the key, just somebody that wants you, somebody that wants you to be able to play.”

Antonio Reeves | KSR

Rob Dillingham backed up Reeves’ statement, which is very telling of the collective team mentality this group is embracing.

“We definitely was hitting him [up] every day. Everyone wanted to hit him [up] because, we were a young team, so we needed someone as a veteran, we definitely need [Reeves] back.”

Rob Dillingham | KSR

The first person to cut into Dillingham’s minutes would be Reeves, so for him to solicit his return speaks to the sacrifice he is willing to make in order to help the team win. This sort of team-first mentality is a departure from the reputation Dillingham had coming in, and one everyone is glad to see was extremely overblown.

Kentucky teams have been best when everyone plays for each other.

That sounded a lot like coach-speak, but it is true. The freshman wanting a veteran leader to serve as their big brother will go far for this team’s chemistry. Knocking down plenty of 3s won’t hurt either.

Now it is time for Reeves to step up and be that vocal, veteran leader the team so desperately needs. That is not necessarily a role he is accustomed to playing, but one he is ready to take on.

“I will definitely get better at [being vocal]. The last couple of years I’ve been pretty quiet; not the leader on the team. But this year, I’ve definitely got to use my voice because we’ve got a lot of younger guys that are out there.”

Antonio Reeves | KSR

It is safe to say this speaks for literally everyone to say, it is great to have Antonio Reeves back at Kentucky for one more year.