John Calipari, the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team, announced on Sunday that veteran forwards Jacob Toppin and Lance Ware will be the team captains for the upcoming NCAA Tournament slate. Calipari, who had never named captains before, said that he wants to enable the players to lead each other and hold each other accountable.
Calipari explained that Toppin has been a key asset to Kentucky’s efforts this season, while Ware, who doesn’t play major minutes on a game-to-game basis, is someone that everyone listens to. Ware played a lot earlier in the season while Calipari experimented with different lineups. He played in every SEC game this year but logged more than 10 minutes in a game only three times and only once since January 21. He played just one minute in Kentucky’s SEC Tournament loss to Vanderbilt last Friday.
Calipari believes that Ware’s ability to lead, despite not playing much, will be a positive influence on the team. Calipari said, “When they know a guy is leading and may or may not play, yet he’s been the same, they will follow. They will follow. So now instead of the inward thinking, you’re a leader, it’s outward thinking, it’s about the guys — ‘what do I have to do?’ ‘How do we got to do this?’ And I think those two will hold guys accountable, but we got a great group of young people.”
Kentucky, the 6th seed, will face the 11th seed Providence in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 7:10 p.m. ET. Kentucky has opened as four-point favorites over the Friars, according to Caesars Sportsbook.
Read: 6 Things Slowly Killing College Basketball
Read: 14 Reasons Cal Needs To Go
Read: Big Oscar Tshiebwe 2X All American
Read: Tyler Ulis Making An Impression At Kentucky
Read: Frisbee Dog Takes Dump On Floor At YUM Center
