This coming basketball season will see Kentucky begin a five-game series against teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Dubbed the “Unity Series,” the games are intended as a fundraiser to help provide opportunities for students at the historically black colleges and universities that make up the SWAC.
The first game will have Kentucky playing Southern on Dec. 7 in Rupp Arena. The game will also be something of a homecoming for the Southern coach, former UK point guard Sean Woods.
When asked how he felt about returning to UK as a visiting coach, Woods said, “Well, I’ve been there before.”
Kentucky beat his Mississippi Valley State teams in 2008-09 and 2010-11. And as a first-year coach at Morehead State, Woods lost at UK in 2012-13.
“It’s always good to take your players and give them an opportunity to play in one of the most historical places in all of college basketball,” Woods said before adding, “especially at a place where it started for you.”
Woods was UK’s point guard at a critical phase of the program. He was the floor leader in a three-season revival from NCAA probation that concluded with advancement to the 1992 NCAA Tournament East Regional finals, where Christian Laettner’s game-winning shot denied Kentucky a storybook trip to the Final Four.
Woods is the UK program’s all-time leader in career assists per game (5.3) and ranks fifth overall in total assists (482) and fourth in average steals per game (1.582).
“It was a honeymoon,” Woods said of his UK playing career. “It was a love affair. We laid our mark and played a significant part. When you can play a significant part in one of the most historical and most successful college basketball programs in all of America, it makes you feel really good.”
Southern had an 8-11 record last season. But Woods spoke optimistically about his team for 2021-22. It has a returning core of veterans and has added promising transfers and freshmen.
“I think this could be my most talented team since I’ve been here,” he said.
The Unity Series will feature Kentucky playing a SWAC team in each of the next five seasons, ending with 2025-26.
Other schools in the SWAC include Prairie View A&M, Jackson State, Texas Southern, Grambling State, Alcorn State, Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Arkansas Pine Bluff and Mississippi Valley State.
“I am really proud of our leadership for identifying an opportunity to take what we do on the basketball court and leverage it into an annual week long event that will have a major impact on HBCUs and their students,” Kentucky Coach John Calipari said in a UK news release issued Wednesday. “My hope is this event not only opens the door for opportunities for students at HBCUs, but that others at our school and across the country will take advantage of the educational opportunities that we will put together to continue the meaningful conversations and changes that have taken place over the last year.”
SWAC Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland noted how the Unity Series can help enhance his league’s brand on and off the basketball court.
“The educational and networking opportunities this partnership will provide our students and student-athletes undoubtedly goes well beyond the game of basketball,” he said in the news release. “We’re looking forward to doing our part to make this innovative strategic plan a success. We would like to thank the University of Kentucky athletics department’s leadership along with Coach Calipari and his staff for making this very worthy initiative a reality.”
UK said it expects to announce its full non-conference schedule soon.
The Unity Series will involve more than a basketball game, UK said.
In the week leading up to the game each year, campus leaders from Kentucky and SWAC schools will host virtual panels and leadership workshops available to students at all institutions that tackle current issues in multiple disciplines and highlight on-campus educational opportunities. In addition to these panels and workshops, the institutions will provide resources for students to learn more about internships, career planning and networking.
“We are committed to educational initiatives here at UK so the Unity Series’ educational and networking opportunities will play a part in one of our goals, which is adding to learning resources,” said Ray “Rock” Oliver, UK’s executive associate athletics director for diversity, equity and inclusion. “We also believe in the power of community so we hope this series will increase awareness of the powerful history and ongoing missions of HBCUs as well as conferences like the SWAC. We look forward to strengthening bonds between our institutions.”
UK’s non-conference schedule
Games announced so far for the 2021-22 season, with more to come:
Nov. 9: Duke-1
Dec. 4: At Michigan
Dec. 7: SOUTHERN-2
Dec. 11: Our Lady-x
Dec. 18: Ohio State-3
Jan. 29: At Kansas-4
1-Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York; 2-Unity Series in Rupp Arena; 3-CBS Sports Classic at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas; 4-Big 12/SEC Challenge. x-Location to be announced.
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