Seth Greenberg says Antonio Reeves made the right decision returning to Kentucky

Things got a bit hairy with Antonio Reeves following the NBA Draft withdrawal deadline on May 31, a three-week stretch of ‘will he?’ and ‘won’t he?’ questions regarding his potential return to Kentucky. The reigning SEC Sixth Man of the Year knew he was coming back for one season of college basketball, but would it be in Lexington? He weighed his options, going as far as enrolling in summer courses at Illinois State with his eyes on a potential move as a graduate transfer.

Whether it was playing time, role or NIL concerns, John Calipari made it clear Reeves was focused on the wrong things during that uncomfortable back-and-forth.

“Worried about the wrong stuff.”

“He was worried about the wrong stuff,” Calipari said of Reeves at the conclusion of Kentucky’s trip to Toronto for the 2023 GLOBL JAM. “When you have five of the freshmen that we have and you’re finding out they’re really good. ‘So what’s gonna happen to me?’ What? You’re the vet. What do you mean what’s happening to you? So, he did the right stuff. Proud of him and he’s playing good.”

Good is an understatement. The fifth-year senior, who moved back into his dorm in Lexington on June 21 and officially announced his return on July 6 — just three days before the team was set to leave for Canada — was nothing short of terrific in the international round-robin event. Reeves was named the GLOBL Jam Tournament MVP after averaging a team-high 23.0 points per game while shooting just under 58 percent from the floor and an absurd 56.3 percent from three.

“(Reeves) made the right decision.”

Not only was the Chicago native’s role clear, it was expanded from what he saw in year one. As the ball moved and spacing improved, the shots came easily for Reeves. It’s why longtime college basketball head coach and ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg believes he made the right decision by returning to Kentucky for one final run at the collegiate level.

“He made the right decision,” he told KSR this week. “Everyone was like, ‘What is he going to do? Is he going to leave or is he staying? He enrolled (at Illinois State)…’ Look, he’s on a good team. They’re going to be a good basketball team.”

His reasoning? Spacing and shot creation. In short, what Reeves was most concerned about — being relegated to a pure catch-and-shoot role while the blue-chip freshmen got to shine as stars — actually ended up playing in his favor. Rather than looking to get theirs, the newcomers got the ball moving with a wildly unselfish brand of basketball, setting up a countless number of clean looks for the fifth-year senior.

“Antonio is going to have a lot of space to play with.”

Guys like DJ Wagner, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards and Reed Sheppard leaned on Reeves to carry the scoring load while they took advantage of offensive opportunities as they came. That led to an average of 91.8 points per contest while shooting over 47 percent from the field, 103 total assists on 142 made field goals.

“Guys are going to create and get him the ball where he’s going to play against closeouts. He can either knock it down or drive it, they’re going to play in transition, which is going to be really important,” Greenberg told KSR. “He’s an elite, elite shooter, but the thing is, now he’s playing with guys who can make plays. When you’ve got four or five floor gamers on the court, it creates spacing — as long as those guys can shoot. (Having) floor gamers without shot makers doesn’t do anything for you.

“Floor gamers with shot makers, that creates spacing. Antonio is going to have a lot of space to play with. He played really well.”

Kentucky got a good one back. At the same time, though, returning to Lexington was the right move for Reeves, too.