Calipari on the passing of Daimion Collins' father, Ben Collins

Kentucky Basketball played its final preseason exhibition game with heavy hearts Thursday night in Rupp Arena, two days after the sudden passing of sophomore Daimion Collins‘ father, Ben. Ben Collins died unexpectedly Tuesday in Lexington, where he had recently moved from Texas to support his son’s college basketball career at Kentucky. In the days since Ben passed, Daimion flew back home to be with his mother, brother, and sister, while the team took a brief pause from basketball activities before Thursday’s home exhibition. John Calipari even asked his players if they should cancel the game, but Collins’ teammates, including his cousin, Cason Wallace, elected to play on for the Collins family.

After the game, Calipari opened his press conference with comments about Ben Collins and how Daimion and the team are coping with the loss.

“I was good until I walked in the room and saw their faces,” Calipari said of the moment he told the team the news. “You’re trying to stay strong for them. But it took me some time to get composed. And the message: it wasn’t what Ben did and it’s not something that someone did to Ben. God took him.

“The night before he was with Daimion. They were in the gym for an hour and a half. When he got back to the apartment he called his wife. They were on the phone for 20 minutes. When he hung up the phone, sometime shortly thereafter he passed away.”

He was 43 years old.

“It’s not fair,” Calipari added. “I told the team, things aren’t fair. That man sold his business. He had a trucking business. He also drove, but he sold it so he could be here with his son. Think about that. He said, I can’t leave it in anyone else’s hands so I’m going to sell the business. 

“And now he wasn’t up here full-time, but he was in and out, and he happened to be in. And I always — he would sit up in the upper deck. He would wave to me and sit up there and watch. The guys that were in the gym that night before saw him in there.” 

Many of those guys are struggling, Calipari noted, and six players stayed at Calipari’s house Tuesday night to grieve together.

“At the end of the day, I’m dealing with people’s children,” he said. “I had one of the parents call me from this team and say, you look after my son, please. He’s never dealt with anything like this. And he’s one of the guys that stayed at the house. And he stayed again last night for the same reason.” 

“I feel for Daimion.”

Daimion Collins has as long as he needs to stay with his family in Texas to mourn his father’s passing. “We’ll hold the fort down for you,” Calipari told him.

Whenever Collins does return, Calipari and the team still expect a long road for the 20-year-old who’ll have their full love and support behind him.

“They got to be there for each other,” Calipari explained. “Spending time with Daimion, you know, he’s very quiet. I told him, grieving and depression, you’re going to get in a dark place. And my only thing to him was, if all you’re doing is sleeping and looking at that phone, you’re in that dark place. And if you need to talk to players, talk to your teammates. Even if you’re crying, you got to talk to somebody.

“I feel for Daimion. I worry about him. We had psychologists there for the team if they needed it. And they got cards if they want to do something. I had a couple guys stay at the house last night again. But the only thing I said to Kim and Daimion is, God is good. His last hours were with his son who he loved and was very, very close to. And he was on the phone with his wife.”