"An unfortunate play," Will Wade says of screen on Sahvir Wheeler, "a great kid"

LSU head coach Will Wade and Kentucky point guard Sahvir Wheeler know each other well. In fact, Wheeler almost chose Wade and LSU over John Calipari and Kentucky when the All-SEC point guard left Georgia after the 2020-21 season.

Remember? Wheeler called Wade “the Elon Musk of college basketball” while breaking down his transfer options with his father, Teddy.

Will Wade knows Teddy Wheeler too. Before Kentucky and LSU tipped off Tuesday night, Wade ran into the older Wheeler, whose away-team tickets were in the 300-level, and joked he should’ve called him for better seats.

“I love Wheeler,” Wade admitted after LSU defeated the Wheeler-less Wildcats. “He’s a kid we recruited. I know his family. I know his dad Teddy very well. One of our managers was with him at Houston Christian, where he played, so they’re great, great people. I’ve known them for a long, long time.”

Unfortunately, Wade’s reunion with Savhir Wheeler didn’t last a long time Tuesday night. Wheeler was injured on a screen four minutes into the game and needed to be helped off to the locker room by Kentucky’s team trainer and a manager. He never returned from the back and John Calipari couldn’t provide an update after the game.

Wade called the play unfortunate, but part of the game.

“It was a legal screen by Efton (Reid),” Wade said. “He gave him a step and it was a totally legal screen. It was just an unfortunate play. Certainly, he’s a jet and he’s a great player. You saw the domino effect of that. They had to play some other guys and then TyTy Washington kind of wore down.”