As former Wildcat, now turned Kentucky coach, Tyler Ulis, enjoys his 27th birthday, the Kentucky social media team had him reflect on what was his favorite moment playing at Kentucky.
He says that his favorite moment was the Louisville rivalry game his freshman year, where he was seen bleeding from his eye, which created the infamous picture above. In that game, he went for 21 total points on 7 of 12 shooting in 39 minutes of play, with 4 three-pointers, 1 rebound, 8 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal and 1 block.
"It's not so much getting hit in the eye obviously, because that wasn't a good feeling, but I felt like that was the game where fans accepted me as a player and knew I belonged," said Ulis on the game from 2015. "That just felt great for me. It was a rivalry game and like I said, I felt like that was when I was accepted."
When going back and listening to the radio broadcast from the game, Tom Leach addresses his performance in real time, screaming, "The Card Killer strikes again."
Tyler Ulis says he enjoyed that analysis and still talks about it today. "I love that nickname. I have a lot of family who live in Louisville actually, and one of my close friends who I'm with daily stays in Louisville, and that's a joke I constantly tell."
After spending three seasons in the NBA (2016-19), two in Phoenix and one in Chicago, he never made a NBA roster again. Since then, he has accepted a role as a student assistant on the Kentucky staff. The former Bob Cousy Award winner, and arguably the greatest point guard of the Cal Era, has now returned home to Lexington.