Kentucky's Daimion Collins has championship dreams in 2022-23

It was a wait-and-see year for Kentucky forward Daimion Collins during his freshman campaign in Lexington. He had his moments, scoring in double figures three times and pulling down six-plus rebounds five times. His biggest performance came in a 10-point, six-rebound outing at Alabama, doing so in just nine minutes.

Overall, though, the 6-foot-10 forward averaged just 2.9 points (57.7% FG), 2.0 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 7.5 minutes per game. The flashes were there, but the consistency wasn’t.

Going into year two, Collins is ready to turn that potential into production as a core piece of the rotation.

“I just want to stay focused, keep working,” the former five-star recruit said Friday at his Players First Satellite Camp in Shepherdsville. “Whenever my opportunity comes, just play as hard as I can each and every game. … The offseason is for everything, to get my game better and get my body right. I want to get better and get right for the season. Just be the best I can for the season and play as best I can. … I’ve been working on getting my handles better, getting my shot better, working on my all-around game.”

Collins had a difficult decision to make when he decided to return to Kentucky for a second season. A fun project player for NBA teams, he could have turned pro and likely would’ve been selected in the second round based on potential alone — he does boast a 7-foot-5 wingspan with a 42-inch vertical. He could’ve also hit the transfer portal in hopes of finding more playing time elsewhere.

Instead, Collins decided to bet on himself and his growth, coming back for his sophomore year in Lexington.

“There’s nowhere like Kentucky, you know?” Collins told KSR. “Coach Cal, all our assistant coaches, the team, and most of all the fans. The fans are great. Every single game, away or home, they’re there supporting us. That’s really what made my decision.”

Kentucky’s loss to St. Peter’s in the NCAA Tournament also helped push him back to Lexington. Ending the year on a historically sour note, Collins wants to help lead the Wildcats back to their first Final Four since 2015.

“I’m really excited to come back,” he added. “After last year, after the loss, it was painful for everybody. We all wanted to come back, work hard and win a national championship.”

A significant part of his growth will come down to, well, his growth. Weighing a hair over 200 pounds, Collins is working on bulking up to counter the physicality he saw in the SEC as a freshman.

“College and high school is a big difference, the physicality was a lot different from high school,” he said. “It’s something I had to adjust to as I kept playing. Coming into year two, I’ll be better prepared for that.”

It doesn’t hurt having a 6-foot-9, 255-pound consensus National Player of the Year in Oscar Tshiebwe back for another season to battle every day in practice.

“Last year as a freshman, that helped a lot,” Collins said of Tshiebwe. “Having someone like him to go against every day in practice, that really helped, just the physicality. Year two, going against him again, it’ll get me more prepared.”

Kentucky also hired a brand new head strength and conditioning coach in Brady Welsh, who came to Lexington from Purdue back in May. Workouts and conversations with Welsh have already begun, with bulking Collins up being one of his first tasks on the job.

“I have gotten to talk to him, I met him on the first day I got back. We’ve talked a lot,” he told KSR. “We came in, got a lift in this morning. He’s pretty cool, we’re going to have a good season this year. He wants me to add weight, put on weight for the season and the next level, whenever I get there. His expectation for me is to put on some weight.”

Collins entered his time at Kentucky as a consensus top-20 prospect, a player with an unlimited ceiling. Now, he’s using this offseason to inch closer to that ceiling going into year two.