In the lore of UK basketball, Tre Mitchell is putting himself high on an all-time list

Here’s the thing about playing for a historically regal men’s college basketball program such as Kentucky:

No matter what you do, the odds are strong that someone who has come before you has done it better.

That applies to the splendid season Tre Mitchell is giving John Calipari’s No. 8 Wildcats (13-3, 3-1 SEC) in his first season in the UK program as a transfer.

In Oscar Tshiebwe’s initial season (2021-22) playing for Kentucky after transferring, he averaged 17.4 points and 15.1 rebounds and became the first Wildcats men’s basketball player to sweep every major national player of the year award.

For Kyle Macy’s first year (1977-78) playing in UK blue and white after transferring, he averaged 12.9 points, 5.7 assists, shot 53.6 percent from the field and 89.1 percent from the foul line and quarterbacked the Wildcats to the 1978 NCAA championship.

That’s why even though Mitchell is averaging 13 points and career-best totals of 7.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists a game for UK this season, we cannot say he is having the best season ever by a first-year transfer into the Kentucky program.

What we can say, however, is that Mitchell is having one of the best such seasons ever produced by an incoming transfer into the Wildcats program.

We can also wonder where UK would be if an unexpected coaching change at West Virginia had not precipitated the circumstances that led to Mitchell essentially falling into Kentucky’s lap in the offseason.

Mitchell’s value as a steadying influence to the youthful Wildcats was on display again Wednesday night in what became a 90-77 home win over Mississippi State.

Up 47-29 at halftime, Kentucky saw the scrappy Bulldogs open the second half on a 14-2 run to pull within six at 49-43.

At a moment when there was “game pressure” on UK to fend off the MSU charge, it was the 6-foot-9, 231-pound Mitchell who stepped up by scoring eight of Kentucky’s first 14 points of the second half.

After Mitchell converted back-to-back 3-point plays of the old-school variety (meaning, score a two-point field goal, get fouled and cash the free throw), Kentucky had pushed its lead back to 15 points at 61-46.

The playing career of Mitchell epitomizes the new college basketball era of player mobility. The Pittsburgh product has played for four college teams, having launched his career as a high-scoring star at Massachusetts, then turned in a season each at Big 12 members Texas and West Virginia.

It was only the off-the-court issues that led to the downfall of Bob Huggins as WVU coach that led Mitchell back into the transfer portal. At the time he chose a Kentucky team desperate for a veteran front-court presence, he looked like a quality addition.

In reality, Mitchell has been much more than that.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of his play has been Mitchell’s emergence as something of a “point forward” for Kentucky. Entering this season, Mitchell had 180 assists vs. 237 turnovers as a college player.

For UK, Mitchell has 54 assists vs. only 22 turnovers. He has been so adept at distributing the basketball that Kentucky often initiates its half-court offense through him at the top of the key.

One telling aspect of just how important Mitchell is to UK is what has happened to the Wildcats when he has not played well. Against Kansas, UNC Wilmington and at Texas A&M, Mitchell shot a combined 7-of-22 and averaged nine points.

Those three games, of course, are the only ones Kentucky has lost this season.

After Mitchell shot 3-of-13 while playing 44 minutes in UK’s 97-92 overtime loss at Texas A&M last Saturday, Calipari vowed to get Mitchell more rest in games moving forward. Against Mississippi State, Mitchell logged only 28 of the 40 minutes.

“Tre, I told him, ‘You can’t play as many minutes, sub yourself,’” Calipari said afterward. “And he did.”

At 23 years old, Mitchell, along with fellow super-senior Antonio Reeves, also 23, serves as an “old head” on a roster filled with Calipari’s usual assortment of ballyhooed teenagers.

Asked after the Mississippi State game by ESPN’s Jimmy Dykes what role he plays with his younger teammates, Mitchell gave an interesting reply.

“I have the experience,” Mitchell said. “I have the insight on the college game and what arenas are going to look like and what teams are going to be trying to do.

“At the other end of that, we’ve got good guys that listen. For young dudes, they listen and are willing to adjust on the fly. When you have people with open minds like that, the sky is the limit.”

For all he’s providing a team with aspirations of making a deep March Madness run, Mitchell deserves more national acclaim than he is receiving.

This being Kentucky, we can’t say that Tre Mitchell is having the best season by a first-year transfer in program history. It should be enough, however, to say Mitchell is having one of the best such seasons ever produced in a program where the historical standard is sky high.

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