Kentucky basketball family continues to lift up Daimion Collins. ‘He should be playing.’

He played all of five minutes and five seconds in Kentucky’s 72-67 victory over Florida on Saturday night, but Daimion Collins made quite the impression in the relatively little time he spent on the basketball court.

So much so that John Calipari foreshadowed a lineup change in the Wildcats’ future.

“Need to play him more,” the UK coach said of Collins. “Need to play Oscar less.”

Oscar, of course, is Oscar Tshiebwe, college basketball’s reigning national player of the year and Kentucky’s leading scorer and rebounder for the second consecutive season. Tshiebwe grabbed 15 rebounds Saturday night, but he went just 2-for-14 from the floor and finished with four points before fouling out with 1:38 left in a close game against the Gators.

In came Collins, and — 47 seconds later — there he stood at the free-throw line. The Cats were clinging to a 68-64 lead. Florida was fighting back at every opportunity. And it was a one-and-one bonus situation. Miss the first, you don’t get a second. Collins made the first free throw. Then he made the second one. Then Calipari took him out of the game.

And the Kentucky coach couldn’t contain himself long enough to let the 6-foot-9 sophomore get off the floor. As Collins walked toward the UK bench, Calipari left the sideline, stepped onto the court and put both arms around his player in a full embrace.

In a season that was supposed to bring Collins’ young basketball career to new heights, he experienced the lowest of lows six days before Kentucky’s opener. Just four days after his 20th birthday — and just hours after he’d been putting up shots in the gym with his father — Daimion Collins found out that his dad, Ben Collins, had died. He was 43 years old.

Basketball took a backseat as Collins traveled to and from his home state of Texas over the next couple of weeks, spending time with his family, mourning with his loved ones, and figuring out how to move forward amid a time of such personal tragedy.

“His dad was his best friend,” Calipari said last week. “Would have been his best man in his wedding. And he, in Lexington, passed away.”

The preseason hype had Collins pegged as Kentucky’s breakout player for the 2022-23 season, an athletically gifted forward with tremendous upside. A possible NBA Draft pick after year two in Lexington. Understandably, that kind of season hasn’t materialized. The six points and seven rebounds that Collins tallied against South Carolina State on Nov. 17 remain his season highs in both categories. He’s played little, often not at all, in some of UK’s biggest games.

Calipari said last week that Collins — already thin for his height — lost 16 pounds following his father’s death. Those expectations of a massive step forward on the court — bolstered by his eye-popping play during the team’s summer games in the Bahamas and his head-turning performance at UK Pro Day in October — were put on the back burner.

Collins spoke publicly about his father’s death for the first time four weeks ago, keeping his comments mostly centered on basketball and how he was finding the court to be a refuge from his personal loss.

“I know right now I’m probably not all the way back to where I want to be,” he said then of his mental state, just two months after his father’s death. “But I’m definitely getting there. I’m getting better day by day.”

The next night — with power forward Jacob Toppin sidelined due to injury — Collins started for the only time this season and played a season-high 21 minutes against South Carolina.

UK lost — the low point in a roller-coaster 2022-23 campaign — but Collins blocked three shots and grabbed four rebounds. Early in that game, however, he suffered a left foot injury. He played through it that night but didn’t play again for three weeks. Until last Tuesday night against Mississippi. In less than two minutes on the court in Oxford, he scored four points, including one of his customary highlight-reel dunks.

“I love seeing him smile,” Calipari said after that one. “Like, you understand what he’s been through?”

Tshiebwe later said that UK’s coach wanted to sub him in for Collins even earlier in that game, but the Wildcats’ star waved him off.

“I’m so happy for Daimion,” he said.

Tshiebwe has talked in the past about the death of his own father, back home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, when he was just 12 years old. He said he hugs Collins every time he sees him.

“Because I can see — I can look at his face, and I can see how much pain he has, but doesn’t show,” Tshiebwe said. “Because I went through that. …

“I lost my dad, and that thing affected my mind for a couple years. For me to be back to normal, it took me so many years. For him, I’m just praying for him, because I can see him now — he’s starting learning how to let it go, to let time pass. It’s going to take him a little while to heal, but I just need people to keep praying for him. He will be good. He’s a kid who loves basketball. He works on it all the time. He competes.”

Less than a minute after Collins got onto the court for the first time Saturday night, he managed a tip steal right in front of Calipari, collecting the ball and zooming down the other end.

“I was thinking, ‘Dunk it,’” teammate Cason Wallace said afterward. “The whole time. From when he tipped it to when he got to the rim.”

Collins left the court a good distance from the basket — even for him — and took it right at Florida’s Colin Castleton, one of the best shot-blockers in the country. He drew the foul.

Back on the other end of the court, Calipari pumped both fists in the air several times. Everyone on that sideline — probably most everyone in that arena — knows what Collins has endured these past three months.

“That’s the brotherhood here, and the family,” senior guard CJ Fredrick said. “Just seeing him out there, seeing him playing, seeing him smiling, having fun — that means a lot to us. He’s been through so much. … He was tremendous for us tonight. And he really, really stepped up.”

Wallace was the star of the game: 20 points and some big shots down the stretch. Wallace is also Collins’ cousin, and he traveled with Calipari and a few other UK basketball staffers to attend Ben Collins’ funeral in Texas in November. Daimion returned with them on the flight back to Lexington.

Wallace was proud of his cousin’s performance Saturday night.

“Knowing that he’s coming in, making an impact on the game. It shows that he should be playing,” he said. “… I’m sure he knows that I’m here for him. And if he ever needs something, I got him.”

Calipari said after the game that he had been playing Tshiebwe too many minutes, implying that it was hampering his performance on the court. His on-the-spot solution was a simple one.

“That means Daimion can play more,” he said.

It remains to be seen whether or not that will happen. Calipari’s public comments on roster management don’t always turn to reality. What isn’t in question is the support Collins has from within his Kentucky basketball family.

“I’m very proud of him,” Toppin said. “He’s been through a lot. And to go through all of that and keep a smile on your face, it’s big-time. He’s a good soul. I’m just proud of him. This team’s proud of him.”

Tuesday

Arkansas at Kentucky

When: 9 p.m.

TV: ESPN

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Arkansas 16-7 (5-5 SEC), Kentucky 16-7 (7-3)

Series: Kentucky leads 33-13

Last meeting: Arkansas won 75-73 on Feb. 26, 2022, in Fayetteville, Ark.

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