Welcome back, Daimion Collins

Senior Night will be an emotional evening in Rupp Arena as Big Blue Nation says goodbye to its beloved senior class in the regular season home finale. The 2024-25 Kentucky Wildcats won over the fan base in Mark Pope’s debut season, and tonight marks the last time they will play together in front of the home crowd in Lexington.

Over on LSU’s side, the Tigers’ last road trip of their season may also be emotional for LSU’s starting center, Daimion Collins. A familiar face to Big Blue Nation, Collins played his first two seasons of college basketball at Kentucky, part of John Calipari’s 2021-22 and 2022-23 teams. The consensus five-star talent appeared in 52 games as a Wildcat, backing up National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe for seven minutes per game for two years.

However, it’s the tragedy during his time in Lexington that may weigh heavily on Collins during his return.

Ben Collins’ sudden passing in 2022

On November 1, 2022, Collins’ father suddenly passed away in his new Lexington apartment. Ben Collins had just moved to Lexington from Texas to be closer to his son for Daimion’s sophomore season at UK. Four days before his unexpected death, Ben helped Daimion celebrate his 20th birthday, even spending time with Daimion and his teammates in the team’s practice facility the night before he passed.

The tragic loss of his father, who Daimion named the most influential person in his life in his UK Athletics biography, turned Daimion’s life upside down. Immediately, he took a break from basketball to be with his mother and younger siblings back in Texas. He would return to campus after his father’s funeral, but he still needed more time to grieve. John Calipari said Collins lost 16 pounds in the days after his father’s passing. Eventually, he used the transfer portal to get closer to home, landing at LSU after his sophomore season.

Daimion Collins at LSU

Year 1 of the Daimion Collins rebuild at LSU came with more adversity. Only six games into his junior season, Collins suffered a dislocated shoulder, which caused him to miss 27 games at his new school in 2023-24.

This season, though, Collins is playing his best basketball. Two weeks ago, he scored a career-high 22 points at Oklahoma, going 8-for-10 from the field with four blocks. In LSU’s best win of conference play, he set a career-high with 10 rebounds and four blocks against Arkansas and his old Kentucky coach. One of those blocks sealed the victory when he swatted Adou Thiero, a former teammate, with four seconds to go.

Collins ranks sixth in the SEC with 1.56 blocks per game, heading into his Kentucky homecoming. He’s also among the best in field-goal percentage, ranking fourth in the SEC with a 67.9% two-point percentage. Head coach Matt McMahon lets him shoot, too. He’s made six 3-pointers on 30 attempts.

Daimion Collins’ Kentucky highlights

Kentucky didn’t get the best version of Daimion Collins. He was young and thin in a crowded frontcourt as a freshman, then came the tragedy at the beginning of his sophomore campaign. Still, the athletic McDonald’s All-American provided several highlights for the Big Blue Nation. Hopefully, fans will greet him with a warm reception for his two years as a Wildcat and the circumstances in which he left.

Daimion Collins returns to Rupp Arena tonight as a member of the LSU roster.

Here are his 2021-23 Kentucky Highlights. pic.twitter.com/2c9zkvcNHO

— Daniel Hager (@DanielHagerKSR) March 4, 2025