2012 Finals (my favorite post)

So John Calipari finally proved that you can win it all with freshmen. As long as one of them is Anthony Davis.

This Kentucky team was loaded with the highest profile recruits (6 McDonalds All-Americans). Darius Miller was not one of them.

Darius Miller was not even recruited by Cal. He was the remaining hold-over from the failed Billy Gillispie experiment. And Gillispie didn’t have much choice but to recruit him.

Let’s quickly rewind a few years. The first rule of recruiting is to own your own state, and Kentucky was developing a habit of letting good ones get away. In 2003, Chris Lofton led Kentucky’s Mason County High to the state title and was named Mr. Basketball. But UK coach Tubby Smith thought he wasn’t athletic enough, so Lofton ended up at Tennessee where he made an immediate impact, being named third team All-American his freshman year. He would go on to become UT’s most prolific 3-point shooter and the SEC’s player of the year. And Kentucky had to play against him at least twice a year.

The next one that slipped away was Scotty Hopson, a McDonalds All-American in 2008 from Hopkinsville, who also signed with Tennessee.

When Darius Miller, like Lofton, won the state title at Mason County High School and was named Mr. Basketball, Gillispie was pressured to make sure that Kentucky’s home state talent stayed put. Particularly when that player was 6’8” tall and athletic. And so it was that Darius Miller became a Wildcat.

Darius had a solid freshman year on a team that was a disaster by Kentucky standards. Gillispie feuded with his players all season and his team ended up missing the NCAA tournament, which is a fireable offense at UK.

And so it was that the Calipari recruiting machine came to Lexington. Luckily for Darius Miller, one of Cal’s few misses was at his position (Xavier Henry ended up at Kansas). But Darius did not make the most of the opportunity. He continually deferred to his talented teammates (John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins were freshmen that year) and his scoring numbers regressed. His passive play led to the unfortunate (but perhaps accurate) nickname Disappearius. 

Darius remained an enigma during his junior year, extended shooting slumps broken by periods of outstanding play such as a strong SEC tournament leading to MVP honors. But the inconsistency remained and a challenge was on the way in the form of perhaps the most celebrated recruiting class in the history of the game. And this time Cal got his small forward, the prep legend Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

The player with the most talent plays in Calipari’s system, and there was no denying Kidd-Gilchrist’s ability. So Darius Miller, who had started 74 games for UK and was the reigning SEC tourney MVP, entered his senior season as a reserve.

But Miller didn’t sulk. Rather, he took inspiration from MKG’s defensive effort and developed the only thing Kidd-Gilchrest lacked: an accurate outside shot. Darius averaged 10 points a game and was named 6th man of the year in the SEC this season. And the Disappearius label was long gone. In fact, Miller developed a knack for hitting the big shot at key moments to settle down his talented but very young teammates.

It’s well known that the Commonwealth of Kentucky loves basketball. It’s what binds us together. The billionaire horse breeder and the grooms can discuss the transcendent talent of Anthony Davis. The coal baron and the coal miner respect the evolution of Marquis Teague at point guard. The bourbon master and the teamster speculate on when Terrence Jones will achieve his vast potential.

Passion for the sport is our legacy. As spring turns to summer, young folks in our state will dream of suiting up in blue and white like their heroes. Imagine a Kentucky teenager, dribbling the ball alone on a dirt court, looking up at a hoop nailed to the side of a barn, setting his feet for a long distance shot. Replaying in his mind a tight game at the Final Four against arch rival Louisville. The shot clock winding down. He rises up and whispers to himself. Darius Miller, for three.