Tylon Wilson is the women’s basketball coach at American Indian College in Phoenix but knows plenty about Kentucky freshman guard TyTy Washington.
     He coached Washington’s father, Tee, in high school when Wilson said he was the best high school point guard in Arizona. He also put TyTy on his varsity team when he was in the sixth grade and he hit a game-winning shot.
     “So TyTy really was born to do this,” said Wilson. “You could always see the potential in TyTy. My varsity summer league team was playing and I talked to his dad about putting him on the varsity team to see how he would do and give him some confidence. We put him on the team and he ended up starting as a sixth grader. He was that good.
     “He has always been ultra confident, alway smooth, always under control on and off the court. His basketball IQ was always off the chart.”
     TyTy Washington had his best game at UK against Ohio when he finished with 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting, 12 rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal in 37 minutes. He was only 1-for-6 from 3-point range and did have four turnovers but coach John Calipari felt he finally looked comfortable.
     "Nothing really was uncomfortable; I was just fresh out of high school into a college game. The transition of just physicality, speed, stuff like that was a big adjustment for me." Washington admitted after the Ohio win.
     Wilson said Washington’s mother was an even better high school player than his father. She was high school player of the year in Tempe, Ariz., and he called her a “pure player” in all facets of play.
     “He has his dad’s grit and grind and his mother’s IQ. If you were able to create a player in the lab, it would be TyTy,” Wilson said about the UK freshman. “He has always been quiet on the court and strictly business. Off the court I have never really seen that playful side I hear is there. He is just that leader who leads by example. You will never see him yelling or out of control.”
     Wilson still sees Washington’s parents and talks to his dad two or three times per week. He says they worked hard to raise TyTy the right way.
     “He has always been a great student. He always had the grades to go to college wherever he wanted,” Wilson said. “Obviously, basketball was going to take him where he wanted but his grades always came first. He was a student first, basketball player second.”
     Wilson said Washington became a “high flyer” about his junior year at Arizona Compass Prep when he started playing consistently above the rim.
     “His dad is maybe 5-10. He was a great athlete and amazing passer when I had him kind of like TyTy is now,” Wilson said. “All of TyTy’s siblings look up to

Tylon Wilson, right, put UK freshman TyTy Washington into a varsity game when he was only a sixth-grader and says Washington “was born to do this.” (Arizona Compass Prep Photo)

him with so much admiration but he also looks up to them the same way. They are such a tight knit family and love each other so much.
     “I think his siblings probably cheer louder for him than anybody at Kentucky ever could. Kentucky is so lucky to have him.”
     Washington has capitalized on numerous name, image and likeness deals but he’s also giving back. He started a non-profit organization that will help single mothers, student-athletes with a 4.0 or higher GPA and nominated teachers at one high school in Phoenix and Kentucky. He also hosted a backpack giveaway in Tempe in August.
     “He is such a good kid. In Phoenix, we love him and I know Kentucky is already loving him, too,” Wilson said. “I have watched and followed him since sixth grade and he is just always so poised and under control.
     “Some players, if things are going bad, they will get upset or rattled. Not him. He never expects to lose or to be under duress. He’s a special kid and special player. He’s just going to find ways to win games and help make everyone on his team better. He’s that teammate everyone wants.”

     Penn State transfer Will Levis won the starting quarterback job during preseason practice. However, he may have established himself as the clear team leader on offense with his performance against Tennessee even though UK lost 45-42. He completed 31 of 49 passes for 372 yards and three scores and ran 15 times for 47 yards and two more scores, including one where he leaped over two Tennessee defenders to get into the end zone.
     He was the first player in UK history to throw for two scores and run for two in the same game. His 372 passing yards were also the most by a UK quarterback since Patrick Towles threw for 390 against Mississippi State in 2014 until he bettered that by completing 21 of 31 throws for 419 yards and four scores against New Mexico State.
     “I think the guys have been behind him for a while, but when you see him throw his body around like he does and jumping and leaping over people …. Please stop, but you can’t stop him,” Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen said.
     “Players respect that he is not afraid of contact. He is going to lay it on the line every rep and that’s something that gains more and more confidence from teammates. That’s a big factor in playing that position. Players that make plays with their legs and do not run out of bounds instead of sliding, which I wish he would do. That even helps in getting our defense to respect him. So I think it’s a big factor in his leadership.”
     Coen said Levis is “tough as nails” and the UK offensive coordinator says no one works harder than the UK quarterback or goes as fast in practice daily

Quarterback Will Levis has become a clear team leader for UK with his recent play and even got a pep talk from former UK coach Rich Brooks earlier this season. (UK Athletics Photo)

as Levis. “He’s 100 miles per hour,” Coen said.
     Going into the regular season-ending game at Louisville, Levis has 21 touchdown passes — more than any quarterback has had in the Mark Stoops era.

     Former University of Kentucky basketball coach Joe Hall, who led UK to a national championship in 1978, turns 90 years old on Nov. 30.
     He’s now in a nursing home in Lexington and former Louisville coach Denny Crum’s wife, Susan, is encouraging fans to send him birthday cards. The address is The Willows at Fritz Farm, 2710 Man ‘O War Blvd., Room 202, Lexington, KY, 40515.
     Hall was an assistant coach under Adolph Rupp before taking over when he retired. He had a 297-100 record at UK and was national coach of the year in 1978. He also got UK to the 1975 NCAA Tournament title game and a Final Four appearance in 1984. Hall won eight Southeastern Conference regular season championships.
     Kentucky also placed a statue of Hall outside the Wildcat Coal Lodge in 2012.

     Kentucky receiver Wan’Dale Robinson sent a message to top high school football players in Kentucky when asked about the UK-Louisville rivalry.
     “I can say for me, they didn’t really recruit me at all,” Robinson, UK’s leading receiver, said. “That just kind of goes to show they really don’t take pride in keeping everybody in state. For all those recruits that see this, you know where to come.”
     He now has 85 catches this season which tied Craig Yeast’s 1998 total for second most in a single season at UK. The record is 90 catches by James Whalen in 1999. Robinson also now has 1,067 receiving yards this season. Yeast is 244 yards ahead of him with 1,311 yards receiving in 1998 when Tim Couch was his quarterback.
     Kentucky closes regular season play at Louisville Saturday with a chance to finish 9-3 and possibly lock up a bid to the New Year’s Day Outback Bowl. After losing at home to Tennessee, Kentucky fans may want a win over Louisville even more than normal this year.

     “If we're affected by that pressure, we have problems. We have a little bit of pressure all year, don't we? I mean, every game,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said when asked about any added pressure for the Louisville game. “We live in that world.
     “I thought I heard that every day for the first five years. Every game was so important. We live there all the time. It's about our preparation. I really appreciate the way our team's been practicing.”
     Stoops admitted after UK’s 56-16 win over New Mexico State that he had watched some of Louisville’s win at Duke two days earlier. He said the Cards “looked very good” on TV.
     Quarterback Will Levis hopes Kentucky can play a complete game at Louisville. He believes the win over LSU was as close as UK has been to playing a full game.
     “We have had a really good couple of weeks of practice and we have to make sure that continues and carries on to the Louisville game,” Levis said.

     Kentucky can wrap up its fifth straight SEC championship if it beats Florida this weekend. Kentucky is 15-1 while Florida and Mississippi State, which lost to UK earlier this season, are both 14-2.
     One reason the defending national champions have thrived despite significant losses from last year’s team is freshman setter Emma Grome.
     Coach Craig Skinner knows Grome’s consistency in getting to the right spot before the ball is passed has been instrumental in UK’s success and top 10 ranking.
     “We have not had many hitting errors recently,” Skinner said. “She is still adjusting to some things, understanding who to set at the right time.”
     Grome had 39 assists in UK's win over Auburn Sunday to push her season total to 1,061. She's also second on the team with 199 digs.
     Senior All-American Alli Stumler said the team had to be “patient” with Grome as she tried to fill the role Madison Lilley, the national player of the year last season, had on the national championship team. Stumler said when the team’s numbers were not like they wanted earlier in the season, they had to understand it would improve with time and more reps.
     “I stay after practice or come early to practice and do reps with her because she wants to be really good,” Stumler said. “Our connection off the court has also grown. That just makes it even more fun.”
     Skinner’s trust in Grome has grown so much that he is giving her more of the game plan to put into use each match.
     “She is a complete player. She digs well, serves well,” the Kentucky coach said. “You can tell she is a volleyball junkie because she just wants to play all the time.”

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     After Kentucky’s win over Mount St. Mary’s last week, Kentucky coach John Calipari was asked about the possibility of renewing the annual rivalry with Indiana — a game that has not been played since 2011 when the host Hoosiers beat eventual national champion UK. Indiana fans stormed the court after the win and Calipari ended the annual series even though the teams played in the 2012 and 2016 NCAA Tournaments.
     Calipari is friends with new Indiana coach Mike Woodson and has talked “about stuff” with him recently.
     “But there's nothing imminent that I could talk to you about,” the UK coach said about a future game.
     Calipari cited scheduling commitments UK has along with the Champions Classic and CBS Sports Classic as one reason it would be hard for him to even think about renewing the IU series.
     “Everybody wants those tournaments. The greatest thing about those two neutral games is the four teams that are in it are lucky because the minute anybody would drop out, there would be 50 teams calling and begging to be in those tournaments,” Calipari said.

  Quotes of the Week

Quote of the Week 1:

     "Everybody wants to get better, everybody wants to do fancy, different things, but for me, rebounding means a lot. Rebounding can help your team to win the game. You give one more chance to your team. Since I figured it out, if I have to fight, I have to work for the rebound, I'm going to fight for that rebound like no one believes,” Oscar Tshiebwe on his rebounding prowess.
Quote of the Week 2:

     “He will be drafted and pretty high. Trust me on that,” UK associate coach Vince Marrow on defensive lineman Josh Paschal’s NFL Draft potential.
Quote of the Week 3:

     “I am so happy for him. I would not say he is considered the best defender on the team, but he had incredible effort and had been doing it in practice. I was happy to see him get rewarded because he is a great kid,” Kentucky assistant coach Orlando Antigua on walk-on Zan Payne after he scored four points in a win over Mount St. Mary’s.