Bellarmine will play Kentucky, Louisville, UCLA, Duke in 2022-23

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Scotty Davenport — (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Give Bellarmine credit; the Knights aren’t scared. Fresh off an ASUN Championship — which did NOT earn them a bid in the NCAA Tournament or NIT because the NCAA is dumb — Bellarmine is putting together another very tough schedule. While guest-hosting The Deener Show on ESPN 680 this morning, Bellarmine coach Scotty Davenport said the Knights will play Kentucky, Louisville, UCLA, and Duke next season. They are in talks with Indiana about a potential game as well.

“There is an agreement between Coach Calipari and myself. We do not have a contract yet but we will play this year, this coming year. And we will play the University of Louisville. We are waiting on a date, we’ve got some shuffling of dates with UCLA in Pauley Pavilion and we are contracted at Duke on November 21, a Tuesday.”

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of Kentucky playing Bellarmine next season. When Louisville canceled its game vs. Kentucky due to COVID issues in December, John Calipari reached out to Davenport to see if the Knights could replace the Cards. It didn’t work out due to scheduling conflicts on Bellarmine’s end, but the two agreed to a game the next season, 2022-23.

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“At the end of the day, we couldn’t make it happen,” Davenport said on his weekly radio show at the time. “[Calipari] calls me, it’s the last call at 1:10 (PM). He says, ‘Scotty, I have great news and bad news. What do you want first?’ I said, ‘I want the great news.’ He said, ‘I’m playing you next year. We’re playing.’”

Unfortunately for Davenport, his team may have to face that gauntlet without their leading scorer. Senior guard Dylan Penn, who averaged 16.6 points per game and scored 22 in the ASUN Championship, entered the transfer portal earlier this week.