Ja'Mori Maclin says Kentucky's 'all around' leadership must improve

North Texas transfer Ja’Mori Maclin had his best game as a Wildcat, putting up 121 yards and two touchdowns on three catches — all season-highs — in Kentucky’s blowout loss to Louisville. His connection with Gavin Wimsatt was a breath of fresh air in a game with very little to be optimistic about both in the short- and long-term. It was a performance that left fans wondering where in the world Maclin had been all season and why he wasn’t utilized more, wrapping up his season with just 313 yards and four touchdowns on 13 catches — 38 percent of his yardage, 50 percent of his scores and 23 percent of his touches coming in the finale.

Better late than never, he was grateful to show off his abilities in the rivalry matchup.

“He just gave me a chance, man,” Maclin said of his connection with Wimsatt. “I appreciate him — I appreciate all of our quarterbacks, but I appreciate that he gave me a chance and I made the most of those opportunities. I did drop one, so I’m not even happy about the two touchdowns [laughs]. He did great to step up. I’m proud of him and I’m thankful for him.”

After making a statement on the field against the Cards, the senior receiver made another statement away from it during postgame media. When asked about what went wrong for the Wildcats in his first season in Lexington, Maclin said it wasn’t just one position group that came up short to finish 4-8 on the year, it was everybody.

“It’s a collective thing,” he said. “You can say the receivers, you can say the running backs, you can say the O-line — it’s all of us. It’s stuff we know we could’ve worked on and done better. I feel like we’re still a great team, just made a few mistakes. You just have to look back on the season and learn and grow.”

More specifically, he said leadership within the locker room is an issue that must be addressed for this program to turn things around in 2025 and beyond.

That includes players and coaches alike.

“It can be all around — players, coaches, whatever it is,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’re still a team. It’s not one specific player or one specific group. All around, we need better leadership.”

Is it harder to be that guy as an incoming transfer, leading a program when you’re just coming in from somewhere else on short notice? Maclin experienced that himself, bouncing from Missouri to North Texas and now to Kentucky. He felt he was a natural leader coming in anyway, but it takes time to establish a voice in any locker room, including this one.

Did he get there? He personally thinks so, but there were some understandable early hurdles.

“It is a little bit harder, I would say,” he said. “Definitely for me coming in, I’ve always been a natural leader at the last two schools I’ve been at. It took some time for me to grow into that type of role. I tried to lead my receiver group pretty well, but it’s a learning process.”

As for his future and if that includes a return to Kentucky, Maclin says that decision hasn’t been made, but will be soon. Maybe the blowout loss in the finale pushes him one way or another — he put up big numbers, but only once Wimsatt entered the game and hardly at all up to that point in the season.

He’s gonna talk things over with his family and decide from there.

“It could, but I’m not even focused on that right now. I’m gonna take some time, go home — shoot, I’m about to pack up, go home right now and go spend time with my family,” Maclin said. “We’ll talk about it and see what happens. … I don’t want to speak for anybody else. I’m not gonna throw a timeline on it, I’m just going home to spend time with family.”

Is there optimism for a future in Lexington?

“Oh yeah, we’ve got a lot of young guys,” he continued. “We’ve got Cutter (Boley), we’ve got Hardley (Gilmore) — a bunch of young guys that can step up and be really good for this program. It’s all about getting those guys ready for next season.”

Jamori Maclin speaks with the media after the game. Take a listen!

He says going forward this team needs more leadership to get back on track pic.twitter.com/7IdMcItK65

— Dylan Ballard (@DylanBallard_UK) November 30, 2024