There’s Something Funky Going On With Tai Wynyard At Kentucky…
A young man’s talent carries him to distant shores. His natural ability catches the attention of those whose task it is to spot it and he accepts an invitation to hone that talent at a prestigious establishment. Initially he watches from the outside, working on his studies and studying his work as he learns his trade. Slowly he begins to earn his place. His star begins to rise. He is surrounded by heroes, he watches them rise and pass by. This young man is poised for defining times, his moment is imminent and he’s ready to grab it. But it doesn’t happen like that. He struggles to make an impact and then he gets hurt. He gets distracted. He falls in with people he shouldn’t. Does some things he’ll later regret. People find out. He’s punished. He’s left behind. The spiral continues downwards, dizzying in its swings and curves, sinking ever deeper…
Something strange is going on with Tai Wynyard at Kentucky but, whatever it is, people have kept their mouths shut about the specifics. The whole thing is clouded in suspense and intrigue, it’s both concerning and compelling. Even in the bubbled chaos of American college sports this is an odd situation. A promising basketballer, a renowned university team, an unfortunate injury, an armed man on campus… what exactly does this have to do with Aotearoa’s current best college basketball prospect, you ask? Here are the facts as we know them.
Tai Wynyard was suspended by Kentucky a little while ago. Indefinitely barred from all team activities following a breach of team rules. Nothing more was officially explained about the suspension but not too much later a story emerged that Wynyard had been attending frat parties on campus with an armed bodyguard. A message was sent around sorority members warning about this friend who claimed to be ‘protecting’ Wynyard and who was believed to be dangerous.
This is the message, as reported and name-redacted by the Lousiville Courier Journal: “there is a (person) showing up to parties with the basketball player Tai Wynyard. (The person) showed up last night to our rush party and ... had a gun ... said he was 'protecting' Wynyard. ... If you go out tonight and see (person) DO NOT APPROACH (person). Share this to EVERY SISTER."
Here’s the thing though, Wynyard’s not been with the team anyway. The incident in question occurred in mid-January but he hasn’t played a game since the turn of the New Year. He’d been dealing with a back injury which hadn’t been responding well and coach John Calipari had already effectively ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Calipari: “He’s tried to come back twice. It hasn’t worked, so I think at this point he’ll be sitting out the rest of the year. I don’t think there’d be any chance at this point. He’ll be out.”
With his injury, protocol is that he wouldn’t travel with the team for games. Calipari decided recently that if a player isn’t available then it’s better they stay behind to focus on their academics. Wynyard isn’t the only player affected by this, shooting guard Jemarl Baker also missed their recent trips to South Carolina, West Virginia and Missouri. Wynyard, according to the Journal, was last seen with the team on January 13, two weeks after he last played for UK, and he wasn’t present at their most recent home game because of “academic obligations”… although what we know now paints that idea in a different light.
Okay, what to make of this all then? The main thing is that no criminal charges were pressed against ‘the bodyguard’ so there’s nothing illegal going on. It’s not even worth getting into the disgusting nature of gun law in America (particularly in a state like Kentucky) but Tai wasn’t the guy with the weapon anyway. As for the reason he had a bloke with him packing heat, well college sports are a big deal. Completely amateur for players (unless you count the copious team sponsorships, the full scholarships and all the rest of it) but entirely lucrative for the schools. It’s massive business. Massively corrupt as well, but that’s a different story.
Even fringe players like Tai Wynyard would be treated as minor celebrities and at 6’10 it’s not like he can really shrink into a crowd either. Plus he’s a uni student, so of course he’s going around parties and hanging out and enjoying himself. That he might feel the need to have somebody hanging around with him who’s got his back… it’s only natural. Then again, the other guy might have only be telling tales to sound important by association. Tai might not have even known about the weapon.
The way the story was presented made it sound like someone was out to get him. Maybe some chick’s boyfriend or a drug dealer or possibly even an Australian. All these imaginative possibilities… most likely it’s a misunderstanding of some sort. Clearly this bloke shouldn’t be out there with lead stashed in his pocket but people do silly things sometimes, particularly at that age, and gun-totin’ in kinda encouraged in certain circles of the American political spectrum anyway, it’s not as taboo over there as it would be here. Also, there’s no suggestion it was ever drawn or fired. Hell, it might not even have been loaded.
Still, it’s enough to suspend him, clearly. When UK are paying coach John Calipari up to US$8m in base salary (expect some heft bonuses on top of that), anything that paints their system in a bad light needs dealing with. Wynyard’s playing on a scholarship, most of these players are, and that’s an honour that can be taken away in a flash. It comes with higher expectations of conduct compared to regular students and all that. Apparently this is the first off-court suspension of the Calipari era.
But Wynyard’s injured anyway. He wasn’t gonna be practising with the team or playing or whatever regardless. This suspension doesn’t actually change his immediate prospects with the team at all, although it might put a cap on his UK career. It’s hard to see him coming back from this when he wasn’t making much of a splash as it is. They can use that scholarship on someone else.
After redshirting in his first year (meaning he trained but didn’t play), Wynyard played 15 games last season for a total of 54 minutes. He scored 11 total points with 13 rebounds. After impressing with the New Zealand team at the Under-19 World Cup, the feeling was high that he could compete for a bigger role on that Kentucky team (helped by several graduates/pro departures – Malik Monk, Bam Adebayo and De’Aaron Fox were all drafted). Both guys ahead of him on the centre charts, Adebayo and Australian Isaac Humphries, had left the programme.
Except they replaced Adebayo with Jamaican big man (via Queens, New York) Nick Richards, who was a consensus five-star prospect. Then sophomore Sacha Killeya-Jones won second unit 5 duties. Through injuries and all the rest of it, Wynyard has only played 43 minutes across eight games, shooting 3/7 for 8 points and 14 rebounds.
It just hasn’t worked out. This recent thing aside, nobody’s complaining about his attitude or his dedication to getting better. His main thing is that he just isn’t that athletic, not compared to some of the other blokes in his position. He’s a little too slow, a little too heavy on his feet to thrive in the college game. Plus he’s playing for a programme that can regularly attract some of the best prospects in America so earning playing time isn’t necessarily going to get easier each year.
With this season spoiled by injury, he’s still got two more years of eligibility (thanks to redshirting that first campaign) and it might be best if he spends those years somewhere else where he’ll get to showcase his talents better. The dream lives on but where things stand he’s a long, long way from the NBA. And also, you’d have to think, from getting a cheeky invite to the next big party. Shoulda just borrowed dad’s axe instead.
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