Boys become men at a certain age in life.
For seniors Ramon Harris, Perry Stevenson and Mark Krebs, that turning point came at the University of Kentucky. Though they’ve been seldom used in their final season in Wildcat uniforms, they arguably have endured more trials and hardships than any senior class has had to fight through in recent memory.
Two had to go through three coaches and two coaching changes (Stevenson and Harris), one suffered through a scary head injury (Harris), another was questioned at times for his motivation (Stevenson), and the other bypassed the chance to play at other schools just for the chance to walk-on at Kentucky (Krebs, who now has a scholarship).
Now, in the blink of an eye, the three seniors will close the door on a chapter in their lives that has surely made them stronger. On Sunday, they will play their final home game at Rupp Arena against Florida for Senior Day.
“Time flies,” Harris said. “I could just remember stepping foot in this facility getting ready for a Louisville game that I only practiced one day for and now I’m getting ready to step out the door. Time goes by fast.”
It seems like just yesterday Harris and Stevenson were starting for former coach Billy Gillispie’s Cats. Now they’re playing 12.7 and 8.0 minutes, respectively, for John Calipari’s UK.
It’s surely been more ups and downs than any of the seniors could have expected when they decided to come to Kentucky, but none of them have any regrets as they get ready to lace it up for the final run of their collegiate careers.
“It’s definitely been an experience,” said Stevenson, who has also played under coach Tubby Smith in addition to Gillispie and Calipari. “If I had to do it again, I probably would. I have learned a bunch and you can always learn more from three coaches than you can one. If I ever decide to coach one day, I will be able to speed it up, slow it down, dribble-drive, post, do it all.”
Their senior years haven’t been a fairy tale. When they envisioned their time at UK, none of them could have predicted that a 2.1 scoring average by Harris would be the highest among the three.
But winning has a way of making things easier and in their case even better.
“It hasn’t been that hard because of the success of the team,” Harris said. “The team is 28-2 and there are a lot of teams just playing to get the season over with. They don’t have a postseason. Their conference tournament is it, and we have a chance to play beyond that. It wasn’t hard for me at all.”
Asked if he would change anything about the way things transpired, Stevenson said no.
“Being a starter, we ended up in the NIT,” Stevenson said. “But coming off the bench now, we are No. 3 in the country and we are playing for a No. 1 seed in the (NCAA) tournament. I don’t have a problem changing roles because it was for the better.”
Their lack of playing time this season hasn’t come from a lack of talent, Calipari said. They’ve just been put in situation on an uber-talented team where two or three guys at their respective positions just so happen to be better than them.
“That doesn’t mean (they are) not any good,” Calipari said. “It just means we’re pretty good.”
In fact, Calipari credits the seniors with much of this year’s success and doesn’t believe Senior Day is the final chapter for them. He thinks they could make one final lasting mark in the postseason.
“It is why we have stayed together as a team,” Calipair said. “I really believe that we can count on them. I really do. Not only have they accepted that some guys in front of them are better than them, but they’ve also accepted that they have to be ready. I’ve seen many times in the NCAA Tournament a player who has not played much all of a sudden make his name because he’s prepared and in the right frame of mind. I’ve seen it many times.”
The three seniors said they often look back at the tough times – Gillispie’s boot camp, the coaching changes, lack of playing time, etc. – and laugh at what they went through.
“We talk about the past years and we laugh and joke about it,” Harris said. “It wasn’t funny then but it’s funny now. We can always sit back and think how crazy it is we went from this to that and laugh about it. If we only knew back then how it would turn out now, but that makes it even better.”
The close-knit trio is as unlikely as their routes to Kentucky (Harris is the only Alaskan UK signee, Stevenson journeyed to the Bluegrass State from Louisiana at only 190 pounds and Krebs walked on at Kentucky after a year at Thomas More) but they’ve forged an inseparable friendship that will likely span far beyond their days at UK.
“Those two guys, I’ll remember them the most because they have been here with me through three coaches,” Stevenson said. “If they change their numbers I’ll be pretty upset about it. Those guys are pretty special to me. We’ve been through a lot.”
Krebs, who wrote a letter to Smith just to walk-on at UK three years ago, described the opportunity the seniors had best when he talked about his trek to UK.
“Here I am, a guy that comes from a Division III school who walked on under Tubby, and just as soon as I start getting to know all the guys and start becoming friends with everyone Tubby leaves. I’m left thinking I’m done; it was good while it lasted. Then Coach G came in. I worked hard every day in practice and that’s when I really took it seriously. Then Coach Cal came and Coach G left and it was like man, again? What am I going to do?
“I just talked to my family and said worst comes to worse, I never play again, I’m just going to give it all I got, work really hard, work harder than everybody and maybe it will pan out. And it did. He gave me a scholarship and still to this day, in my mind, I love it. Do I deserve it? I work really hard, but no one deserves everything I’ve gotten.”
It’s been the chance of a lifetime for three seniors that, for the final time on Sunday, will take the floor at Rupp Arena.
“I tell myself that every day I should enjoy the blessings that I have,” Harris said. “From being able to get up and go to school and go to class, go to practice, even hanging out with my teammates, because pretty soon, all of this is coming to an end.”
