Tre Mitchell knew he was committing to Kentucky during his visit

West Virginia transfer power forward Tre Mitchell didn’t need to see much on his official visit to Kentucky before knowing it was going to be his next home. In fact, he hadn’t even left Lexington yet before it hit him. Looking back, the actual visit was more of a formality. Once head coach John Calipari came calling, Mitchell’s fate was sealed — he was going to be a Wildcat.

“Once I got in the portal and Cal reached out, it was just like, it’s Kentucky and it’s Coach Calipari,” Mitchell told reporters on Friday. “The track record speaks for itself but then once I got an opportunity to get on campus and I felt the energy and I saw what they were doing. It was like, how could I pass up on that?”

This wasn’t the first time that Calipari has made contact with Mitchell, either. The soon-to-be fifth-year senior has been recruited by the Wildcats before, dating back to his high school days as a four-star prospect and even during his previous stops in the transfer portal. Kentucky will be the fourth college for Mitchell, who spent two seasons at UMass (’19-21), one at Texas (’21-22), and then most recently one more at West Virginia (’22-23).

But the connection between Mitchell and Calipari goes back even further than that.

“That’s something that goes way back before I was even around. That’s older than me,” Mitchell said. “(Calipari has) had a relationship with my stepfather before I was even born. I guess they did some camps together back in the day and who knows what they were doing back then. But yeah it’s way before my time.”

First practice for @tre_mitch33 ☑️ pic.twitter.com/vad9SuLaNR

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) July 2, 2023

Kentucky was among the first few teams to reach out once Mitchell hit the portal in late June following the resignation of WVU’s now-former head coach Bob Huggins. Almost immediately, a visit to Kentucky was scheduled. A few days later, he was committed. Mitchell had a pretty idea going into his visit that UK was the school for him, but what he learned during those few days on campus solidified everything.

“It was very important,” Mitchell said of visiting Kentucky. “I got to see where I’m gonna be before I get there. For me, I wanted to feel the environment, I wanted to feel the coaching staff’s energy, I wanted to see the players a little bit, see how they played on the court. During the visit, it was all good things… Once I got here and spent a couple of days here, I was like okay I don’t need to see anything else.“

Kentucky checked all of his boxes. He came to that realization rather quickly.

“Towards the end of my visit for sure,” he said. “I was just kinda weighing things and I was like this is an opportunity that is great for me to step into and I couldn’t pass it up.”

One of the primary reasons why Kentucky appealed to Mitchell so much was because of something he didn’t truly recognize until he was actually in Lexington watching practice. At the time, there was still a glaring hole missing on the 2023-24 roster: another big man who can fill out the starting lineup. Calipari simply told Mitchell to watch practice and see if he notices anything. Mitchell quickly saw they were missing someone exactly like him.

“He was like just watch practice and tell me what you think, type thing. And after watching practice it was just like, obviously I’m an experienced guy and I can see what’s going on and I’m like yeah you guys are super talented but you’re missing that piece. And he was like good, that’s what I hoped you saw. I knew that’s what you would see at the end of it.“

Mitchell should fit like a glove into what Calipari is drafting up for this season’s squad. At 6-foot-9, 240 pounds, he’s an imposing force on the block but is also one who can stretch the floor. Mitchell averaged 11.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 30.0 minutes per game last season at WVU. He shot 47.0 percent overall and 36.4 percent from distance on 2.9 attempts per contest. Mitchell will slide in nicely at the four spot next to either Ugonna Onyenso or Aaron Bradshaw.

As Calipari said last week, it felt like fate that Mitchell would find his way to Kentucky.

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