The Kentucky Wildcats suffered a heartbreaking loss to Oakland in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Every party involved on the losing side wanted to forget and move on from the game, which ultimately brought significant change to Lexington.
John Calipari, the team’s long-time head coach and the reason many players were in Kentucky to begin with, parted ways and joined a fellow SEC program in Arkansas. He took many of his players with him as commits flipped to Arkansas from Kentucky, and several veterans also opted to join Cal.
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One of those was defensive standout Adou Thiero, who really grew his game during his two seasons with the Cats.
Thiero averaged 2.3 points per game as a freshman and played in 20 games. He took a massive leap forward during his second season, averaging 7.2 points and shooting 49.2% from the field while starting 19 games.
He became a fan-favorite player, and BBN grew to appreciate his extremely hard work on the glass and defensive end of the court for a team that consistently had banged-up big men.
That said, Thiero loved BBN too, so much that he recently gave a heartwarming goodbye during SEC Media Day.
“It was a great experience. It was something I wanted to do ever since I was a kid, playing at the University of Kentucky,” Thiero said. “Being able to live out that dream was a real blessing. I’m just grateful for it, and I’m grateful for all of BBN. Thank you for all of your support. It was, dang. It’s real, man. I forgot the word. I appreciate it. Thank you,”
Thiero will miss BBN, and BBN will miss Thiero as well.
