Davion Mintz felt like a fan watching Kellan Grady explode against High Point

When Kellan Grady hit his seventh triple of the game against High Point on New Year’s Eve, his teammates were just like everybody else in attendance: watching in awe as fans.

Grady dropped 23 points on 8-12 shooting (7-10 from beyond the arc) in a dominating 44-point win over Tubby Smith’s High Point squad last week. Seven made 3s tied his personal career-high as he was on a heater that the Rupp Arena crowd hadn’t experienced in some time. Grady shot 5-6 from deep in the second half alone, blowing the roof off the building on multiple occasions through contested and turnaround triples.

With Kentucky up big and every fan on the edge of their seat in hopes that Grady might fire up another, for a few minute stretch, the game wasn’t about the final score at all; it was all about watching arguably the best shooter in all of college basketball perfect his craft as if he were in an empty gym.

Grady said after the game that he was aware of the mini-spectacle that was happening. But more than anything, he was appreciative that all 20,000 fans in attendance wanted him to take (and expected him to make) every single one of those shots. Not many players have come through this program possessing that type of atmosphere-bending impact.

For his fellow sharpshooting teammate, Davion Mintz, who was the Wildcats’ top outside shooter in 2020-21, watching Grady was like watching himself last season when he got into that same zone. That season didn’t pan out as hoped for UK, but Mintz hit at least four 3s in seven different outings for the ‘Cats that year, including a career-high of six against South Carolina at Rupp Arena.

It was nice for Mintz to finally see that hot streak from the other side; he knew what Grady was feeling with his confidence and how pure the shooter’s high can get.

“Kellan, he’s playing at a very high level right now,” Mintz said on Monday. “It was crazy because as he was getting into that feel, it kinda–in my mind–it felt like watching myself from last year in a different perspective. I was just in shock. But I could feel what he was going through. I could see it in his face and I was like ‘man, that’s how it looks,’ and I was just super proud of him. Rooting for him like just keep going.

“I honestly wanted him to shoot more. I kinda felt like a fan in that moment. I felt how people were feeling when they was watching me do it. It was just crazy man. Kellan is a high-level guy, he shoots the ball really well, and in practice it’s no difference.”

Granted, it’s taken Grady a while to come around to reach this level of shooting prowess. But he famously came to Kentucky as a 2,000-point scorer at Davidson and a student of Steph Curry’s game. He even admitted early in the season that it’s taken him some time to adjust to the speed of Power 5 basketball. But now 13 games into the season, he’s hitting his stride and it’s opening up so much more for UK’s offense.

Grady is averaging 18 pts and 3.5 rebs per outing on 64.5 percent shooting from distance (20-31) over his last four games. His role is clearly defined at this point–either shoot the ball, or watch from the bench. Grady has taken that to heart the last few games and it’s paying dividends.

His confidence has clearly taken a leap compared to November, as has the overall balance of Kentucky’s roster. Grady is playing better in front of the crowds, but it’s the behind-the-scenes work where his progress is developing. His teammates push him extra hard to take and make those shots in practice so when he’s in the game, the situation is one he’s fully prepared for.

“When he’s getting pushed and guarded harder in practice than he usually is in the games, it’s no surprise that he’s doing stuff like that,” Mintz said of Grady.

There aren’t many college basketball players more efficient right now than Kellan Grady. In terms of guards, he’s the most efficient among all Power 5 conferences, per KenPom. His shooting talent is so impressive that it’s leaving his talented veteran teammates starstruck.