Checkerboards reportedly gone from Kentucky's new basketball uniforms

Sahvir Wheeler — Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio

Do you want the good news or better news first? We’ll start with the good news. Kentucky is reportedly getting new basketball uniforms next season, the first permanent change since the 2016-17 season.

The better news? The checkerboards are gone, as well.

According to Kyle Tucker of The Athletic, a new permanent basketball uniform is set to be unveiled next season, with the prominent checkerboard running down both sides being removed in the process.

“That’s one message that finally got through,” Tucker wrote.

It is my understanding that the checkerboards have, in fact, been killed in the new iteration of Kentucky basketball’s permanent uniform to be unveiled next season. That’s one message that finally got through. https://t.co/meZUcV9lm0
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) March 22, 2022

Kentucky has kept the same basketball uniform combo every season since 2016-17 after several different iterations and designs throughout the start of the John Calipari era in Lexington. The team regularly rolled out unique one-game combos for high-profile matchups, highlighted by new fonts, colors and designs.

Since 2016, though, the special edition uniforms have been few and far between. The team wore an alternate uniform for one game last season, a gray colorway just a shade darker than the traditional white. Everything else remained the same.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/lVHAzQJ9Ia
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) February 6, 2021

Now, though, it appears change is coming.

UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said Monday evening that Kentucky needed to return to “championship-level level performance” after zero NCAA Tournament wins since 2019. Maybe it starts with a new look on the floor?

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“At the end of the day, we’re built for championships. That’s what this program is all about,” he said. “It’s about winning SEC championships in the regular season, it’s about SEC titles in the tournament, it’s about championships in March and in early April. Deep, deep runs, that’s what we’re built for. We’re supposed to do those things and we fell short of that this year. …

“If anybody knows anything about our program as a whole, that’s what we are designed to do. We have built the foundational pieces of Kentucky Athletics and specifically Kentucky basketball to, layer upon layer, give us an opportunity to celebrate championship-level performance. So we need to return to that. Our fans deserve that.”

As for the football uniforms, Tucker reports that the checkerboards are here to stay, though they are less prominent on those jerseys. You can only find the checkerboard on the shoulders, with the rest of the jersey, pants and helmet sticking with solid colors.