Humphries Trending toward Midseason Breakout

Isaac Humphries isn’t fooling himself. He’s not making excuses.

He knows the first 14 games of his 2016-17 season haven’t been as good as he had hoped.

“It’s not at all how I planned it,” he said.

Humphries was primed for a breakout sophomore season, drawing consistent preseason praise from John Calipari after a freshman year in which he showed flashes of promise. Humphries arrived on a college campus a year ahead of schedule after reclassifying and believed he had begun to find his feet with a year of experience under his belt.

Instead, his second season has been much like his first: inconsistent with occasional flashes, like the nine points and nine rebounds he had against Cleveland State. All told, Humphries is averaging 3.8 points and 4.1 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per game.

“We all have to face adversity at some point in our lives,” Humphries said. “This just happened to be my time, and I’ve been dealing with that. I’m almost certain that I’m out of it – that little slump – and on the rise to more positive time of the season.”

To hear Coach Cal tell it, Humphries has good reason to be positive.

The 7-foot Australian had eight points and six rebounds in UK’s 100-58 win over Texas A&M earlier this week. And heading into a matchup with Arkansas at 8:30 p.m. in Rupp Arena, Humphries has only gained steam in practice.

“Isaac looked really good yesterday,” Calipari said. “Like, really good.”

Humphries has gotten plenty of individual attention from Calipari. The message has been clear and firm.

“I had some individual meetings,” Calipari said. “You’ve got to remind these guys that we do this different here. It’s faster. You have to stay up with the treadmill or you’re going to get flipped under.”

Calipari, however, matches that firmness with an explanation for why he’s that way.

“But I also, as I do that, I’ve gotta remind them that we do this and make it about them,” Calipari said. “And I’ve got to call them in every once in a while and say, ‘You know I love you now. You know I’m about you.’ ”

That’s something Humphries understands well.

“He definitely reminds us every day that he’s only trying to help us regardless of what’s happening and what’s being said,” Humphries said. “For me, he’s called me—we’ve had a lot of meetings about him believing in me and trusting the process and all that sort of thing.”

Humphries does believe he’s on the path to getting his own job done on a more consistent basis. He’s had his share of ups and downs to reach this point and he credits his coaches and fellow Wildcats for helping him weather them.

“They identified that I was struggling a little bit and they tried to lift me and the coaching staff too – just always having my back, keep telling me that they believed in me and stuff like that,” Humphries said. “(It was) pretty much just the team and the coaches who are around me.” 

Coach Cal is at the top of the list. Humphries appreciates his support, but he also knows it will only get him so far. When it comes down to it, it’s Humphries who has to execute.

“We all know he loves us and stuff like that, but at the end of the day you gotta get a job done,” Humphries said. “That’s why we’re here.”