Kentucky's Adou Thiero showing he can make an impact as a freshman

During the Kentucky men’s basketball annual Blue-White Game, a series of minor injuries meant the preseason scrimmage would be without some of the program’s typical star power. Reigning National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe, the SEC’s top assist generator Sahvir Wheeler, and veteran big man Lance Ware were all sidelined for the event, which took place in Pikeville, KY this year for the first time ever.

These absences created some interesting lineups for the five-on-five scrimmage. The White Team came out on top with the 70-67 win over the Blue Team, but just looking at the rosters, the contest was much closer than it appeared it would have been on paper. The Blue Team included three walk-ons and the youngest freshman on the team, summer enrollee Ugonna Onyenso. Which meant the majority of the Blue Team’s production would have to come from Illinois State transfer Antonio Reeves and freshman guard Adou Thiero — and that’s exactly what happened.

Reeves and Thiero did more than enough to keep the Blue Team from being completely blown out. In fact, they nearly pulled off the “upset”. Reeves led the way with 27 points on a 5-12 clip from distance, but it was Thiero who was once again the headliner of another preseason Kentucky exhibition. The 6-foot-6 combo guard has been a pleasant surprise since arriving as the least-heralded of the 2022 recruiting class earlier this summer.

Thiero flexed his potential during the Wildcats’ trip to the Bahamas a couple of months ago and put on another show in Pikeville on Saturday night. The Leetsdale, PA native looked like anything but a rookie against his older teammates. Thiero posted a stat line of 21 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, and three steals while playing all 30 minutes as the defacto point guard.

"Is he the superstar?" Adou Thiero Highlights from the Blue-White game. #BBN pic.twitter.com/b6ZUSzvoNS

— Rare Rookies #BBN (@rarerookies) October 23, 2022

He shot 8-16 overall from the field and played sound defense on the other end of the floor. But he also turned the ball over three times, went 1-4 from deep, and 4-7 from the free throw line, which is all he could think about once the game came to an end.

“I think I did pretty well, had a couple of shots I should have made, free throws could have done better,” Thiero said postgame.

Down in the Bahamas over the summer, Thiero gave the Big Blue Nation its first taste of what they might have in the quiet, still-growing kid who came to UK very much under the radar. He averaged 6.3 points and 3.0 rebounds across those four games while playing 14.3 minutes per outing against decent competition. Thiero says he’s not out to prove a point or steal playing time, though. He simply wants to be able to make an impact in any way he can.

“I think I could help create space on the floor. Oscar (Tshiebwe) gets the ball inside then we have all shooters on the perimeter so they can’t really double-team him inside and let him do what he does,” Thiero said. “Just show that I can help this team and be a factor.”

If Thiero continues to play at this kind of level, it could be tough for head coach John Calipari to keep him off the floor once the regular season begins. But again, that’s not his focus — Thiero is just working to get better every day.

“Hard to say right now but I just think I’m gonna keep my head down and keep working because that’s all I can do,” Thiero said about earning early playing time. “There’s never a max, you can always keep getting better and that’s what I think I’m gonna keep doing.”

That hard work could quickly pay off if Thiero keeps up this type of production in the upcoming exhibition games and into the regular season.