Scott Davenport says Kentucky will play Bellarmine in 2022-23

Kentucky won’t be playing Bellarmine this week, but they will be taking on the Knights next season.

After reports circulated of a potential two-year deal between Kentucky and Bellarmine this morning, the Wildcats went a different direction, reaching an agreement with Western Kentucky to play this week. Bellarmine head coach Scott Davenport did, however, confirm with KSR that John Calipari agreed to schedule the Knights in 2022-23, the first-ever matchup between the two programs.

Davenport told KSR that he and Calipari spoke throughout the morning in hopes of a potential matchup this week to replace the cancelled Louisville game. When logistics couldn’t be finalized due to scheduling conflicts on Bellarmine’s side, the two sides agreed to a matchup next season.

Davenport discussed the conversations at length during his weekly radio show, giving a play-by-play on how the agreement for next year came to fruition.

“Ten (minutes) after 9 (o’clock) this morning, I’m in my car en route from Knights Hall to Freedom Hall,” Davenport said. “We had been in the office early. We play a very, very good Loyola Marymount team tomorrow night at 7 o’clock at Freedom Hall, the only game in town.

“… I don’t sugarcoat it, I don’t BS these things. Ten after nine, my phone rings, and on my screen in my car, it’s an 859 area code number. I answered it and say, ‘Good morning, Scott Davenport.’ Immediately there was a rant about someone being hammered all the time about playing Bellarmine. ‘I go to church four days a week, and three days out of four, I’m told we ought to play Bellarmine.’ I say, ‘Well, coach. You should listen to what they say in church. If you listen, you’ll be a lot better person, that’s why you go to church.’ And (Calipari) immediately cracks up, he starts laughing.

“He said, ‘All right, I want you to listen to me,’ and this is verbatim. I said, ‘Yes sir.’ He says, ‘Coach, our Louisville game has been postponed and I want you to listen to me — I know you play Loyola Marymount on Tuesday, would you be receptive to playing in Rupp Arena on Wednesday?’ I said, ‘Yes sir.’ He goes, ‘I want a reestablished, per-ticket donation. It can be five dollars, ten dollars, 15 dollars, it’s going to go to Western Kentucky.’ I said, ‘Coach, I’m in. I’m in.’

“He said, ‘What do you think we have to do to make this happen?’ I said, ‘On our end, the biggest issue is we have one non-conference game. We’ve got Bradley in Peoria on December 29.’ He said, ‘Do you have a good relationship with their coach?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it’s Brian Wardle. … Coach, I’ll call him. But before that, I’ll see if I can arrange a team to take our place.’ And I proceeded to do that.

“Had a Division II opponent that would go into Bradley and play in our place. I get the call to Coach Wardle, we start the conversation. At the end of the day, they wanted to play. They had reasons. They wanted a home game, they wanted Bellarmine, it’s a home-and-home, that means they’re coming to Freedom Hall next year. Here’s my gamble: If I agree to play Kentucky, then I’m banking and gambling that one conference game will be cancelled due to COVID. With one game canceled, I would have one game leeway. But here’s the gamble, let’s just say no ASUN games are canceled and we’re competing for a conference championship, I’m forced to take a forfeit. That would’ve been my gamble.

“Coach Calipari says, ‘Scotty, that’s tough.’ There’s probably 20 to 25 phone calls today, there was no assistant, no ops person, no administrator, it was Coach Calipari and myself. There was never anyone else involved but John Calipari and Scott Davenport. For that, and the respect our program was given, I’m appreciative. At the end of the day, we couldn’t make it happen. He calls me, it’s the last call at 1:10 (PM). He says, ‘Scotty, I have great news and bad news. What do you want first?’ I said, ‘I want the great news.’ He said, ‘I’m playing you next year. We’re playing.’

“… We are now contracted at Duke, now we have the word from Kentucky, we are contracted at Louisville, very hopeful for Pauley Pavilion and UCLA, as well as a return trip to Loyola Marymount. As difficult as scheduling is, that’s tremendous for a building program. I publicly want to thank him.”

Bellarmine accepted an invitation to the ASUN in 2019 and was officially introduced as a Division I program in July of 2020. The Knights finished their first season as a DI team with a 14-8 overall record, including 10-3 in conference play. It was a schedule that featured the likes of Duke and Notre Dame.

This season, Bellarmine sits at 6-7 on the year with an absolute monster of a schedule, taking on the likes of Purdue, Gonzaga, UCLA, West Virginia to open non-conference play.