Fifteen years after one of the most magical individual seasons in Kentucky basketball history, the man responsible for the memories is coming back to his college home.
Jodie Meeks will be inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend, a career-defining honor, as well as — for a player known for his even-keeled, focused demeanor on and off the court — an opportunity to reflect on what he accomplished during his time as a Wildcat.
“It’s definitely a humbling experience,” Meeks said this week, a couple of days before his planned arrival in Lexington. “After my career was over at UK — I know I had a pretty good season — but I’m always someone that just keeps looking forward. And I really didn’t have time to kind of reminisce over that season until, like, I would hear from some people that came into the league after me. …
“Because when you’re in it, you always focus on, ‘OK, the next game, the next game.’ So I definitely appreciate it more as I get a little older versus when I was younger, because you’re always worried about the next game or the next part of your career.”
Meeks thought back on his time at UK in bits and pieces after he left.
Sometimes, he’d cross paths with a fellow Wildcat who came to the NBA after him — like John Wall or DeMarcus Cousins — and they’d bring up the mind-boggling stats from his junior season.
Occasionally, he’d come across old footage of one of his games at Kentucky, which didn’t get as much national TV treatment at the time. And the technology was a little different, too.
“Kind of looks like you’re watching through a fishbowl now,” he said with a laugh. “We didn’t have a lot of HD.”
Meeks also came back to campus each summer following his departure in 2009 to finish his degree — one class at a time — before a final return to UK for his graduation ceremony in 2014.
Each of those experiences was a reminder of his time as a Wildcat, but the past several weeks — ever since the news came last month that he would join the UK Hall of Fame — have given him more of a chance to relive those memories.
There were many over his three seasons at Kentucky. One tops the list.
“Obviously, the Tennessee game,” Meeks said while recounting the highlights.
For anyone paying even the least bit of attention to UK basketball at the time, those three words — “the Tennessee game” — surely conjure visions of a night that still seems surreal 15 years later.