Tyler Ulis set to join Kentucky basketball staff

One of the best point guards to come through Lexington is set to join the Kentucky basketball staff.

Tyler Ulis, a former consensus First-Team All-American and Bob Cousy Award winner at UK, is set to begin his coaching career as a student assistant under John Calipari, sources tell KSR.

The move will become official at the start of the spring semester.

Ulis has been in Lexington taking classes at UK and helping out the team in practice since the start of the season. His status as a full-time student allows him to join the staff in an official capacity.

Ulis was one of several Wildcats in attendance at Big Blue Madness in October.

“The other thing is we got Tyler Ulis, who is rehabbing and taking some courses in the gym with us watching and helping there too,” John Calipari said at Kentucky’s Media Day to open the season.

The former point guard standout was previously in town rehabbing a basketball injury for two months last summer while attempting a comeback in the NBA. He was there for Kentucky’s first practice of the summer and hung around the facilities throughout the preseason, doing his best to help the likes of Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington in 2021-22.

“Just got off the floor from our first on-court work of the season and the first person I see is Tyler Ulis,” Calipari said at the time. “Tyler is back in town and rehabbing. I can’t wait to see him back out there doing what he loves. I promised him I would be front row, feet on the wood when he starts playing again. It won’t be long!”

Just got off the floor from our first on-court work of the season and the first person I see is @tulis3! Tyler is back in town and rehabbing. I can’t wait to see him back out there doing what he loves. pic.twitter.com/Gd8b0AXtxL

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) June 14, 2021

Unfortunately for Ulis, his basketball future was put in question this past February when he was hospitalized after his car was struck head-on by a car going in the wrong direction on an interstate in Michigan. It was an accident that resulted in a broken ankle and broken bones in his foot and wrists.

He wasn’t able to walk on his own for five months, and even in his return to Rupp Arena for Big Blue Madness, he was introduced on crutches.

Ulis hosted a youth basketball camp in Lexington this summer, where he acknowledged the major career setback that came with the crash and injuries that came with it.

He last played competitive basketball in 2020, suiting up for the Sacramento Kings G-League affiliate.

Playing at Kentucky from 2014-16, Ulis became the 21st Wildcat in school history to earn first-team All-America honors and was the first Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year winner in school history. He was also named SEC Player of the Year by both the league’s coaches and the Associated Press, tabbed SEC Defensive Player of the Year by the league’s coaches in addition to All-SEC First Team honors and SEC All-Defensive Team honors. The 5-foot-9 point guard averaged 17.3 points, 7.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per contest in his final season as a Wildcat.

His playing career may have been put on pause, but his coaching career is just getting started.

Welcome back, Coach Ulis.