A UK basketball great made an interesting observation about Antonio Reeves. Is it true?

Talking about the past and present of Kentucky basketball before the Wildcats’ game against Georgia a couple of weeks ago, Kenny Walker casually brought up one of the current team’s top players.

As the UK great spoke, a bemused tone crept into his voice.

“Antonio Reeves is probably the most underrated leading scorer in the history of Kentucky basketball,” Walker said. “I’ve never seen a guy who’s averaging almost 20 points a game, and when you start talking about this team, you mention maybe three or four guys before you even mention his name.”

That’s quite the statement coming from Walker, one of the best players in UK basketball history.

And it very well might be the truth.

Going into Kentucky’s game against Florida on Wednesday night, Reeves is averaging 19.5 points. He’s shooting 43.1% from 3-point range. And he’s been incredibly consistent, with just one game under 14 points since the Wildcats’ season opener, a steady offensive force for a young Kentucky team.

So is Reeves, like Walker said, indeed the most underrated top scorer in UK history?

Let’s take a look. Here’s the leading scorer off each NCAA Tournament-caliber team since John Calipari has been the head coach.

▪ Oscar Tshiebwe (16.5 and 17.4 points per game) led the way the past two seasons. The former national player of the year received as much fanfare as any Cat the past few seasons.

▪ Immanuel Quickley (16.1 points) led the 2019-20 team and earned SEC player of the year honors, a fan favorite on a talented roster that never got to play in March Madness.

▪ PJ Washington (15.2 points) was the top scorer in 2018-19, earning UK fans’ admiration while nearly carrying the team to the Final Four.

▪ Kevin Knox (15.6 points) led the 2017-18 squad. He was overshadowed at times by teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander but still celebrated that season.

▪ Malik Monk (19.8 points) topped the 2016-17 roster that included De’Aaron Fox and Bam Adebayo, and all three of those freshmen were beloved by Kentucky fans.

▪ Jamal Murray (20.0 points) wowed during the 2015-16 season with his shooting ability and “Blue Arrow” theatrics on the court.

▪ Aaron Harrison (11.0 points) topped the nearly perfect 2014-15 squad in scoring. Others got more fanfare, but that was a unique season for Kentucky basketball.

▪ Julius Randle (15.0 points) was the unquestioned star of the 2013-14 Final Four team.

▪ Anthony Davis (14.2 points) led UK to the 2012 national title and will go down as one of the greatest players in program history despite playing only one season.

▪ Brandon Knight (17.3 points) led Kentucky to its first Final Four in 13 years.

▪ John Wall (16.6 points) helped revive UK basketball after a few off years and, for some, remains the most popular player in the Calipari era.

Looking further into the past, you’ll find such renowned ex-Cats as Gerald Fitch, Keith Bogans, Tayshaun Prince, Scott Padgett, Jeff Sheppard, Ron Mercer, Tony Delk, Jamal Mashburn, Rex Chapman and Walker himself. UK’s leading scorers in the seasons before that: Melvin Turpin, Derrick Hord, Sam Bowie, Kyle Macy, Jack Givens and Kevin Grevey.

That’s 50 years worth of Kentucky basketball legends.

A few others could be in the discussion, if someone wanted to counter Walker’s claim.

Joe Crawford led the 2007-08 team with 17.9 points per game, but that squad — Billy Gillispie’s first at UK — was an 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and Crawford was clearly the go-to guy, a top-20 scorer in program history.

Randolph Morris led the two previous UK teams in points per game — though Rajon Rondo was tops in total scoring one of those years — but the Cats were an 8 seed in both of those disappointing seasons, the final two under coach Tubby Smith.

Kelenna Azubuike (14.7 points) was Kentucky’s leading scorer in 2004-05 — when the Cats were a 2 seed, advancing to the Elite Eight — and serves as perhaps the best example of what Walker was talking about when discussing the lack of appreciation for Reeves.

Just as Reeves has been often overshadowed by teammates such as Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham, and some other UK freshmen — Walker made his comment a few minutes before Zvonimir Ivisic took Rupp Arena by storm — that 2004-05 squad was widely seen as Chuck Hayes’ team, with Patrick Sparks and a freshman class headlined by Rondo, Morris, Crawford and Ramel Bradley getting much of the spotlight.

Azubuike, like Reeves, was relatively quiet off the court, but he also wasn’t quite as productive as the current Cat has been. Similarly, Harrison isn’t the first name fans think of when recalling the 2014-15 team, but he also wasn’t asked to carry nearly as much as the offensive load as Reeves has this season. (Harrison’s 11.0 points per game mark was the lowest by a UK leading scorer since 1947.)

The last Kentucky player to average more than 20.0 points in a season — the exact number Murray put up eight years ago — was Jodie Meeks, who was one of the few bright spots in Gillispie’s final season. The last Wildcat to hit that mark for an NCAA Tournament team was Mashburn, an all-time great who averaged 21.0 points per game. That was 31 years ago.

Reeves is just a few tenths of a point away from joining that list this season, yet — on any given night — other Wildcats seem to demand more of the spotlight.

Walker is clearly onto something.

A quiet scorer?

Three days before Walker’s “most underrated” comment, Reeves was asked about his scoring prowess. He had just dropped 27 points on Mississippi State.

“Some people say I’m a quiet scorer,” he acknowledged. “And I don’t even realize it until I look up. I’ll just be in the flow of the game, really. And I just look up, ‘Oh, yeah. I got 20.’”

It was one of 10 times this season — in 19 games so far — that Reeves scored at least 20.

“He means a lot. Everything,” Dillingham said. “Because he gets buckets every game. When he doesn’t score, we struggle a little bit with offense. … He helps lead our young guards. He means a lot, for sure.”

Reeves has taken fewer than 10 shots just four times this season. Among those, Kentucky’s loss to UNC Wilmington, its near-loss to Saint Joseph’s (a game that went to overtime), and the narrow victory over North Carolina, when Reeves played a season-low 23 minutes. He scored just 15 points in last week’s defeat at South Carolina, and his worst shooting night of the season came during an early loss to Kansas.

He’s also been efficient.

Reeves is making more than half of his shots for the first time in his college career, hitting at 50.3%. He’s at 43.1% from deep — also the highest in his five seasons — and he’s connected on a career-best 56.0% of his 2-point shots. Reeves is shooting 87.3% on free throws. His previous best was 81.8%.

He scored 37 points in Kentucky’s upset at Arkansas in the regular-season finale last season.

Before Saturday’s game in Fayetteville, it was pointed out to Eric Musselman that the returning Reeves had a “really good game” against the Hogs last time.

“That wasn’t a good game,” Musselman shot back. “That was a career game.”

How would Arkansas prevent him from scoring this time, he was asked.

“Oh boy,” Musselman replied. “It’s going to be harder to defend him this year because they have more shooters around.”

The Arkansas coach went on to outline the various ways they might be able to slow Reeves down. The next day, he scored 24 of Kentucky’s points in a 63-57 victory.

“They got him open,” Musselman said. “Credit to a great player and credit to a great team.”

And that’s it. Those same Kentucky players that often get more of the headlines are also getting Reeves better looks this season than he got last year. Opposing teams have to account for guys like Dillingham, Sheppard and D.J. Wagner — all talented and willing passers, as well as skilled scorers — and Reeves himself has grown more comfortable with this level of play after admittedly struggling to find his comfort zone last season following three years at mid-major Illinois State.

In addition to that offensive efficiency, Reeves has blossomed in other areas. He’s averaging 4.4 rebounds per game, more than double his output last season while playing roughly the same amount of minutes. Calipari has also lauded his defensive improvement multiple times in recent weeks, saying he now trusts Reeves to guard the other team’s best perimeter player, something that would have been unheard of last season.

After what might have been Kentucky’s best defensive performance of the season Saturday, it was Reeves’ D — not his 24 points — that stuck out to one young teammate.

“Antonio guarded really, really well,” Sheppard said, unprompted. “And that’s what we needed. We need him to do that for us. Watching him — and him being into the game defensively — got the other four players on the court into the game. So that was big-time by Tone.”

The all-around improvement has even led to some NBA talk. At 23 years old, Reeves won’t be a sure thing to get drafted, but his elite shooting and scoring ability — coupled with his competence in those other areas — should get him some looks at the highest level. ESPN’s Jay Bilas called him an “NBA player” on a recent broadcast.

“I heard that a couple times,” smiled Reeves at the mention of the NBA chatter.

What does that talk mean to him?

“I feel like I’m headed in the right direction,” he said. “Just keep playing how I’m playing, and don’t let the media guys — or the commentators — affect me. Just leave that alone. You know, let them talk. But I feel like I just go out there and compete. And have fun, to be honest.”

Fun has been the buzzword of this UK basketball season. And Reeves is showing what he can do with more firepower around him. A week after Walker said Reeves wasn’t getting the proper amount of attention — toward the end of his second consecutive dismantling of Arkansas’ defense — Field of 68 podcast host Rob Dauster tweeted this: “The Antonio Reeves, All-American, movement needs to be louder. This dude has been incredible this season.”

In the days since that game, more national attention has started to come Reeves’ way. UK fans have been spreading the word of his impressive season on social media. On Tuesday, he was added to the Wooden Award late-season watch list, an annual honor that recognizes the most outstanding player in college basketball.

A few minutes after Saturday’s win, Reeves was asked about that “All-American” statement.

“I just don’t worry about it,” he said. “I just keep playing. Keep doing what I’m doing. And let it come to me. I just, honestly, don’t even worry about social media right now. I’m just worried about winning. Worried about staying focused. And worried about trying to win a national championship, at the end of the day.”

Next game

Florida at No. 10 Kentucky

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday

TV: ESPN

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Florida 14-6 (4-3 SEC), Kentucky 15-4 (5-2 SEC)

Series: Kentucky leads 110-41

Last meeting: Kentucky won 87-85 on Jan. 6 in Gainesville, Fla.

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