Andrew Carr coming into his own as Kentucky's leader: 'We always call him our team dad.'

Andrew Carr was steady, but nothing too special during Kentucky’s first two games of the 2024-25 season.

He scored 11 points against both Wright State and Bucknell, taking a combined 11 shots along the way. The 6-foot-11 graduate student came to Lexington with over 115 college basketball games under his belt, so he appeared content with letting himself fit in rather than trying to stand out. As long as the team was winning, he could continue to figure out his role.

But sometimes a good player needs to stand out, especially in big moments. Kentucky needed Carr to step up down the stretch against Duke last Tuesday in Atlanta. Having faced the Blue Devils four times across his two seasons at Wake Forest, the Blue Blood opponent was hardly intimidating. He was given the keys to Mark Pope‘s offense in the final minutes of a tight game.

Carr finished with a season-high 17 points in the 72-72 win over Duke. He shot 5-8 from the field, 2-3 from deep, and 5-6 from the free throw line while adding six rebounds, three assists, and one block in his 30 minutes of action. That performance alone was enough to win the SEC Player of the Week.

But in the final four minutes against Duke, Carr took control — there was no other option for the Wildcats. He had six points (off a pair of and-ones), one rebound, and one assist during that late-game span. The first and-one tied the game at 67. The second one gave Kentucky a lead.

Andrew Carr vs. #6 Duke Tuesday night:

🔹 5/8 FG (2/3 3PT)
🔹 16 PTS
🔹 5 REB
🔹 3 AST
🔹 +9 +/-

🔗: https://t.co/XtTd5mz03t pic.twitter.com/eCqQMhhQaE

— Daniel Hager (@DanielHagerKSR) November 13, 2024

In a game where Jaxson Robinson couldn’t get himself going and isolation buckets were tough to come by, Pope called upon Carr to step up. He had a favorable matchup and took advantage.

“I think that’s just the flow of the game. That happens with the way that we play,” Carr said postgame. “There’s a lot of reading and reacting, and we try to take advantage of how the defense is guarding us. There’s switching sometimes and just wanted to continue to try to be aggressive. We always talk about making plays for our teammates.”

This kind of breakout was going to come eventually for Carr. Even on a team filled with fourth- and fifth-year players, he still stands out as a vocal leader. That’s his personality. Pope wasn’t kidding when he said in the offseason that Carr was born to play for him. Carr has a coach’s mindset. When asked on Monday about Kentucky’s locker room voices, graduate student Lamont Butler mentioned Carr’s name first.

“Andrew has done a great job of leading us,” Butler, who played 131 games at San Diego State before coming to UK, said. “He’s always a positive energy, positive voice, always correcting mistakes for us. Things like that. We always call him our team dad. He’s always been a great leader for us throughout the year and we’re just excited for him to continue to grow as a leader.”

All this being said, you can’t be a team dad without a classic dad mustache. Luckily, Carr has that covered too.

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